Zoë O’Connor on how teenagers have to go through a “rebel phase”…
YOU may or may not realise that I am a teenager, (if you didn’t know, no I am not just using an amazing anti-aging cream) and obviously teenagers are known for being rebellious.
Well, often when adults refer to their teenage years, they refer to them as their “rebel phase”.
It’s usually the period that parents don’t like to talk about also because there is usually some stuff that they don’t want their children to know.
Usually about things like what age they had a boyfriend or girlfriend at or what they got up to on those nights out.
But usually, for whatever reason, it is not mentioned in conversation and I wanted to know why. Why do adults avoid talking about this period of their lives?
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Sure, maybe it isn’t the suitable conversation for your kids, but just all round the whole “rebel phase” is kind of conveniently forgotten – when you grow up!
Which if you didn’t get already, I do not agree with. Teenagers are the species that are the most misunderstood.
I know that you adults out there think that you understand us because you were one of us, but you don’t.
Honestly, there is no possible way that you can even begin to understand the trials of being a teenager. The list of things that we have to put up with is never-ending and as much as we want to deny it, the hormones don’t help.
Everyone knows the basic cycle of life; you are born, you live in a bubble of magic as a child and then you float along until you are eventually expected to wake up and pick up that annoying little hitchhiker called “responsibility”, which unless you are some sort of superhuman, you don’t do. At least not at first.
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First you have to begin to understand yourself, which is no easy task. After all of those “changes” and once again, some more of those lovely hormones, you are probably not the best person to be around.
However, I think that the teen years are often mistaken for the “moody years”.
That is not entirely true. Sure, we have mood swings, but that doesn’t qualify as our catchphrase for that entire time, and even if you are moody, it’s not like it magically stops at 20.
The teenage years are really the time to experiment with your life. It’s the time to learn things the hard way.
It’s the time to figure out what you like to wear and who like to be around. It’s the time to go goth or go emo. It’s the time to get hurt and build a thick skin. It’s when you sneak out and have a party with your friends. It’s the time of your life when it really starts to become YOUR life.
Adults may think what we do is stupid or irrational, because they have grown out of it. We are still learning. We don’t need to be shielded from the “rebel phase”, this is the time of our lives when we are not to be protected.
Some teens go out drinking and think that they are the coolest people around. They either get caught or someone gets hurt. Lesson learned.
Some teens mess around with boyfriends or girlfriends. They learn what it is like to be in a relationship. Lesson learned.
Some teens have no idea what the hell is going on and they do a pile of random things that probably won’t make their parents very happy. But it is a learning curve.
You have to have a rebel phase. It just has to be done. Teenagers need to go against their parents or their friends or anyone in a 10 mile radius of them. It is just part of life. If it didn’t happen, I would probably be a bit more worried.
To teens reading this, I am not telling you to go out and do something stupid. “Rebel phases” come in all different shapes and sizes. It is just the transition period into becoming our own person. It’s the time that we break out of our sheltered lives and taste a bit of life.
We do things that we have never done before, everything is new, everything is exciting and we no longer need you to tell us what is wrong. We learn for ourselves.
So you can call it a “rebel phase” or “mood swings or a “delinquent teen”, but it’s called growing up. Deal with it.
• Read Zoe’s blog here and follow her on Twitter: @Zobo2042
