Modern Teenage Problems

Modern teenage lives have changed fundamentally, and with that change comes struggle. In the 21st century, many social issues can cause problems for young people, especially teenagers, the lab rats for new changes in society. The effects on their mental health have become increasingly noticeable through increasingly stressful education and social pressures.

New technology have become extremely prevalent in this day and age. While technology has many uses, it can also cause problems for teenagers. Social media can cause cyberbullying among peers, and leave teens feeling left out among their own friends. In addition, sexual predators have a growing presence online that can trap teenagers into dangerous situations.

The show “Hansen vs Predator” exemplifies the dangers of social media. On the show, a sting operation created a fake teenager online to find sexual predators that lure children into unsafe situations. In some cases, the predators clearly put teenagers in danger and come to their houses with weapons. Some people catfish minors, hiding their actual identity, in turn tricking teenagers into building a relationship with potentially dangerous people.

Teenage relationships grow increasingly likely to occur online. While in the abstract not problematic, online relationships make it harder for them to actually interact with their significant other or friend in person.

Teenagers have the increasing pressure of their education and school to worry about. Education has changed a lot in recent years, and now that an undergraduate college education has become imperative to receive a well-paying job  teenagers have found it more difficult to get accepted into the colleges of their choice. That also means that teens find high school harder as they constantly try to out-perform each other and push their limits to the breaking point.

Along with the stress of working hard in school, teenagers also fear for their lives in places such as school, places of worship, movie theaters or the mall. With attacks on schools brought to the forefront of news cycles, many students fear for their lives in places like school because they worry their school could be next.

Mental health problems caused by the above issues recently became very prevalent in modern teenagers. According to the Very Well Family, 20 percent of teenagers will have depression before they become an adult. New technology keeps teens from doing things that prevent depression, like going outside, hanging out with their friends or taking up hobbies they enjoy.