By Amarachi Favour
Every stage of growth in life has its peculiarity; just as childhood, teenage, and adulthood. These stages all have their characteristic behaviours and how the world views them in prospect. Childhood is peculiar to the growth-formation stage of the physical body structure, self-awareness, and inquisitive attitude in every sphere which in turn forms their overall perspective and learning experience. The teenage stage is peculiar to the development of body hormones, mental alertness, and social behaviour, while adulthood is peculiar to maturity, solid decision-making, experience, less open-mindedness, and receptivity to change. In this piece, I will like to dwell on the teenage stage and their world.
The world of teenagers is a different world entirely– a brotherhood where a kindred spirit is forged. The kindred spirit in this context means to bond and togetherness. In this spirit, they perpetuate their unruly act or misdemeanor and establish a mapped-out plan which they pursue with enthusiasm. They tend to do things in one accord – unity of purpose. This is not to say that they don’t have conflicts or deferring views or ideas about certain issues among themselves but the focal point in this piece is the characteristic features they share.
In as much as certain characteristic features will be discussed, it will be worthy of note to assert that the teenage world is a complex, intricate, and intriguing stage for adults to understand, not minding that at one point in time, they (adults)have passed through this stage. Permit me to say that their era then and now are not the same in the phase of the global changes in the ICT world. Some of the attributes of this brotherhood world of teenagers are: cooperation, confraternity, adventure, and their general individual attribute which is clamour for freedom.
Cooperation: This is a significant feature you see among teenagers. They always exhibit this attitude in every of their day-to-day activity. In the school, church, as well as their immediate environment. The bond they share when it comes to cooperation is one to be reckoned with especially when they map out a plan to execute any of their acts either positively or negatively. They do these things with so much vigour that no one, not even an adult will envisage what they are up to until their plans are reached and established. Their level of cooperation is top-notch- All for one, one for all. This attitude of theirs can be likened to that of ants. As tiny as these insects are, they work in colony with a high level of cooperation and determination which makes them achieve their goal.
Take for instance the scenario; End Sars Protest which took place on the 20th of October 2020. Though the movement was not orchestrated by teenagers but this point is to clearly illustrate the same attitude of the teenagers when it comes to cooperation even in the face of danger, they remained dogged and resolute. Some of the astounding feats by the youth during the protest were their ability to network themselves such that the protest took place almost simultaneously and the use of the latest technology in making payments and transactions even when the Federal Government put in place some policy. These are the innate attitude developed which in turn reflected in their youth.
Confraternity: Of all stated attributes, this is one that clearly exhibits the natural stage of friendship and mutual understanding amongst them. They tend to build this brotherly love through the formation of cliques, faction,s and groups based on their common interest and views. For proper identification and at times to disconcert people around, they relate in codes, and languages familiar to themselves and at some point give names to themselves to show the bond they share as friends. This confraternity is exhibited mostly in boarding schools where there is little or no supervision. They go as far as bully, intimidate, and harass the weak and vulnerable ones. At this point, if this is not checked, they become so in tune with it and it might snowball into forming of cliques or gangs which may have to dare consequences as they grow past the stage.
Adventurous: This set of beings is venturesome in nature. There is this innate urge of wanting to attempt anything conceived in their hearts. They like to explore new ideas and things. Looking at the ICT world of today, we see these sub-adults manipulate most of these gadgets with ease making it a competition amongst themselves to see who is vast in the use of these gadgets. They are mentally alert and prepared. They exhibit the tendency to delve into different skills of which some might be inborn while some are developed through training, asking questions from friends, and at the same time from movies and online research. This is the time to get them young and channel this attitude into good use.
In addition, their general individual attribute which can also be considered as a common feature of their world is the clamour for freedom: the impression the teenagers usually have when they are at this stage is that of ecstasy and exuberance. At this point, they want to be their ‘own’ person (independent)who will be able to make their own decisions without supervision. They want to be seen and heard even among friends. At times, they think the advice that you give is unnecessary because it makes them feel incapable of fixing their problems even when they feel they can because of certain adventurous moves they’ve displayed amongst friends who they see as cliques and these in turn can lead to conflict.
A teenage boy who is an only child expresses his disappointment at the manner in which his mum nurtures him. In his words “My mum’s overprotective attitude made me coy and reserve. I hardly could do anything on my own but whenever I am with my friends, I see them explore and do so many things that I could barely do. I watch them as well as learn from them. Anytime I try to practice these things at home, Mum always yell at me”. I wish she knew that I can take care of myself”.
This brings us to the emphasis on how teenagers should be treated and guided in their world without outright disregard for their views, feelings, and orientation. There is a need for adults, parents, and guardians to enlighten them
*On how to channel the attribute of cooperation in the right direction even when things go wrong in their lives they can count on their parents/guardians instead of their friends alone.
*That the brotherly friendship they share amongst friends can also be achieved with parents /guardians in terms of communicating their ideas, feelings, and thoughts which in turn can help them develop cordial relationships with their parents or guardian as well as aid a mutual understanding of their world and how they should be guided.
*On how their adventurous innate quality can be redirected into something productive such as sports, excellent academic performance, entertainment, etc
*That in as much as freedom is a desirable quality of every human, for teenagers, there is a need for them to be guided even when you give them some measures of freedom. Understanding that with freedom comes great responsibility. Given that, their freedom should be tailored such that they can take the right decisions and stand up for their actions to dislodge the whims or caprices that are synonymous with the teenage stage.
The World of teenagers is not entirely difficult to manage though it seems complex, intricate, and intriguing because of the wall they build around themselves.
