Adolescence: A Time to Examine and Discard Old Beliefs
This is an overly simplified statement, but I would suggest that the biggest preoccupation in the mind of the average adolescent - well, aside from sex, anyway - is identity.
"Who am I to myself, and who am I in the world?" These are pretty dominant questions in the mind of a young person during those crucial years.
Society tends to feed the obsession further, since it is around this time that youths start getting bombarded with questions like, "So what are you planning on doing with your life?" and "What do you want to be?" The underlying idea that society nurtures is that our identity revolves around what we do in the world.
Is it any wonder that image becomes so important to an adolescent? But there is a lot more going on within the mind of a teenager than just the question of career.
Values are being weighed and compared alongside those of parents, teachers, and other authority figures.
Long held beliefs about the world, and about reality in general, are being examined and oftentimes discarded.
A young person may lose or find religion, for example, or become fascinated by new music, attitudes, and dress.
All of this occurs at a dizzying pace, too, when one considers the total metamorphosis that can occur in just a few flashing years.
A majority of the great movements in music have been born out of the fiery cauldron of this eternal adolescent quest for identity.
Rock 'n' Roll, acid rock, punk, Heavy Metal and grunge are just a few of the most popular examples.
Each of these movements encompassed more than just music and lyrics.
They were accompanied by visual imagery and overall ideologies that heavily colored the thinking - and the imaginations - of those who came of age when these modes of expression were popular.
The outer trapping - spiked hair, leather and studs, flannel shirts, etc.
- may be inconsequential, but the ideology is not.
Movements in popular music are just one example of a process through which adolescents divorce themselves from the symbols that had inspired and motivated the previous generation and adopt new ones that endow them with a sense of identity and individuality.
If it comes across as confusing (and even threatening) to parents and other members of the old guard, it's meant to be.
It's a stance that essentially says, "Leave me alone! I'm trying to create my own world!" Kids tend to believe that they'll do a better job in that department than those who came before them.
Whether this ever proves to be literally true, it's a valuable belief for them to hold because it invests them with the courage and personal faith to build a persona that reflects who they feel they are inside, not what society expects them to be.
"Who am I to myself, and who am I in the world?" These are pretty dominant questions in the mind of a young person during those crucial years.
Society tends to feed the obsession further, since it is around this time that youths start getting bombarded with questions like, "So what are you planning on doing with your life?" and "What do you want to be?" The underlying idea that society nurtures is that our identity revolves around what we do in the world.
Is it any wonder that image becomes so important to an adolescent? But there is a lot more going on within the mind of a teenager than just the question of career.
Values are being weighed and compared alongside those of parents, teachers, and other authority figures.
Long held beliefs about the world, and about reality in general, are being examined and oftentimes discarded.
A young person may lose or find religion, for example, or become fascinated by new music, attitudes, and dress.
All of this occurs at a dizzying pace, too, when one considers the total metamorphosis that can occur in just a few flashing years.
A majority of the great movements in music have been born out of the fiery cauldron of this eternal adolescent quest for identity.
Rock 'n' Roll, acid rock, punk, Heavy Metal and grunge are just a few of the most popular examples.
Each of these movements encompassed more than just music and lyrics.
They were accompanied by visual imagery and overall ideologies that heavily colored the thinking - and the imaginations - of those who came of age when these modes of expression were popular.
The outer trapping - spiked hair, leather and studs, flannel shirts, etc.
- may be inconsequential, but the ideology is not.
Movements in popular music are just one example of a process through which adolescents divorce themselves from the symbols that had inspired and motivated the previous generation and adopt new ones that endow them with a sense of identity and individuality.
If it comes across as confusing (and even threatening) to parents and other members of the old guard, it's meant to be.
It's a stance that essentially says, "Leave me alone! I'm trying to create my own world!" Kids tend to believe that they'll do a better job in that department than those who came before them.
Whether this ever proves to be literally true, it's a valuable belief for them to hold because it invests them with the courage and personal faith to build a persona that reflects who they feel they are inside, not what society expects them to be.