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(Wednesday, April 4, 2007-)
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‘The teenage years are the best years of one’s life.’ Would you agree with this view? (CAMBRIDGE NOV 1994)
Why would I agree that teenage years are the best years of one’s life when I’m mugging at 2.10am trying to churn out this piece of work just to meet the dateline my teacher had set? Yes, yes. I know how some of you out there would say that despite the homework, boring lectures, egoistic teachers, naggy parents and especially those hardcore muggers in school, teenage life wondrous as this is when people start to experience and understand the realities of the world.
Teenage years, a phrase of life that everyone had to experience; going through puberty, experiencing the sweet-bitterness of first love, hanging out late with friends, sitting in front of your computer or television console for hours, defying the orders of your parents, making decisions on your own for the first time, taking up General Paper to know more about the world (much more like how others sees it), the list goes on. Wow! It sure is exciting doing all this things for the first time. And I’m certain it makes you feel finally or at least partially as an individual but not just an extension of your parents’ will. It seems like it is during this stage of life when one learns to take charge of his/her life.
The feeling of being independent, being in control sure is nice isn’t it? But here comes the side effects. As the cliché of our all-time favourite friendly spider comics suggest, “With great power comes great responsibility”, the mere ability to make the many decisions in life was given to every teenager along with a price tag. And written on this price tag, is the word stress. Stress coupled with all the other hormonal changes in the body result in teenagers feeling angst and rebellious, and in turn lead to the so-called ‘emo’ cases. Whereby teens wore black clothing, listen to gloomy and gory music and even self mutilate, justifying these actions as forms of emancipation. Doesn’t all these makes us wonder if the price of growing up is too high?
Then which are the best years of ones life? If the teenage years were bad, adulthood is going to be worst. It is obvious that it is the stage of life when the full responsibility of your life comes weighing on your shoulders and that doesn’t end here. When parenthood comes into the picture, the burden gets heavier and it just keeps adding on. The full fledge of external factors would come crashing right onto you! Paychecks, house loans, bills, medical fees, GST, unemployment, upgrading, your children’s school fees, your unreasonable boss, your self-centered colleagues, your unfriendly neighbours and many many many more. And guess what? The stage that marks the beginning of all these, is our teenage years! Sad to say, but it is God’s and our government’s way of preparing us for the harshness of the life ahead. Am I being too cynical about all this? You may say so but from what I see, these are what almost every adult around me is going through. Alas! The best years of ones life are often gone even without us noticing. As the old saying goes, ignorance is bliss”. But for now naivety will cost us dearly.
the story ends like this;
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