Chapter 9
Teenage Growing Pains
It’s difficult to decide whether growing pains are something teenagers have—or are.
—Author Unknown
Well, I am having a huge identity crisis. It has been going on for a while. To be honest, I don’t know how to fix it. I don’t know who I am anymore. I am not sure if I am Christian or Atheist, racist or non-racist, gay or straight. My confidence level has dropped dramatically in the past years. I’m very unsure of myself and don’t even know what I want to do with my future. I have no idea what to do. How do you all find yourself?
Those are the lamentations of a teenage boy seeking solace through an online peer forum. Adolescence is that fascinating journey in our lives—the bridge that carries us from vulnerable childhood naïveté to a newly formed adult mindedness. For that reason, the field of child psychology is buttressed by the weight of countless studies exploring how identity is constructed during this essential formative stage. As this helpless teen emotes through his impassioned plea for help, it also marks a critical life stage when we either “find” or “lose” ourselves.
As adults, we can certainly remember those uncertain, often uncomfortable, times. If we suffer selective amnesia, pop culture stands ready to restore the fuzzy memories. Hollywood’s arsenal shoots out a seemingly unstoppable blaze of movies, books, magazines, shows, and music aimed at the lucrative teen and tween markets. One such creation came in 2004 with Mean Girls. The movie, ...
