ADOLESCENCE - POWER GAINED OR INNOCENCE LOST?
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- Andrea Monisha Leslie
Adolescence is the loss of innocence is what I strongly believe. Children entering the age of adolescence often don't want to be treated as children as they let go of their childhood fancies, interests and cravings in order to show that they have changed and they are grown up.
Adolescence can be replaced with the term innocence lost because it has often been an integral part of growing up. As children grow up they begin to start questioning more and caring less about things which once used to matter the most to them. They start being more individualistic and often claim to know world knowledge and even argue to know better then their parents and elders.
At this phase in life children break out and care less about social obedience. This leads not only to innocence lost but also creates a distance between children and parents and the society as the whole. This is because children are no longer willing to accept every rule or notion the society throws at them, but they question, reason out and rebel against everything that comes their way.
Just like how a coin has two faces, adolescence is not only losing of innocence but it is also gaining power. Children are liberated from the beliefs which they were once oppressed with and start thinking for themselves. This liberation or transformation movement in a child’s life plays an important role in shaping the personality of the teen. Parenting at this phase is also very hard as it is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs.
We have all grown up hearing the statement “You used to be such an innocent child”. As some parents and elders find the transformation of their children into adolescent too much of a change . They often find it hard to appreciate their son/daughter’s growth. However this does not mean the children forget their childhood, they do cherish it and even parents have their share of cherishing their children’s childhood memories. Children alone don’t miss what they used to be i.e., the ignorance and everything but parents also miss it. It is always known that too much information which an adolescent seeks destroys childhood innocence.
“No adolescent ever wants to be understood ,which is why they complain about being misunderstood all the time” – Stephen Fry .
COUNTERVIEW
- Ajith Chander B
Adolescence is the period in every person’s life that results in a drastic change. Due to increase in the brain matter, they become more interconnected and gains processing power. The changes can either be for the better or for the worse depending upon the individual. Peers often have anxiety issues at this transitional phase.
Parents are often upset about this change in their children. The changes in the behaviour of their children not only are misunderstood but also most peers are judged by the society. This phase is often mistaken as the “spoilt” phase. Whereas peers gain courage.
I’m still a teenager now, but from 7th to 10th grade I didn’t really know what I wanted at all. I was smart so I used to hang out with those boys who were in the good books of the teachers. As time passed i started hanging out with the cool dudes of the class. But there was this one part of me which missed my old self, and at that point i wanted to be alone and improve myself as a person. This phase not only moulded my character but it also spoke well about me. This is not a tale of losing innocence but gaining of power. This made me choose the right kind of people in my life and be more careful.
“As you become more clear about who you really are, you’ll be better able to decide what is best for you-the first time around”- Oprah Winfrey
Such a nice article. Really worth a read.
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