The Teen Life

MYTH: There have always been teenagers. Of course there have always been people aged between 13 and 19. But we love putting people into pigeon holes. As soon as ‘teenager’ had been invented, it was seized on by all kinds of 20+ experts – and we’ve been stuck with it ever since. Teenage life doesn’t end for us until we guys get married, we think then we get a bit matured. MYTH: Teenage behavior is the same the world over. True, young people tend to be more open, straight forward and impetuous than older ones. Does this mean all of them – or even the majority – behave the same way? Of course not. Take two extreme examples: a middle-class Indian student, with little serious responsibility other than for their college grades ,they actually then start thinking to what to do and a Saudi Arabian Bedouin married at 14 and parent of three children by the age of 18. The lifestyles and attitudes of these two teenagers couldn’t be further apart. MYTH: Teenagers are irresponsible. Oh yes? Li...

Teenage is tough, no denying that. What with physical and hormonal changes keeping mind and emotions in a tumble and demands to excel in academics and being well-behaved. If you are two and throw a tantrum, it’s a done deal but if you do it at 14 you’re either a bad child or a badly brought-up one. If you’re a mom in your 40s, you have your own hormones to deal with, too. Teenagers challenge you emotionally. With their moods on a swing, parents hit the extremes of their patience. One moment you are the best of mommies, the other you are too demanding if you expect a neat room at least at weekend! Being a parent today, you are constantly torn between wanting to be an understanding friend and a well-meaning parent. If you haven’t had a democratic upbringing, you obviously can’t dig into your personal experiences. Plus, the demands of each generation are different. Despite the daily conflicts you try your best hoping you are striking a balance between what you think is right and what...

As a young person in the 21st century, I find it very difficult to understand why there is such a resistance, be it conscious or subconscious, to including youth in our major socio-economic and development institutions. According to a UNDP report entitled Enhancing Youth Political Participation throughout the Electoral Cycle published in 2012, people between the ages of 15 and 25 represent one-fifth of the world’s population. However, the average age of parliamentarians globally is 53. If such a substantial percentage of the world’s population is below the age of 25, why isn’t this reflected in our “institutions of change”? If we want to promote safe, sustainable and productive society, we have to stop punishing youth with narratives that cite them as “the root of all our problems.” Unfortunately, a lot of the time, young people feel that it doesn’t matter what they do, because when they aren’t being chastised for being “lazy” or “complacent,” they are usu...

It should come as no surprise that young children develop a better work ethic when they’re surrounded by entrepreneurship. This happens in two ways. First, they experience business operations first hand. Whether they’re filing papers and stuffing envelopes or cutting grass and pressure-washing driveways, you quickly understand the value of hard work if you’re thrown into the middle of it.   One of the biggest benefits of teaching your children about entrepreneurship is that you’re able to give them a stronger respect for money. Some children might believe you if you told them money grows on trees, but kids who are exposed to business operations know better.   Starting and expanding a business isn’t easy. Problems inevitably arise, and it’s up to you to fix them, and keep the firm moving in the right direction. Instead of hiding challenges and even setbacks from your kids, you should expose them directly to what’s happening. Not only will their unique input help, but yo...

Building self esteem is something that, if done successfully, can change your life. Being able to accept yourself, to have confidence in yourself, and to know that you are good enough can take you a lot further in life compared to thinking that you’re worthless and that no one likes you or accepts you. In this article, I will talk about where having low self-esteem comes from and what you can do to help build it back up. Think back to when you were young and try to remember an incident where your parents or some other authority figure told you something negative like you’ll never amount to anything. Notice how that feels. Now think back on that incident or incidents again but only this time, see it as a third person watching the event take place. If you could talk to that child version of you, what would you say? Is it possible that your parents just said those things because they thought it would motivate you to do more? Is it possible that their opinions about you as a chil...