That Time

By Naima Khanna

Everyone tells you to enjoy your school life and this is the age to have fun but focus on your studies at the same time. They don’t tell you the other side of it. I’m not saying school life isn’t fun, it is outrageously fun. But at the same time, it is mentally draining.

Of course, there is the pressure of studies. A lot of pressure. First, they have tests every week, then there are projects or graded assignments every term, then there is homework. So much homework. Of course, you have to study for examinations simultaneously. Then parents tell you physical exercise is also important so you have to do that. After all this, where’s the time for anything else? If you complain about it, parents say “You’re at this age now, studies get difficult now, and you’re a big girl.” And in other cases when you want to go somewhere, they say “You’re not that big now.” So our maturity changes according to the occasion.

Then there is social pressure. Socializing is fun, but at the same time, the constant pressure to be equal to others is there. All motivational quotes like ‘Be yourself, there’s no one better’ or ‘Don’t get affected by what others think about you’ its all just talk. In the real situation, social pressure gets to you, and no matter how hard you try to convince yourself you’re great the way you are, it is not happening. You’re not believing it. It is natural to want to be cool and usually, you can’t do much about it unless you’re extremely headstrong. Your parents don’t realize and they try to protect you in any way and it's not their fault because they haven’t gone through the same thing. Times were different when they were teenagers. At this point, their ways to protect might just make things worse.

Phones. In parents’ eyes, that’s the root of every problem. And as punishment, they take it away. It doesn’t help in my opinion. It just frustrates teenagers more. I think it is supposed to do that only so it teaches us a lesson. But the truth is, the phone is not the root. There’s one root for all of this and that’s this age only. You can’t fix it, you have to go through all of it. No choice.

Obviously, this is not what happens to every teenager. It is just the majority goes through it. There’s no solution. You have to accept it. And it isn't all bad. It is actually very fun because at this age you’re discovering new things. So, it is not all fun, but not all bad.

By Naima Khanna