sure is found in high school among teenagers. That is the age when groups are distinctly labeled as the jock group, the geek group, the popular group, the skater group, or the I-dont-really-belong-to-a-group group. These labels are unfortunate because they subtly, or sometimes directly, eliminate the individuality that teenagers are just discovering. Such labels also give certain groups superiority over others, in turn causing the others to feel inferior. More often than not, members of the inferior group are the ones to lose their self-esteem first. The popular students are surprisingly ignorant when it comes to the terms in which they discriminate against their inferior peers. Name calling begins as the incredibly smart kids are made fun of by being called nerds or geeks, the skaters are spoken of as losers or weirdos, and the jocks are deemed stupid airheads. All the while, every negative remark is directed toward a teenager who was already struggling to survive in the jungle that is high school. The opinion of a peer means a lot to all teenagers, and even more to those with little confidence, harsh words and actions only inflict more pain onto an already tormented person. However, not all pain is inflicted by words, sometimes it is the words not spoken that leads a teenager to doubt him/her self. If it is impossible to make a friend in a vast school containing a couple thousand students, how is a teenager supposed to feel if not unworthy? Not only are the words and actions of peers valued, the role of parents is important as well.Above both teachers and peers, a mother and father have the biggest and most significant influence over their teenager. It is in the home that a child needs to be told and then reassured time and again that he/she is special. If he/she cant obtain such exceptional treatment from those who bore him/her, then he/she wont expect or believe to be worthy of such treatment from others. Again, when he...
