The Causes and Effects Of Teenage Problems

Okay, I've finally finished typing my article about teenagers.
I've decided to type about "The Causes and Effects of Teenage Problems". I don't know why. It's the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of the word "Teenagers".
So, yeah...

I took roughly around 3 hours to complete the whole thing.
I used 1 hour for research, and the other 2 hours for typing and double-checking my article in Microsoft Word.

Ummm, the total number of words in my article is 1276 words, excluding the title, which far exceeds my teacher's expectation of 400-500 words...

Well, since I've got nothing else better to do, I might as well post my article here for you guys to read...
Here it is...

"The Causes and Effects of Teenage Problems" by Andrew Ho
Drug abuse, peer pressure, internal conflict. These represent a mere smattering of the many problems plaguing the teenagers in our modern world. Teenagers, whose ages are ranged between 13 and 20 years old, are also known as "adolescents", and they are faced with many problems concerning their health, behaviour, welfare, and social life. Often, these problems are detrimental to teenagers not because of the nature of the problems themselves, but because most teenagers are simply unable to fully understand and comprehend the danger involved when faced with these problems. Bear in mind that adolescence represents the transition of a person from childhood to adulthood. Therefore, many adolescents are often inherently naïve and unaware of the seriousness of teenage problems, and will inevitably succumb to them. Point being, they do not know what they’re getting themselves into and are unaware of the many consequences they would have to face. Complications are also aroused due to the fact that adolescents have a strong urge of "wanting to try out new things", without assessing or even fearing the consequences.

There are many problems that are generally faced by every teenager upon reaching adolescence. Some of these problems arise because of puberty. Puberty brings about significant changes to a teenager, both physically and mentally. For instance, notable changes in a teenager’s physique include the growth of pubic hair and change in bodily figure, whereas a teenager’s mental changes involve increased awareness of the opposite gender, as well as becoming more self-conscious.

The changes brought about by puberty are very important for the development of a teenager, particularly concerning the reproductive system. But there are some changes in puberty that can bring about several serious problems for an adolescent. Excessive levels of sebum produced by the sebaceous glands during adolescence may cause the gland to become clogged with sebum, thus causing inflammation of the skin and leading to the development of "acne". Apart from scarring, acne often has a strong psychological effect on teenagers as well, such as low self-esteem, for example. And in some cases, teenagers face depression and even suicide due to the psychological effects of acne.

Another problem commonly associated with puberty is the development of mental health disorders. Many teenagers only start developing various mental disorders after puberty or during adolescence. Examples of such include mood disorders, depressive disorder and schizophrenia, all of which become first apparent during adolescence, and may lead to the risk of suicide in some severe cases. Eating disorders, for instance anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, also develop rapidly during adolescence, and may have a serious impact on a teenager’s health. One particular mental disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, also abbreviated as ADHD, is a less well-known cause of teenage problems, but is a cause all the same. ADHD commonly develops during childhood, and conditions normally improve before a child reaches adolescence. But if no specific action or treatment is carried out during the childhood stage, it may continue developing even after a person reaches the adolescence stage. This is also known as "Teen ADHD". Teen ADHD, as its name suggests, is a disorder that causes hyperactive and impulsive behavior in teenagers inappropriate to their age. This could often lead to teenagers suffering from Teen ADHD to involve themselves in many negative social activities, because they lack a sense of fear and restraint, due to the nature of the disorder.

Besides puberty, teenage problems can also be brought about by the influence of a teenager’s "friends", otherwise known as peer pressure. Teenagers experience very active social lives during adolescence, and during the course of a teenager’s adolescence, he or she will eventually meet many people and befriend them. Most of the time, friends are often beneficial, providing help, moral support and whatnot. But sometimes, the problem of peer pressure begins to kick in. The so-called "friends" would pressure a teenager to "fit in" among them, and the teenager, whether willingly or unwillingly, often gives in to their influence. Therefore, peer pressure can be defined as the influence exerted by a peer group in encouraging a person to change his or her attitudes, values, or behavior in order to conform to the group’s norms. This often leads to teenagers getting involved in negative activities due to the influence of their friends, such as smoking, robbery, committing acts of vandalism, et cetera.

Family status is also a very common cause of many teenage problems. The two types of families often associated with this fact are families in a state of poverty, and "dysfunctional" families. Families in a state of poverty have little or no income, as well as a lack of basic needs, including food, clothing and shelter. Thus, teenagers who are brought up in this kind of family often find themselves forced to commit acts of robbery, theft, burglary, pick-pocketing, and in some cases murder and prostitution, in order to support their family. "Dysfunctional families", on the other hand, are families in which conflict, misbehaviour, and often abuse of its individual members occur continually and regularly. This lack of empathy and understanding can seriously impact the behaviour and personality of teenagers brought up in dysfunctional families in a negative way. Teenagers often have mixed feelings of anger and hate towards their parents or siblings, and the temptation of running away is very hard to resist. Furthermore, teenagers brought up in dysfunctional families exhibit a lack of self-discipline, and therefore have a tendency to involve themselves in various negative social activities, such as drug addiction and alcohol consumption. And sometimes, teens from dysfunctional families also suffer from paranoia, poor self-image, low self-esteem, and even suicidal thoughts.

Teenage pregnancy is also another teenage problem that is rapidly becoming an extremely serious issue. Sexual intercourse and copulation without the use of contraceptives or birth control methods will lead to underage adolescent girls becoming pregnant. This can often deprive them from pursuing any form of higher education, let alone complete their secondary education. Nowadays, most of those who are already impregnated often commit one of two horrible acts in order to avoid parenthood. If the baby were still unborn, they would kill the unborn baby by means of abortion, thus taking away an innocent life. If the baby were already born, they would simply dump or throw the baby away. Both acts are considered heinous crimes. And all of this happens because many adolescents do not think twice before acting – sacrificing their education and their future merely for their own lust and indulgence.

Undoubtedly, teenagers will inevitably have to face a wide multitude of problems in their lives once they reach the adolescence stage, whether they want to or not. The real question is whether they will be able to "understand" the reason why the problems occur, "assess" the consequences of everything they do, and most importantly, be able to "control" themselves. Then, and only then, will they be able to avoid many teenage problems that can seriously affect their future. Take for instance, if a teenager "understands" the negative effects of smoking, then the teenager would be able to "assess" that smoking would lead to various types of diseases and health problems related to the respiratory system. And lastly, the teenager will be able to "control" him or herself from smoking, despite the teenager’s inherent feeling of "wanting to try new things".

Conclusively, teenagers should be more conscious about the many problems they face, and must be able to avoid them by being aware of the consequences of each and every thing they do. Hopefully by doing so, teenagers will not have to throw their lives away, not to mention squandering their chances for a bright future.


So, ummm, how was it?

Well, at least I'm finally done with it.
Now I can enjoy my weekend in peace! Yay!
Two more days until school re-opens, people! I can't wait!

May the Force be with you...