Problems Teens Face

369 Words2 Pages
Problems Teens Face Now Days Teens now days have a lot of problems such as gang violence and addictions to drugs or the internet. The media have been saturated, in recent years, with articles on the troubles of today's teens: drugs, drinking, dropping out, pregnancy, gangs, violence in the schools, sexually transmitted diseases, poverty, racism, running away, suicide, AIDS, illiteracy, truancy ... Filled with facts and figures, most articles have addressed these issues from an adult perspective. But what do young people say is their greatest concern? What solutions do they suggest? When teens are truant, is it because they're tired from working? Or are the classes boring, the teachers indifferent? When they skip school, where do they go, and what do they do? Years ago, students dropped out because of external causes: illness, employment, or the need to help at home. Today, personal frustration, failure, and fear are more likely to be contributing factors. Overwhelmingly, students in high schools point to violence and racism in school as their primary concerns. Their fears closely parallel the concerns expressed by teens nationwide. According to a study by the American Psychological Association, teens are more than twice as likely as adults to be victims of violent crimes. Still, teenagers are most commonly perceived by the public as perpetrators of crime, according to an Oct. 1993 Gallup/CNN poll. Adults actually commit more crimes, statistics show; but criminal activity by youth, increasingly armed and more violent, invokes more fear, the poll showed. Young people are sensitive to the public's perception of their age group, they say. They resent generalizations suggesting all teens cause trouble.
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