Teens Essay, Research Paper

The teenager is a creature far different from that of any other. These

strange beings are classified into the species of the homo sapiens ranging

from thirteen to eighteen years of age. Through the years, it seems that a

teenager has grown more to be a separate class in itself rather than a

certain time period in life.

Although teenagers are really almost a separate sub- species of the

human race, none of them are really quite the same. The teenager may be

divided into three separate categories ranging from the radical, moderate,

and conservative. The “radical” teenager may be best described as one

going to all extremes to try and prove something that nobody else can

really understand. Punks, stoners, new- wavers, skaters, surfers, and

other similar people fall into this category. The “moderate” sub-species

of the teenager may best be described as the classic teenager, or really a

teenager who epitomizes most of the qualities of a “normal” teenager. This

category comprises the widest range of people and could definitely be sub-

divided within itself. This particular category of teenager is slightly

vague as it can range from teenagers such as “jocks” to “brains”. The last

of these categories, the “conservative” teenager describes the class of

teenagers who follow the rules and teachings of the adult world without a

complaint or rejection. One will most likely find a “conservative” teen in

the front of the classroom trying to get as close to the teacher’s desk as

possible. One will find that this person is usually quite timid and quiet

the majority of the time.

The description of any of these abstract creatures is quite difficult

because of the vast difference in each one’s features. These beings may

range from 3 feet in height up to around 7 feet. They can be either tall,

fat, thin, short, ugly, attractive, intelligent, slow, fast, responsible,

irresponsable or a variety of several more features humanly possible. The

“radical” and “moderate” teenagers are usually quite unpredictable and can

usually never be trusted. The vast majority of teenagers begin to actually

think and reason for the first time in their life and begin to have

contrasting beliefs from what they have been taught by their elders for 13

to 18 years. Before hitting the teenage years, most every person accepted

just about everything taught by their parents as they had no reason not to

believe in their parents, and also knew no better. As these teens begin to

think, they find logic in new and different beliefs and find many old

beliefs obsolete. Teens could be a major advantage to the human race if it

were not for their tragic flaw in which they think that they have had so

much experience in life that they are ready to handle it all and take on

the world with their “vast knowledge of life”.

Although teens are far from perfect, they are still not treated to the

best of the older generation’s ability. The average teenager is “abused”

by their elders. Teens are forced to do miscellaneous odd jobs not

respectable to the human race. One may find a teenager doing such

degradable chores ranging from taking out the garbage, doing the dishes, to

sacking groceries at the local grocery store. Although for the most part

teenagers are mistreated, being a teenager has its definite advantages. For

in being a teenager, not much is mentally expected of you, for the elder

generation has accepted the fact of the difference between them and the

teen. As the elder generation was also forced to go through this demanding

time in life, they realize how “difficult” it is, thus a teenager can

practically get away with “murder”.

As the teenager can never fully be described because of their wide

variety of qualities both mentally and physically, many people struggle to

find out exactly why teenagers act as they do. As one may see, the

differences of the teenager are quite obvious and contrasting to that of

any other period in life.