TEXT 3. How Does It Feel to Be an American Teen?

“In my opinion, American teenagers have too much freedom. I find that we are too pampered and spoiled. In my high school, lots of my friends had their own cars, telephones and other things too. As my Mom said, "What do they have to look forward to when they are older?" Often the same people were not disciplined.

Too many times I see kids with their own cars are snobby about it. They don't appreciate anything they have, are not grateful at all. That's not the way life should be. I think people should be happy with what they have. Life is too short to be complaining and taking, not giving anything in return. Also teenagers here get bored easily. They can't sit in their rooms for more than eight minutes in peace and quiet. They always have to be out with friends partying. The reason why I am making all these negative comments is because I used to be like that. I didn't stop to think about my Mom supporting me. I was just living for the present, not for the future. Now that I'm on my own, I realize and appreciate, to say the least, what my Mom has done for me”.

A nationwide survey of 13-year-olds says, more than half (53%) describe their relationship with parents as being excellent, setter than with their teachers or classmates or siblings. A majority describe their parents as being very involoved in their lives and knowing just about everything that goes on, while fewer than 10% describe their parents as uninvolved and clueless.

In the teenage years, the relationship between parents and children is constantly changing. This is a time when they bicker a lot and parents are caught by surprise. They discover that the tricks they have used in raising their kids stop working. Nowadays, parents work more, so their teenage children are often left unsupervised. In fact, of all the issues that trouble teenagers, loneliness ranks at the top of the list. Many kids say they feel alone and alienated, unable to connect with their parents, teachers and sometimes even classmates. A survey shows that they spend an average of three hours and a half alone every day. Half of them have lived through their parents' divorce.

About 85 % of teens say that Mom cares very much about them; 58 % say the same about Dad. Though teens strive for independence, still they need attention. Practically every kid psychologists talked to, said that they wished they had more adults in their lives, especially their parents. When kids complete high school and leave home, many parents suffer from the “empty nest” syndrome and young people start missing their parents too.

At this middle school in Connecticut, Tory rates the highest. One girl explains: "She has the right hair - straight and pretty, and the right eyes - big and brown; and long legs." Another girl adds: "I don't know one person that has ever said she's mean, 'cause she's just, like, a really nice person." It wasn't always Tory. For the first six years of school, Tory kept to herself and she was too self-conscious to talk out loud in class. In fifth grade, Tory decided she was ready for a change. "I just told myself that I wanted to be noticed and I wanted to overcome my shyness," Tory says.

She describes how every morning in homeroom all the popular kids sat together. Each time she gathered up her courage and talked to them.

Then Tory persuaded her mom to let her get contact lenses, layered her long straight hair and spent her last month looking for the perfect outfit. It worked.

"As soon as attention started coming, it went to my head, and at first I didn't act like myself at all," Tory says. "I started caking on the makeup and making sure that I was always perfect. I just wanted to be whatever everyone wanted me to be." Besides being heavily made up, it meant not to be very smart. "Because I was blond, everyone was automatically like "ditz, stupid," whatever - so I tried to be stupid," Tory explains. She failed tests and pretended not to know basic words in Spanish.

Once, while watching "Hang Time" with some friends, Tory was inspired to change again. "A guy said that one of the reasons he liked a girl on the show so much was because she wasn't afraid to show people how smart she was," Tory says. She decided to ease up on the makeup and put the dumb act to rest.

A couple of weeks ago during lunch, Tory performed an act of kindness that served only to make her more popular.

A couple of kids started pegging basketballs at Jason, an eighth grader with few friends. Jason was cornered, alone and defenseless and reduced to tears, while most of the grade simply didn't look, not wanting to be associated with someone so obviously unpopular.

"I went over and took his hand and walked him to the nurse and then the guidance counselor," Tory says. She was the only one who'd stick up for him.

Ida, 17: I live in a strict Italian home. Sometimes my parents are really great, but their rules for me are absolutely ridiculous. So I get around them. My friends will tell you I'm a good kid. I don't drink, I don't do drugs. But my parents think that, if I've gone out on a Friday night and I ask to go out on Saturday too, I'm asking for the world. If I'm going to a big party, and I have to get all dressed up they'll say: "Fine.Go." But if I say I'm going to hang out, they don't see the point. So I lie a lot.

Christopher, 18: My parents never make their punishments stick. Like, I'll get my Jeep taken away for a week, but I'll get it back within six hours. Because my parents hate to see kids unhappy. I play right into it. They will punish me by not letting me go out, and after a while they feel bad, and they let me out. In a way, I wish it wasn't like that. I haven't learned my lessons. I've repeatedly done things that should have deserved harsh punishment - not anything like stealing a car, but still... And now that I'm going away to college, I kind of wish my parents had been tougher with me.

Matt, 18, son of a Marine colonel: When my father yells at me - and he doesn't yell, he explains - he does it the same way he will do it to a major in the Marine Corps. Very calmly and coldly, he says what he wants done. But you don't want to pass a line. He and I get along fine. His rules are set rules. You do not break them, or you face the consequences. I do not like to face his consequences. So I abide by the rules. Besides, his rules are fair. They're not overly protective or constrictive.

In the teenage years, parents start discussing the most important issues with their kids, such as alcohol and drugs, violent situations and AIDS, etc. Teens know that drugs do a lot of harm to their brain, lungs, memory, coordination skills. Addicts become lazy, skip school, feel depressed. Moreover, drug addiction is linked to criminal behavior. More than half of arrested juveniles tested positive for marijuana.

The Institute of Social Research at the Russian Government Academy has carried out a detailed survey to determine public attitudes and experts’ opinion towards drug taking and drug users. The results of this search were the following: the age of drug users is falling. 51% of teens say they will never use drugs. 31% say "drugs can ruin your life and cause harm".

Experts say that the highest risk category is school and university students. Teenagers also consider that it is under-18s who suffer most from drug addiction. The next group is 18-30, after which the problem almost disappears.

To the question “Where is the easiest to get hold of drugs?” experts and relatives of drug-users stated: “Mainly in markets, and then discotheques and parties for the young, and finally, in the drug pushers’ flats”. Teenagers told about first of all about the drug pushers’ flats, then parties, and finally markets. The young didn’t mention the mass media as a source of information on the dangers of drug abuse.

The absolute majority of experts believe the present situation with drug abuse is the result of the decline on morals and culture, the poor work of the health protection agencies and the explosion in crime. Young people mentioned the influence of friends who are already drug users, lack of interesting work, boredom and nothing to do, and finally too much money.

The most frightening is that half of high-school leavers have used illegal drugs at least once. Many of them start doing drugs out of curiosity or because they want to be accepted. Others find in them a way out of their problems. The drug epidemic is also encouraged by popular culture, especially by rock and rap music. In a recent study of 12- to 17-year-olds 76 % said that the entertainment industry encourages illegal drug use. They say, "Almost every song you listen to says something about it. It puts it into your mind constantly. When you see thecelebrities doing drugs, it seems okay." Children receivepro-drug messages through their computers too. On the Internet, they can find detailed instructions on how to use drugs.

Relatives of drug takers expressed the view that if a member of one’s family shows signs of drug adduction; one should immediately seek specialist help. A half of respondents demand the more serious laws to fight the drug mafia. 64% of experts are categorically against the legalisation of drug use.

Что вызывает тренды на фондовых и товарных рынках Объяснение теории грузового поезда Первые 17 лет моих рыночных исследований сводились к попыткам вычислить, когда этот...

Конфликты в семейной жизни. Как это изменить? Редкий брак и взаимоотношения существуют без конфликтов и напряженности. Через это проходят все...

ЧТО ПРОИСХОДИТ, КОГДА МЫ ССОРИМСЯ Не понимая различий, существующих между мужчинами и женщинами, очень легко довести дело до ссоры...

ЧТО ПРОИСХОДИТ ВО ВЗРОСЛОЙ ЖИЗНИ? Если вы все еще «неправильно» связаны с матерью, вы избегаете отделения и независимого взрослого существования...

Не нашли то, что искали? Воспользуйтесь поиском гугл на сайте: