i couldnt agree more with this title i chanced upon few days ago, 'teenagehood is one of the hardest transitions of life to go through.

it definitely is not so much because it is intrinsically more demanding than all the other stages of life but more so because it comes when we are mentally and emotionally inexperienced. In light of this, we teenagers need steady social relations that provide a smooth process of socialisation - to help us deal with our responsibilities and rights.

being teenagers, in us lies the child which seem to have been cast away, as these childish ways of ours have brought much distraught to the people all around us, hurting our loved ones in the process. inevitably, we're all forced to chuck aside this side of ours and face the stage of growing up.

everybody eventually grows up, at one point or another.

myself included - and in this process of growth, i have learned ( and still am learning ) valuable lessons that none other living thing will be able to impart or even, will it to me. no doubt through this transition in life am i opened up to a frightening plethora of challenges with a paucity of assistance, but i am convinced through all these mistakes and hard knocks in life that we teenagers face will, to differing degrees, gear us up for something bigger, something grander.

many of my peers ( not forgetting yours truly ) are victimised under the hands of the 'wicked' education system. a system that has inevitable dragged us into this rat race - forcing us to 'kill' our fellow classmates and peers on pen and paper ( rather than on the battlegrounds ) through this meritocrate system. No, its not so much about me resisting against education vociferously but rather how that in this time and age, it is no longer about having zilch qualifications with only sheer bravado and street smartness. our society has conformed to this idea of possesing the competent behaviour and eagerness to strive for a viable career or lifestyle option.

therein lies our parents' mantra: 'study hard for your future; thats all you are required to do for now.' look here uncles and aunties, do not extenuate the difficulties we teenagers are in as time has changed and it no longer is how it used to be decades ago. just take some time off and spend a few minutes observing the on-going 'trend' of the people around you - only then will you get what i am trying to bring across. our pace of lives has quickened and we've all succumb and fallen victim to the repurcussions of technology. without a doubt technology has in a way, mollycoddled our lives, make it 'easier' and more 'adaptable'. But as much competition the adults gets in return in this time of information; it must come to their understanding that we - children, are not spared from this vicious cycle either.

it is indeed lucid and evident that teenagers are facing an ever-increasing pressure from all external factors and that it has no longer become as easy to graduate with ease was it was for our older siblings, and some - parents. remember how a degree would suffice in guaranteeing us a well-paid job? and yet now, a degree WITH honours is not much of a biggie. without a doubt, the benchmark has risen unprecedentedly and we teenagers, just happen to be the next in line waiting to be enslaved.