Teenage Issues

It’s difficult being a teenager; there’s lots of pressure.

I remember as hard as I tried, I never felt like I fit in. I had an unstable childhood which contributed to having very low self esteem. I wanted to escape my problems, gain acceptance by my peers and feel ‘pretty’ so partying became my method to cope with these teenage issues.

Teenagers are still partying.

It’s frightening to think they feel invincible and do stupid things while under the influence; drinking to extremes and getting alcohol poisoning or ‘experimenting’ with drugs. Self medicating due to difficult issues such as anxiety, depression, divorce, grief etc is extremely serious and needs attention.

What may fall under the radar are the sexual abuse, assaults, and rapes that are happening while teenage girls are under the influence of alcohol and / or drugs.

I’ll give you a couple examples:

Teenage boy is at a party and hooks up with a teenage girl. They have sex in the upstairs bedroom and he wears a condom. He finds out that his girlfriend has now arrived at the party so he gets girl #1 to leave the room. Enter his girlfriend.

“What are you doing with a condom on already?”

“Oh baby, I knew you were coming and I wanted to be ready for you.”

Yes, they end up having sex with the same condom! Two girls, one condom; who’s being protected here!? The girlfriend was not told the truth so made a decision to have sex with her boyfriend based on lies. He thinks he’s a stud and brags about it.

Example number two:

Young teenage girl is very drunk at a party and passes out on a sofa. Older teenage boy notices her and says to his friends:

“They are so much better when they are asleep.”

This is very, very disturbing!

HAVING SEX WITH A GIRL WHILE SHE IS PASSED OUT IS CALLED RAPE.

Thankfully, her friends overheard this comment and quickly got the teenage girl out of the room and away from this individual.

Any unwanted sexual advances regardless of being DRUNK, HIGH or PASSED OUT are called SEXUAL ASSAULTS or RAPE and is a CRIMINAL OFFENCE.

I know what I’m talking about because I was date raped while under the influence of alcohol.

I’m deeply concerned our teenage girls are graduating and marching off into the world with a suitcase already full of insecurities, low self esteem, warped body image issues, guilt, shame and a total disconnect to who they are as a person.

I’m equally as concerned our teenage boys are also marching off into the world but with an entitlement to cross boundaries with women and disrespect them verbally, mentally, emotionally and physically.

Music, television, games, movies and other sources that create a twisted culture of youth buying into being sexy, growing up way too fast and boys disrespecting girls are definitely out there.

Ultimately it’s OUR RESPONSIBILITY as adults to have open conversations and lead by example showing our children what DIGNITY, SELF RESPECT and INTEGRITY means.

It’s our job to help them create and understand BOUNDARIES and proper SELF CARE.

I know some incredible teenage boys and girls who are awesome examples for other teens to follow; however, THEY NEED OUR HELP.

Teenagers may feel like they are adults. They may speak and dress like adults. They may do well in school, have jobs and be involved in other activities like adults but they are CHILDREN and we need to keep them SAFE.

Please pass this on by clicking on the buttons below. Thank you.

With gratitude,

Tina