The Truth About the Teenage Years

Whenever I heard the word teenager, two thoughts linger in my mind. One is the picture of a boy who studies his lessons diligently, takes care of his younger siblings with all his heart, and heeds his parent’s advice and words of wisdom. The other is a picture of a teenage boy who wants to have his place in the society by being carefree, being hard headed, being rebellious, and being engaged into vices such us drugs, smoking, and drinking.

As we see in the comparison above, these scenes are inevitable now days. Why? With the advancement in technology at the present time, and with the influences of the media around us, together with the different factors in our environment, most teens are being deluded with ideas that teenage years is the time to be radical and wild, the season of freedom and exploration. When we look around our surroundings, we see the truthfulness of these ideas. Most of the time, we see it in ourselves. We tend to laugh as if we are the only people in this world, we tend to scream when we are gay, and we tend to chit chat with our friends as if we are the only people around.

Sometimes, when it comes to decision-making, we want to make our own decisions without consulting our parents. We want to make big decisions for our lives. Being a citizen of a democratic country, we want to enjoy the privilege of free will. We want to be free, we want to be on our own, and we want to be the masters of ourselves.With these in our minds, we forget the real meaning of being a teenager. Teenage years are our preparatory stage, our bridge towards adulthood, it also the period that we should equip ourselves with the right attitudes and morals for us to be a good person. It is a sure thing that we made more than our own share of mistakes and failures. Through these mistakes and failures, we grow up and we learn something that will definitely help us to be a better person.


Sounds difficult right? We might not even think these things, not a single thought maybe, but consider this: If being a teenager only means to be happy -go-lucky and to be self-centered then it has no purpose at all. Teenage years is the launching pad of our life, it is not a separate part of growing up. What we are now will reflect what we shall be in the future. Let us always keep in mind that our actions have their own equal consequences. The hope our nation lies in our generation. If we are the future that is waiting to happen then let us maximize our capabilities, hone our talents and uphold our intelligence for us to be the person we strive to be. Lastly have faith in God. He is our alpha and omega, our beginning and ending, though future maybe uncertain and paths seem unclear, we should entrust our unknown future to our known God.

“When I was a child, I talked like a child. I thought like a child. I reasoned like a child. When I became a man I put away my childish ways behind me.” 


- 1 Corinthians 13:1

Soli deo Gloria!