ADOLESCENT CULTURE

I have been taking a class with Dr. Chap Clark over the past couple of weeks. He is paving a way of understanding towards adolescent culture that many people whom deal with adolescents on a daily basis are following. With all sorts of new information from his class on my mind regarding teenagers, I came across a little something...

I was tutoring a young lady earlier this week, her name to remain anonymous, (By the way, I have loved tutoring. I originally loved the idea of tutoring because of the good money and flexible hours, but I have realized a deeper love for students that I did not realize that I had. This job has been perfectly healthy in helping my to transition out of youth ministry world...) I have been playing close attention to the nuances of my students while pondering the theory that we have been learning in class about the way students are. (By the way, the parallels on these students with the theories have been accurate.) In the midst of asking my friend to complete a chemistry problem, I saw this piece of paper pouring out of the front of her binder... As if she was begging for someone to read... To notice what she had written. I asked her if I could read the writing and she said that I could. She also immediately said that the writing was "NOT REALLY HOW SHE FEELS... I just wrote those things to finish the assignment." I feel like this poem is a wonderful representation of adolescents today. Here is the poem.

Sing to me of the girl, Muse, the girl who struggles inside of her.
The girl who does not show the pain that she deeply feels.
The one who has a brilliant smile. Help me tell the tale, Muse,
About the girl who lives up to everyone's desire.
Who really is unhappy with a lot of what is happening.
Sing to me about the girl who feels rage and fire, and
Who is surrounded by cheaters and liars.

Tell me about the girl who longs for something more.
Who believes that one day she will be satisfied with who she is
And wouldn't want anything more.