News (Media Awareness Project) - UK: OPED: At 17 You Think You're Immorta |
| Title: | UK: OPED: At 17 You Think You're Immorta |
| Published On: | 2005-11-27 |
| Source: | Independent on Sunday (UK) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-01-14 22:50:58 |
AT 17 YOU THINK YOU'RE IMMORTAL
Risk-Taking Is the Main Game
Risk-taking and pushing yourself further than you thought you could
go is normal for young people. It starts in childhood: toddlers
always do it, then run back to the safety of their parents.
Those who can afford it do these amazing feats, sailing round the
world or bungee-jumping. But if you are an ordinary kid what can you
do to risk-take? Drugs are a big attraction because they seem
foolhardy and wicked, and taking them is a way of getting your own
back on adults. When it comes to alcohol, there is always a tendency
to drink more because you shouldn't. And the industry is partly to
blame for making up drinks such as Long Island Ice Tea with all types
of alcohol in them. Remember, when you're 17 you think you're immortal.
My generation didn't need to go out and do stupid things because they
went to war and society always treated them as heroes. If they got
drunk, it was accepted because they were young people who had gone to
war. Look at those poor soldiers in Iraq. They are risk-taking with
huge government approval.
Although we are the fourth richest country in the world, we still
have an obscene number of people on the poverty line. And many young
people have non-coping parents, which means they have grown up
disillusioned with the adult world. It hurts dreadfully when your
family breaks up. Your world shakes.
As for body image, teenagers are made to be self-hating much too
young. They look at these absurd images of hollow-cheeked so-called
beauties. My idea of beauty is built on that war-time and post-war
image of glowing health. But young girls now want to be skinny. They
want their breasts blown up like balloons. It's heart-breaking. And
their parents collude. No one tells children they are pretty any more
because they think they will spoil them.
The children grow up with no self-esteem. They haven't got that sense
of 'I am a special person. I'm as valuable and beautiful as they
are.' The problem is you will pass this low self-esteem on to the
next generation.
Risk-Taking Is the Main Game
Risk-taking and pushing yourself further than you thought you could
go is normal for young people. It starts in childhood: toddlers
always do it, then run back to the safety of their parents.
Those who can afford it do these amazing feats, sailing round the
world or bungee-jumping. But if you are an ordinary kid what can you
do to risk-take? Drugs are a big attraction because they seem
foolhardy and wicked, and taking them is a way of getting your own
back on adults. When it comes to alcohol, there is always a tendency
to drink more because you shouldn't. And the industry is partly to
blame for making up drinks such as Long Island Ice Tea with all types
of alcohol in them. Remember, when you're 17 you think you're immortal.
My generation didn't need to go out and do stupid things because they
went to war and society always treated them as heroes. If they got
drunk, it was accepted because they were young people who had gone to
war. Look at those poor soldiers in Iraq. They are risk-taking with
huge government approval.
Although we are the fourth richest country in the world, we still
have an obscene number of people on the poverty line. And many young
people have non-coping parents, which means they have grown up
disillusioned with the adult world. It hurts dreadfully when your
family breaks up. Your world shakes.
As for body image, teenagers are made to be self-hating much too
young. They look at these absurd images of hollow-cheeked so-called
beauties. My idea of beauty is built on that war-time and post-war
image of glowing health. But young girls now want to be skinny. They
want their breasts blown up like balloons. It's heart-breaking. And
their parents collude. No one tells children they are pretty any more
because they think they will spoil them.
The children grow up with no self-esteem. They haven't got that sense
of 'I am a special person. I'm as valuable and beautiful as they
are.' The problem is you will pass this low self-esteem on to the
next generation.
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