Being 16 Round the World

Attention: This was written by a teenager.

Being 16 can mean a lot of different things for different people. Turning 16 is important for most teenagers. There are sweet sixteen parties where teenagers will go all out for their birthday party. If you asked a teenager if their life changed when they turned 16, they might say that they thought it would be totally different and that it took forever for them to turn 16 but after everything was just the same as it always was.
For some teenagers it symbolizes freedom in the form of a driver’s license. Around the world teenagers sometimes can’t get their license until they are 18. Some just don’t have a need to get a driver’s license. In big cities most families don’t have a car, so there is no hope that a teenager would get a car. That is a big difference between here in Utah where a family usually has at least two cars and teenagers usually get a car when they are sixteen. Most teenagers here in Utah have thought about what they will do when they turn 16 and have their own car. Many have thought about it even when they are in elementary school. All of the elementary students see the teenagers driving around in their cars and they can’t wait until they can drive. In other parts of the world kids just don’t get their driver’s licenses when they are 16. It isn’t as important as it is around here. There are other means of transportation. There isn’t the need to drive and urgency to be free to go where you want to go without your parents having to drive you there. Kids in big cities can usually take public transportation on their own by the time they are 12 or 13.
There are hundreds of thousands of teenagers that live all over the world. They live in different countries; they live different lives, go to different schools, and live in homes that range from apartments to mansions. Despite all of these differences, teenagers are basically the same. All teenagers at one point in their teenage life have gotten mad at their parents. Some more than others, but all teenagers have rebelled against an authority figure. It isn’t because teenagers are impossible and crazy and parents just can’t control them. It is just that at that point in a person’s life they are trying to become more independent and the parents don’t want them to. One of the definitions for teen is “affliction or woe” which is pretty much what is going on with the teenager and also the teenager’s parents. Teenagers around the world rebel in different ways. Kids in New York get tattoos and piercings, kids in Utah are mellower and just slam doors or don’t show respect or talk back. Teenagers in China really don’t rebel. They probably feel like it but being polite to their elders is so much part of their culture that they don’t rebel, they usually just keep it in. So they rebel, just not outward rebellion.
A big part of teenage life is music. It is often said that you can tell a person by just looking at their ipod. Music is very influential to teenagers. Now days teenagers are almost always listening to music. They have ipods and mp3 players and they have access to music almost where ever they go. Many teenagers when they get angry or sad they shut themselves in their room and listen to music. Television is also a big influence on a teenager. TV has changed dramatically since my parents were kids. My parents grew up watching The Andy Griffiths Show and Hogan’s heroes. (Ya I know, my parents are old) Today most everyone watches American Idol and NCIS. Teenagers watch so much television these days that how could it not have an influence? Also video games are a huge influence. Do you really think that your parents played as many video games as you do? Probably not, but I’m not going to go into that.
Although the cultures are different, the people are different, and everyday life is different, teenagers around the globe are basically the same. Most will go to school, talk to their friends about how much they hate school, rebel against their parents in some way, get caught doing something illegal, and basically have fun hanging out with their friends. Now I bet that is what most of our parents did also. I know that it is hard to believe, but our parents were teenagers at some point too. Don’t let that fool you, I strongly believe that half of the time when a parent tells a teenager that they understand, they don’t, but there is that other half of the time that they do understand and that they are really trying to help you. Anyway, being a teenager is hard. High school is hard, but it will end and you will wish it hadn’t. You can’t stop time, so just live in the moment and enjoy being 16 because soon you will be 17, and you will never be 16 again.