Oct 17, 2017

Are today’s teens taking longer to grow up? That is the proposed question in a recent health article from CNN. The article goes into depth on certain statistics about teens and how they may be affected by their environments. Though much of the information gathered in the article seems to suggest that teens are in fact taking longer to grow up, there’s no definite answer to whether or not this is a bad thing.

There are many reasons to believe that today’s teens are growing up slower. Pregnancy rates are at an all-time low and fewer teens are drinking, smoking having sex, and working part-time jobs. While many of these things can be seen as a good thing-less drinking, smoking, having sex-some would argue that teens aren’t going to be prepared to face these kinds of experiences in college or in life. When asked how these statistics compared to older generations Armando Acosta, a parent and member of the baby boomer generation, said “It was less prevalent in our days [smoking, drinking, and having sex] because of social pressures.” It seems that these types of behaviors had a certain stigma surrounding them that may still be present today. Does this mean that teens are deciding to make better choices or has society gotten better at educating young adults to practice safe sex and contemplate health risks of smoking and drinking?

There’s clearly a huge difference between society today and society of previous generations. One big difference is in the way kids are being raised. CNN puts families in two categories with them using either a “slow-life strategy” or a “fast-life strategy”. Today’s families are moving toward using a slow-life strategy, tending to have fewer children, allowing parents to spend more time helping each child grow and develop. Families from older generations have very commonly used the fast-life strategy in which they have more children, and less time to focus their energy towards individual growth. The fast-life strategy which was common in the mid-20th century forces kids to have to “fend for themselves” in a way. Acosta, who was one of nine, said, “At an early age kids didn’t rely on their parents to support them”. Kids and teens who were part of this time period had to mature faster.

Many credit this maturity to the lack of technological distractions. In the 21st century, teens have access to a number of things at their fingertips. While technology can be helpful in terms of education and learning, it can also be a hindrance in cultivating proper social skills. Senior Sierra Barron sees technology as a good thing. “I think it helps teens grow up faster because you’re being exposed to the social world at a younger age.” Others, like Acosta, take a different stance. “Technology is a hindrance to their growth. They become less personable. They rely mostly on technology to communicate rather than face to face.” So the question is are teens mature enough to use technology in a way that will help them?

There seems to be many factors that go into determining whether or not teens are taking longer to grow up today. There is no right or wrong answer. There’s only the opportunity to be your best. Grow and mature at your own rate and work to be good citizen.