Life as a teen is hard enough without having to face the sour looks, judgemental attitudes and misguided conceptions on what a teenager is. Thanks to the media, over the recent years teens have been casted as negative, unsociable murderers and with that society have been tricked in to believing that the world of media is in fact the real world. Well, it’s not. It is far from it. Teens are not negative, unsociable murderers, we are people. People who need a break.
My name is Chelsea and I as you can probably guess am a teenager. Yes, I like to wear hoodies and occasionally wait on street corners to meet my friends. However, this does not make me a killer, drug dealer or any other kind of troublesome person in society. I’m a just a regular 15 year old. I attend school, complete my homework, sit exams, go to the cinema, eat a lot of Nando’s and have a crush on Justin bieber; but thanks to the mistakes of previous generations I am and will always be judged because of my age. It is just reality, and reality is always inescapable.
Firstly, what most people forget is that the teenagers do not create the stereotypes. We create mistakes and the media highlights them until they become stereotypes. There has always been an ongoing pattern of the media highlighting people’s mistakes. Take facebook as an example, Go and find a newspaper and flick through it. I guarantee you will find an article about online paedophiles targeting teenagers across the UK. It is almost a daily article for countless newspapers. Has anyone else noticed the negativity surrounding teens and facebook? I know I am not alone when I say that I am waiting for the day when I open a news paper and read an article celebrating the amount of teens smart and mature enough to block such people.
Secondly... Do not get me started on the film industry. Noel Clarke? Yes you. Could you stop casting teenagers as uncontrollable thugs obsessed with drugs, money and sex? I don’t know what your life was like while you were growing up but it was definitely not on this planet. Again, I can probably speak for most teenagers when I say I definitely do not know anyone who carries a gun in the waistline of their trousers. Especially in trousers that are pulled down so low you can see their knees. Congratulations to the actors for not tripping up though, I was surprised by how practical they made it look. Perhaps they should make an Oscar for such skills.
Teenagers? Whatever happened to “young adults”? Most of you are forgetting that we’re going to be running this country and looking after YOU one day. Ever heard of the phrase treat others how you wish to be treated? Well listen and learn. If the government are serious and really do want to stop knife crime and teenage issues then stop judging the youth of today on the mistakes and decisions of those in the previous generations. Not every teenager runs around inflicting pain or hurt on others. Yes, there are a select few who are selfish and immature enough to do so; but why should every teenager have to be affected and face the consequences of it? There are so many teenagers who are the complete opposite of the stereotypes, so why treat them as though they are? Teenagers should have the right to wear a certain piece of clothing or travel through a certain place without being judged. It’s called self expression and should be celebrated.
Ultimately, all the media is doing is judging every teenager due to one characteristic of another. Self expression is important in today’s society. Without it we are merely boring and lack the ability to be unique. So what are we going to do about it? Well you see that black jumper you love? Wear it. You see that warm Hoodie you love? Wear it. You see your new vans? Wear them. Be unique, express yourself, allow your confidence to grow and let your personality shine through the clothes you are wearing. Help society and show them that there is more to you then your favourite Hoodie. Do not let others judgements and misconceptions of you shape the person you are or are becoming. Eventually people will return their one way ticket in to the world of media and return back to reality. Stereotypes don’t last forever and neither will your teenage years. So take action now. But remember, no matter how hard it gets and how close you are to pushing down all the rails and storming out of forever 21... Don’t. Because you are a teen and there’s thousands of us. We’re teenagers, not stereotypes.