Teenagers

“There are few natural leaders among teenagers, most of them being content to follow others. In this unconscious mimicry of others is a moral danger, for character is dependent on the ability to say “No”. Unless education can give to teenagers a training of will, many of them will slip into adulthood and become slaves of propaganda and public opinion the rest of their lives. Instead of creating, they imitate. To create is to recognize the spirit in things; to imitate is to submerge personality at the lowest level of mass.” (Sheen)

This quote elicits in me both positive and negative responses. Some parts I strongly agree while other parts leave me feeling unconvinced. In this paper, I will attempt through specific examples of what I experience and observe at school as well as how I believe we are influenced by the media to demonstrate that the author’s point of view is far too negative and far too general. There are many different types of natural leaders in our society but that does not necessarily make them good leaders, nor good people. I have noticed that some students work hard to try to get people to see them as leaders which does not necessarily make them real nor credible.

I completely agree with Sheen’s first sentence. I think very few teenagers have either enough self-confidence to avoid becoming followers. In addition, frequently in school to be accepted as a leader you need good looks, good grades, fashionable clothing, an outgoing personality and/or athletic skills. Because few teens have all of these qualities, only a select few will be able to emerge as a leader. For the others it is far too risky to be different because they fear they will be ridiculed by their peers.

Sheen’s quote gives you the impression that all leaders are good which in my opinion is not the case. In my books, even if someone has all the required qualities, that does not necessarily make them a good leader. A good leader is someone who realises his/her responsibilities to others and allows them to be their own person. Unfortunately, there are some leaders who love the thrill of being looked up to and use their power to force their followers to be exactly like them.

As I said before, I agree with the fact that some teenagers follow others but I do not think it’s necessarily unconscious. I believe that many teens first decide to follow or mimic someone intentionally in order to get more attention and to attain greater popularity. Unfortunately after a period of time they can lose their ability to be themselves and to discover who they truly are. That is precisely when a moral danger exists. However, I think it is equally possible for a teen to realise that the person they wanted to follow and maybe even become, no longer has that appeal to them. I do not think that this type of person is in any danger of losing themselves. On the other hand, there are people who aren’t strong willed enough to become their own person, again because they like the acceptance that comes with following others. In other words, character may not be so much built on an ability to say no as much as on an ability to recognize that it is more important to be real and true to oneself.

Personally, I think the media plays a big role in influencing teenagers. However, it does not act alone. Marketing is capable of luring teens into believing that it too can provide them with a sense of identity. In my opinion, the media and marketing companies act together to lure teens into thinking that they have all the answers for them. For example, MTV, a channel watched in over 140 countries, is both a source of entertainment and a major marketing company. When I watch the videos, the main thing I find they all have in common is indisputably sex-appeal. All the women and men in those videos look sexy and cool thanks to tons of make-up, ridiculously expensive designer clothes, and computerized airbrushing. Basically, they have to look perfect in order to convince teens they could both feel good and look good if they