Growing up these days is harder than most adults think. Now, more than ever, teenagers are faced with tough decisions. We are held to the highest expectations and faced with unbelievable pressures of competition, much more than I think my parents ever had. My mother told me her college application process consisted of going to the college counselor at her high school, writing an essay to get her into her state school and going out there and making her parents proud. What a joke! I wish I could write more now, but I’ve got to get out there and compete!
Teens had fewer things to worry about when our parents were kids. They told me that sometimes they didn’t even lock their doors. They didn’t have to worry about being raped or kidnapped. Now it’s dangerous just to be walking home alone at night. Or just going to a college class in Virginia in the morning.
Stress is more common now than in the past, because there are lots more things to be stressed about.
