Who Am I?

Recently we have been talking about teens and their rolelessness. This is a simple term...not knowing what their role is in life. Teens have been pictured in a completely different way than in the 1960s when the word "teen" came into play. There is so much less in a teenager's life now. Our lives consist of school, homework, friends, sports, clubs and MAYBE a job. Even with this, most of my friends do not have jobs in the school year. So when we are put into college or the real world, it is a shock! Many of my friends have gone to college and been very confused with having to do everything for themselves. Sociologists say that some of this rolelessness may be due to the lack of teen jobs with adult supervisors. Also, there are a lot less public "hang outs". Everywhere that my friends and I go now uses money in some form, and since most of my friends aren't working, the money comes from their parents. All of this leads to that lack of self knowledge. Many teens that do have jobs are in jobs where they work with other teens and possibly one or two adults. This gives a lack of interaction with people who are actually living in the real world.

This relates to our class because we (teens) are being treated as children. When we go into the real world we have to go from being completely dependent to being almost completely independent. That is a huge jump that they expect almost instantly. It's not that easy!!

In my life, my job is a babysitter. I babysit everyday after school until about 6:30. The whole time I am the adult in the situation. I think this is one of the best jobs I can have, because I am acting as the adult to these children while still being able to go home and be the dependent one. I believe this is one of the best ways to give teens a look into the real world. I feel like right now in my life, I am in that awkward "not a girl not yet a woman" stage, but I feel like my transition to woman will be a lot easier after having both of the sides present at once.