A stereotype is an over-generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group.

Nowadays any society stereotypes teenagers in such a way that every teenager seems to be inclined to be bad. In my opinion, society bases their stereotypes on the teens they come into contact with as well as the ones that stand out from the rest. Teenagers are believed to be obnoxious and ignorant; which is also tied in with disrespectful. People believe that teens are rebellious, immature, and they are the trouble for their parents. People tend to think teens are violent, reckless, and lazy. When a person thinks of teenagers, they think of a person who is just looking for a chance to disobey and a strict eye should be kept on them.

However, not all teenagers are like that. Some may fall into the afore mentioned criteria, however many tend not to. Many teens are mature and act their age. They don’t prove to be trouble for their parents; in fact, most of them are their parent’s favourites. Such as my cousin, who is the model daughter. Many teens are also respectful of their parents and other people. They are – we are – well behaved. This further proves the point that not all teens’ fall into the stereotypical category. Believing in a stereotype has its disadvantages.

For example, we often characterize adolescents as impulsive, reckless and emotionally unstable. We used to attribute this behavior to “raging hormones.” More recently, it’s been popular in some scientific circles to explain adolescent behavior as the result of an imbalance in the development of the brain. Besides, many people argue that teenagers are selfish. Teenagers are no more selfish than anyone else. If some do behave selfishly, it’s probably because they’re spoilt. And why does that happen? Because in our society everything is judged by its cash value.

Nobody likes being judged because of a stereotype. Nobody wants to be known as someone they are not. Teenagers want their voice heard and with these stereotypes. However nobody’s listening because they don’t want to. So the teens rebel, which just proves to everyone else that their ideas of teens are right; it is a vicious cycle. These stereotypes are so common that, now teens think that they, in general, are bad. For example, when teens are asked why they did something, they answer with, “I’m a teenager, it’s what I do. ”

Every adult, nowadays, sees teens as bad people.

Author: Aleksandra Potiy

Form:10B

Teacher: Rybalka N.V.