Are Todays Teenagers Really That Rebellious?

Drugs. Sex. Alcohol. Violence. Technology. Music.

Not a day goes by without hearing some of our older peers commenting on how our generation is being thrown down the toilet. We have been called 'wild','irresponsible' and 'selfish', influenced by the media and the internet. The age that people are having sex has been as low as 12, with the average of 16/17. Teenage pregnancy has also been on the rise. We are made to feel ashamed and guilty of our generation, with articles published daily about how wild we've become. Here are a few statistics I've discovered:

- In the U.S., 7 in 10 women who had sex before age 14, and 6 in 10 of those who had sex before age 15 report having had sex involuntarily. - Facts in Brief: Teen Sex and Pregnancy

- Nationally, nearly one million young women under age 20 become pregnant each year. That means close to 2800 teens get pregnant each day. - Facts in Brief: Teen Sex and Pregnancy

- More than 40% of teens who admitted drinking said they drink when they are upset; 31% said they drink alone; 25% said they drink when they are bored; and 25% said they drink to get high.

I know our generation isn't perfect, but I am one teenager who wants to make a point and ask the people who are older then us: "What was your generation like?"
Well, I have certainly found out.

I have an adult relative who started smoking at the age of 9, and that was considered normal. She is in her 40's now, and that would have been in the 70's. Not smoking back then, she told me, was like not having a cell phone today. Smoking was a huge part of life back then, right up to the 90's. I have gone though many lectures about how dangerous it is to smoke, and now it's even uncool to smoke. Smoking was elegant back then, now the impression is that it's 'common'.

Now, here's one interesting fact that I was shocked to learn. This fact was the whole reason I wanted to write this article. Pompeii, an ancient city located in Italy, was buried by layers of ash in 79AD. It was rediscovered 1599, and casts were made of the bodies. The Pompeii region has been heavily excavated to this day, and I recently watched a documentary about it. In it, they examined two ten-year old girls' bodies. In the girls' teeth, a disease was found. It was also found in other parts of the body. This disease was a sexually transmitted disease.

It was later proven that these two girls were prostitutes. This was not a rare exception, Pompeii was an extremely wealthy city and had several brothels. Prostitutes working there were as young as 8 or 9 years old. As I have said, this was very common. This, I have to remind you, was in 79AD. Today, we are disturbed at the thought of 12 year olds having sex, and that's quite rare, never mind 8 year olds, which was common back then. This proves that this generations sex-life isn't all that bad compared to generations before us.

The whole thing about teen pregnancy being on the rise is quite ridiculous. In the middle ages it was common to get married at the age of 14-16 and have children. Also, a lot of pregnancies were covered up in the last 100 years before now, I know this was a huge thing in Ireland. Also, we have protection now with condoms and other means. The internet can be dangerously powerful sometimes, but it's part of development. It's the reason why you're reading this right now, everyone's voice can be heard. Internet can be very risky sometimes though, and I can see why there are some problems with it.

And drugs? C'mon, think of the kids in the hippy age, they must have been drowned by drugs. There are still huge drug problems to day, but there were problems with the last generation, and the one before it, and the one before that.

So, to wrap up this article, these are the points I have made:

  • Smoking had higher rates in previous years then now.
  • Sex had a lower age in previous years then now.
  • Pregnancy had a lower age in previous generations then now.
  • Drugs were the same, if not higher, then now.
  • Alcohol has gotten worse in the last century, but not in just our generation, our parents and grandparents too.

I think teenagers are naturally rebellious, all the way back to the stone age. We have the minds of kids and the power of near adults, who wouldn't want to take advantage of that? Teenage rebelliousness will always be a problem, it is part of the natural human cycle. It's like kids will always be clumsy, babys will always have needs, and seniors will need to be cared for. There are few teenagers who don't fight with their parents or have a streak of something.

And when you think about it, our generation isn't all that bad. Our parents are horrified at us listening to swear-riddled music, but we have earphones and we don't actually sing it in the wrong situations (usually). We chat with our friends in the safety of our homes at 11 at night on facebook, 10 years ago you would have snuck out. I just think the media has been mean to us, and also...

Who raised us anyway?

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