Young Writers Society

We are the driver of our own destiny. We are the one responsible for our life, on what we are and what will we become. Teenagers today set goals in order to gain success in the near future. “Success is measured by power, popularity, control, achievement and winning. Having more and being more is success.” (Peirce, 2005) Teenagers today seem very different than the old times. We prioritize things immediately without thinking about it. Due to changes on our environment, the behaviors of teenagers also change. The present generation of teenagers desired to be accepted by the people around them. “Acceptance is when you make the conscious decision to be at peace about an event or person that perhaps previously you would have been judgmental about, but no longer has the desire to be that way and so respect their freedom of choice. Acceptance allows you to relinquish that nagging voice that encourages you to reproach or doubt yourself and your decision making skills.” (Elizabeth, 2010) We all want our life to flourish thus, we are preparing for our future. To prosper is to become successful. “Balancing money, happiness, and sustainability leads to prosperity. The prosperity that you value depends on creating income consistent with your inner self; without that, no amount of compensation can fully make you happy.” (Willis & Garn, 2008) Teenage stage is the part wherein we set our objectives in life. It is about being more serious than before. It is the period where we’ll choose the path we are about to take. Our future depends on us, on how we are going to set our priorities. Teenagers nowadays have different priorities such as personal priority, interpersonal priority, and psychological priority.

Youth today are preparing for their future. They have personal priorities such as Education, Job and Future. They give importance on our education because it is their key to be successful in life. They need education in order for us to be knowledgeable. Education is the only thing that cannot be stolen on us. Being educated is like having a rank or a status in the community. According to the article entitled Teenagers Want Successful Careers and Global Travel, Expect to Delay Marriage & Parenting, The most common aspirations of teenagers were related to college and their professional pursuits. Finishing a college degree was their top-rated future priority. This means that they prioritize education for us to have a good career. Having a job is the reason why they want a good education. Having a good education and a high-paying job means being fruitful in the future. They tend to take up courses that will give them better employment. Teenagers want to have job in the future because they want to prosper in life. They crave for a high-paying job to buy the things they want and need. Teens also believed they would be serving in a “job where they can make a difference” by that age.

Teenagers values their social life and relationships with others. Youth are more attached to our family. They are still dependent on them in terms of our basic needs. They still depend on what they can give them. As a teenager, I am still attached to my family because they are the only person whom I can give my full trust and whom can give me all my needs and wants. They are still minors. They have close family ties and we want our family to be proud of them. When teenagers did not get the desired attention and love from their family and friends, there is a risk that they will be rebellious. “According to Child Trends, interpersonal relationships are formed at a more mature level as adolescents develop the necessary skills to develop and maintain these relationships. Interpersonal relationships are developed and enhanced with their parents, other adults in their family and outside their family, and with their peers”. (Kleinschmidt, 2012) Adolescents easily make friends. They tend to be clingy to persons they are always with. They interact without hesitation because they think that having many friends is good for them. Because of relationships, teenagers become easily pressured. Parents must guide their child about who their peers are because there are several possible problems that can be encountered by the adolescents when they did not have a proper guidance. Adolescence is the stage wherein a teen is confused about the changes in his life and he can be influenced easily by others around him. These problems such as peer pressure, vices and etc. can erroneous develop the teens which may lead to unsuccessful life.

One of the priorities of teenagers nowadays is the Psychological priority. This priority includes fame, love, and ego. Teenagers always wanted to become popular because they think that there is a need to be. Youths are attention-seekers and they always wanted to be admired by others. They show off their talents and skills in order for them to be appreciated. Due to the advancement of the technology, teens use social networking sites to mingle with their friends and colleagues. They display their talents on the internet sites for them to be noticed by others, to express themselves and to become famous. In their young age, they get easily attached because of love. Majority of the teenagers today early get into relationships. They fall in love easily when someone shows them extra care and love. Ego sometimes causes us to follow the wrong path. “In addition to the need for feelings of accomplishment and prestige, the esteem needs include such things asself-esteemand personal worth. People need to sense that they are valued and by others and feel that they are making a contribution to the world. People who are able to satisfy the esteem needs by achieving good self-esteem and the recognition of others tend to feel confident in their abilities. Those who lack self-esteem and the respect of others can develop feelings of inferiority.” (Cherry, 2010)

Teenagers set their priorities for them to be ready on what they want to become in the future. There are three priorities of teenagers such as Personal, Interpersonal and Psychological. Personal priority includes Education, Job and Future. This priority will help a teenager to succeed in his life. Interpersonal priority of a teenagers like Family, Friends, and Relationships are those who will help them to flourish in their life. Psychological priorities of a teenager including Fame, Love and Ego can help them to become who they really are and to establish a stronger personality. Adolescence is developing teenagers’ both physical and mental abilities. It is about waking their minds in the real world that they will about to face. Teenagers have to strive really hard to achieve the life they dream for their future.