More Musings of A Political Teenager
PLAY HARD, WORK HARD
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Being a teenager is hard
I’m only a few years into my teenage life and already, I can see it’s becoming, increasingly, a tougher challenge to face as the days pass by. It’s hard enough being a teenager, puberty knocking down your door and having certain restrictions; throwing in some exams makes life that much worse – and that much harder.
Teenagers have the hard job of revising, and trying to keep social. Universities these days decide that we need to have the right qualifications, by staying indoors with no human interaction to study, and spending every waking minute on studies; whilst we must also make sure that we have things to put on our resumee, like extra-curricular activities we shouldn’t have enough time for. Telling me to ‘take some time off every now again’ is easier said than done, because according to everyone else, and educational boards, I ought to be a robot. But that’s not what they want either. Still with me?
The expectations put upon us make the heavy load harder to bear. You’re set a target each term – if you have a bad target, you’re expected to be able to get better; if you have a more-than-achievable target, ‘the teacher thinks you can achieve it’ and so you must. But there’s never the question of do you think you can achieve it? It’s always a given, and so help you if you fall short.
Being a teenager (and a young one like myself), has its restrictions. Work experience? You must be at least 18, don’t you know the rules?! It’s infuriating. There’s the aspect of politics too. You are unable to vote at 16, but can legally have a child. What is the difference between deciding our political future – it is our, isn’t it? – and caring for a child? I would presume the latter is harder. You’re legally unable to earn minimum wage at a job until age 16, and unfortunately, there’s still the unlikely chance that you might not have time to have a job at 16.
The ‘grunt’ is one my mother in particular likes to overplay. It’s the mimicking that parents do when they shout at you and you, annoyed, shout back ‘OKAY!’ and they continue to use it as a soundtrack to your life, and mentions the ‘teenage phase’ to possibly anyone they see. Nope. I am not someone who continuously has their headphones in (actually, I do that. I like my music.). I’m a teenager. Who’s continuously tired of working so hard from such a young age for exams and work that I could be doing when I’m older and more capable.
Being a teenager is hard. . . . . . .
