‘The teenage years are the best years of one’s life.’ Would you agree with this view?

Teenage years is a transition period whereby adolescents go in search for their own identity, learning more about themselves in this process.

However turbulent this period may be, it is the most exhilirating phase in everyone's lives. The search for one's identity through experimenting with various fads inevitably spice up the teenage years. This once in a lifetime experience would no longer be existent after the teenage years, where one gradually develops his own stand and perspective. It is through these experiences that a teenager's life is enriched.

Take in the case of the 'emo' fad, would you not be eager to don dark T-shirts, sneakers and be adorned with multiple piercings or tattoos for once? After all, it will be almost impossible to dress in this fashion once you enter adulthood. Emotionally, teens also discover more about themselves, eventually looking back to realise that it is just part-and-parcel of the growing up process.

My parents trudge home drearily, burdened with worries not only from the workplace, but from the responsibilities that they hold as well. Looking at them, I somehow treasure the carefreeness I get to enjoy now. Being constantly engaged with thoughts of sustaining the household or figuring on how to communicate with my angst-filled teen is definitely something that I would want to avoid at all cost. Being a teen is good in a sense, as there is no need to be occupied with abundant woes.

On the other hand, teenage years are susceptible to influential friends and perhaps negative influences. It is a phase where teens view friends as top priority. Thus, if they hang out with the wrong crowd, they could be misleaded. As cited in the articles, teens cut themselves to follow the trend of being 'emo'. Self-destructive acts like these should not be tolerated as they threaten the emotional well-being of teenagers. This definitely does not make teenage years the best of one's life.

To sum it up, these years are filled with zeal. It is also the only period in our lives where we become independent and develop our own thinkings without having to worry about sustaining the household. This sensation will not be experienced once the teenage years have passed.