Erik Gray
Southern Utah University
Examining Adolescence: Looking at the
Trying Years From the Eyes of a Fifteen-Year-Old
For many years, adolescence has been classified as a period of physical and emotional growth, intense moodiness, and emotional sensitivity. In my twenty years of life, I can think back and easily say that adolescence was the hardest part of it. I grew a lot, but it was difficult, stressful, and emotionally worrisome. Given the option, I would easily choice to never relive those years of my life again. My brother, Justin Gray, is a 15-year-old freshman at Cedar High School in Cedar City, Utah. I interviewed him about some of the aspects of adolescence, which brought back many memories of my own. From that interview, I realized that both Justin and I experienced a lot of the same feelings and worries. The worries of adolescence isn’t unique to just a small group of people, but a large majority. Three concepts I’d like to discuss are the having a mentor, the idea of an imaginary audience, and the “storm and stress” of adolescence.
As the youngest of five, Justin has older siblings to look to. He said that having a mentor really help: when he is faced with a problem, he asks his older siblings, who at least one has gone through the same situation or something similar. When he has a question about what girls like (be it as simple as a shirt, or as deep as how to act around her), or even what he should with all his football gear, he says that it is great to have older siblings who have gone through the same time period in his life. Just as good as it is for any person, regardless of age, to have a mentor, it really puts things in perspective and some of his seemingly complicated problems are solved instantly (Gray, 2014).
A large majority of adolescents worry that they have an “imaginary audience.” Justin said that he “always feel like everybody watches everything he does,” even if no one is watching. He also said that as selfish as it sounds, people worry the most about themselves and think that they matter the most (Gray, 2014). The concept of an imaginary audience ties into a deeper concept: adolescent egocentrism, one’s feeling that they are the center of attention (Belsky, 2013). Imagine that you are in a lunchroom, walking to your seat, when all of sudden, you fall, spilling food on yourself and the floor. Would everyone around look at you? Most likely. In likeness, adolescents have many changes coming their way. Because they feel and look different, I believe that is why they have the feeling of this egocentrism.
Adolescence has been characterized as the stage of “storm and stress” when G. Stanley hall first identified it in 1904 (Belsky, 2013). Justin nodded his head in obvious approval when he first heard this statement. He says that it is a tough time, and that because of this storm and stress, people seem to be more sensitive. “People just take things way too seriously” (Gray, 2014). In addition, Justin stated that he, and many others he has noticed, are in the time of storm and stress. Everything seems to be a bigger issue for that age group than should be. Life seems to be in utter chaos compared to the easy years of elementary school.
In conclusion, adolescence is a pretty trying and difficult time for a lot of people. Having a mentor helps keep things in perspective, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that adolescents always feel like the world is constantly staring and watching them or that adolescence is a time of storm and stress. Things can be confusing and sometimes life can seem to be in total chaos. But amidst all the confusion and change, it is a hope that teenagers come out of adolescence ready to face the world, using the experience they have had and the change they have made to become better people. Yes, adolescence is a trying time, but as one of my favorite quotes states, a sailing ship can’t move forward without a little wind.
References
Belsky, J. (2013). Experiencing The Lifespan (Third ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers. Retrieved April 10, 2014
Gray, J. (2014, March 6). (E. Gray, Interviewer)
