TEENS AND SELF-IDENTITIES

Every living human undergoes a phase called ‘adolescence’ throughout his or her life. This is
a complex, yet very important phase in life where teens are often seen to be ‘confused’, but very
dynamic and determined about who they want to be. They normally want to own self-identities
which are distinguished and unique from others. Thus, it is not surprising to see that some of them
have been trying hard to be different and this includes declaring a kind of separateness from their
own parents. They usually declare this separateness by the way they talk and by the way they
dress.

One of the ways teenagers declare the separateness from their parents is by the way they
dress. The style they follow would be very much influenced by the latest trend they watch on media
or see around them. For instance, they like to follow the fashion of K-Pop celebrities, which happens
to be the ‘in-thing’ for a lot of teens. These include the choice of glamourous accessories and
additional gears like glasses, hair bands, watches, bracelets, shoes, etc. Apart from reflecting their
age and identity, it is also important that the style they choose must look trendy and outstanding
from head to toe. Most of them would feel inferior if they go out in public looking old-fashioned or
outdated. This is one aspect that makes youngsters different from adults for the latter does not
really give specific outfits or styles a heed as long as they are nice, comfortable and practical.

Another way teenagers declare the separateness from their parents is by the way they
talk. Youngsters have their own unique ways of expressing things. For example, when they chat on
social media, some of them would come up with special abbreviations or simplified codes which are
common to them, but quite confusing to adults. Acronyms like 143 which stands for ‘I love you’;
ATM which refers to ‘at the moment’; ASL which means ‘age, sex, location’ or GOATS – ‘greatest of
all times’, etc are not the adults’ everyday language. In fact, the older generation has to google-
search for the meanings should they want to follow and understand what these teens are talking
about with one another. This is again, another interesting difference which marks the teens’
separation from the adults including their parents.

In short, adolescence is a special phase in life where the teens explore their own selves
and life in general. The exploration at times leads them to finding their own ways separated from
those closed to them which includes their own parents. The separation or difference is somewhat
normal as long as it does not totally separate them from their loved ones or uncontrollably go
beyond the norms of their religion and culture.

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