The Breakfast Club, Rebel Without A Cause, And Ghost World

During her teen years, my older sister was the poster child for ‘Rebellious Teenager’, she bleached her hair, only wore dark clothes, and blasted loud rock music. Other than to bicker with the adults, she never contributed to conversations, much preferring to brood darkly in her room. What surprised me most was the stark contrast to that of her younger self, the talkative girl full of life that I’ve only seen in old home videos. I naively thought that, like my sister, I would turn into a moody, leather jacket wearing teen overnight. Because of this, I dreaded my teenage years. I later learned that the rebellious teenager effect is universal. Teenagers will always have a bad reputation, just take a look at how we are represented in pop culture: ‘The Breakfast Club’, ‘Rebel Without A Cause’ and ‘Ghost World’ are examples of how we are often portrayed as rebellious, lazy and disrespectful.

After all, it is quite a confusing and complicated time in our lives, epecially with puberty and all the hormonal imbalances going on; our insecurities are heightened and we often feel alone. Another hard part about being a teenager is more responsibilities. Although I have nowhere near the amount of responsibilities as an adult, it was an overwhelming transition from a child with zero cares in the world. In the same vein, the pressure to be as well-rounded as possible in school is frustrating, especially in a competitive environment.

Despite everything I said above, being a teenager isn’t all bad. Firstly, the pressure prepares us for the real world, as well as pushing us to aim high and strive to be better. Being a teenager is all about trial and error, it is the only time in our lives where we have enough time and energy to act silly and immature. Most importantly, it is an essential time of growth, we can learn so much from our mistakes and they shape us into mature, well-adjusted