Finn P.

Brunner

Potent Beliefs
The store clerk held a fixed gaze on the group, staring at them with a level of disgust and
fear. Never losing eye contact, he kept his attention focused on the group of individuals. He
watched the hands of the group, waiting for them to grab something and stuff it into their
pockets. He held his watch. They could make a move at any point. No one in the store mattered.
No customers needed his immediate attention. He had to keep his eyes on these kids. He was
positive they would steal something. A bunch of kids, looking to buy some snacks, look over to
their left. One whispers to the other, “What’s this dude’s problem?” The store clerk rocked back
and forth in his stance, crossed his arms, and continued to hold his gaze. They weren’t doing
anything wrong, just shopping for snacks. The clerk nonetheless, didn’t care. They were teens,
which meant they were dangerous. The clerk continued his gaze, as to be sure none of them
would pocket something. The group of kids went to the register, bought a few bags of chips,
some drinks, and went on with their day. The clerk held watch right up to the moment they left
the store.
Teens are often stereotyped as troublemakers, criminals, thieves. This stereotype is
intriguing, as it is one that was created by those who were a teen themselves. When we were
younger, much younger, we would want to do whatever we were told not to. This stereotype of
adolescence has made many teens want to play into it. The same “I’m going to do what you don’t
want me to.” mentality is in play here. “The regions within the limbic system, have been found to
be hypersensitive to the rewarding feeling of risk-taking in adolescents compared with adults,
and at the very same time, the prefrontal cortex, which stops us from taking excessive risks, is
still very much in development in adolescents.” (Sarah-Jayne Blakemore)
Adolescents often take unnecessary risks that they have no clue why they did. If a teen doesn’t
know why they took a risk, but rather just did it, it would make some sense for adults to be
skeptical of teens, even accusatory.
Salt all over the kitchen counter, dough left in the mixer, a thin filament of water covering
the wood tiled floor. Gail had a quick reaction. She reached for her computer, opened the
community chat. She began her furious typing, accusing every kid who lived there. If it wasn’t
one kid, then it was another kid, and if it wasn’t that kid, then it was the next kid. And if it wasn’t
any of them, well one of them had to be lying. For hours, Gail typed, accusing all teens around
her. Going to houses, knocking on doors, interrogating the kids while ignoring the possibility of
an adult being the one responsible. She then discovered, the mess left in the kitchen was that of
an adult. This wouldn’t be the last time this would happen, and she would fail to learn from her
experience. Gail would continue to accuse the teens of high treason in her Common House. The
place didn’t belong to her, but she was in such delusion that she made herself feel responsible for
it.
Why is it that adults, the ones who were at one point or another adolescents tend to be
those who are stereotyping teens? What happened during their years of adolescence that shaped
their potent belief of adolescents. The adults never mention why they believe what they believe.
Finn P. Brunner

They seem to have a common thought process of, “Oh well surely I wasn’t that bad, right?”.
They fail to view adolescents as developing adults but have adult expectations for them
Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development states that from around middle school to middle age,
humans adopt the approval of the group standpoint. They use the, “But everyone else is doing
it!” mindset. For Teens, this means making interesting decisions in hopes of group approval. In
adults, this means adopting the ideas of others in order to fit in. An example of this could be
adults bandwagoning on teen stereotypes. Earlier in the school year, we as a class discussed “The
Heinz Dilemma”. In discussion, there would be a flow of different ideas thrown around, but in
the end, people would form a general consensus with each other. Across the different groups, we
found many different ideas, but in the end, each group would have a general consensus of ideas.
If there appears to be a widespread of beliefs, but a want to fit in with the group, how does this
not apply to those outside of adolescence? Times have changed, and everyone’s experience is
different. All the same, their stay stationary.
Furthermore, the action of adults stereotyping, and telling adolescents that they are a
certain way has a similar effect as peer pressure. Adults tell adolescents that they will act a
certain way, or at some point, they will do something bad. It has a certain impact on the
still-developing mind. The constant of being told that you are bad, that you will act a certain way.
Peer pressure has a similar effect.
To some extent, every kid has experienced peer pressure. Whether that’s your friends
getting you to eat something off the ground, or jump an electric fence. Humans are herd animals.
We are afraid of outlying in the crowd. If 5 people get one answer to a problem, and one person
gets a different answer, that one person wants to agree with the other 5 even if he believes they
are wrong. Peer pressure is worst when it is a group of teens. Our brains are not yet fully
developed, and everyone wants to seem cool around their friends. If a friend does something
stupid, we will react in one of two ways. “Dude that was stupid.” or “Dude that was stupid, I’m
gonna do it too.” The most dangerous circumstance of peer pressure is a group of teens together.
We knew it was a bad idea. I can’t remember who started it. We started to undo our laces,
shoes got kicked off and socks removed. We formed a line from in the grass, side by side
towards the fence. Hand in hand, all of us looking down the lines. The one first in line made
contact with the fence. A shock went through my body.
Finn P. Brunner

Works Cited

Ted Talk:
Blakemore, Sarah-Jayne. “The Mysterious Workings of the Adolescent Brain.” TED,
TED, June 2012,
www.ted.com/talks/sarah_jayne_blakemore_the_mysterious_workings_of_the_adolescent_brain.