Editor’s Note: Angelle Boudreaux works with the Guardian staff as part of the Child, Youth and School Service’s HIRED! Program. The above headline uses several popular text messages used by teens every day. The definitions are: FYI (for your information), LOL (laugh out loud) and OMG (oh my God).
Being a teen in today’s world isn’t easy, especially when you’re a military dependent. When you’re a military teen, life is about transition. Worrying about school, the future and peer pressure is just the beginning. Moving from post to post, having a deployed parent and fitting in can add to life’s daily challenges.
Guardian staff writers held a question-answer “forum” July 16 to find out exactly how some military teens feel about themselves and the world around them.
Participating in the forum were Adrian Robertson, 17, Pickering High School junior, his brother Keanu Robertson, 15, Pickering High School sophomore and Jacara Murrell, 16, a senior at Palmetto High School, Fla. She is visiting Fort Polk for the summer. Murrell’s mother is an active duty Soldier. The Robertsons’ dad was military and is now retired.
Guardian: Do you ever have to deal with peer pressure? If so, what type and how do you handle it?
Adrian: “‘Come on try this, it won’t kill you.’ That’s how some peer pressure starts. It can happen anywhere –– school, the streets or even a store. There’s peer pressure for a lot of different things. Whether you can say no to the pressure or not depends on what kind person you are. I’m confident enough in myself to say no.”
Keanu: “I know some people who get into drugs. They want me to be right there with them doing the same thing. I guess they assume that getting high is fun. I don’t give in to the pressure because I know how my mom would feel.”
Jacara: “I’ve been offered drugs a couple of times, but say no because I like my brain cells. The pressure that really bugs me is about stereotypes like being preppy, a geek or jock. I’m not really any of those things. I don’t categorize myself. I like being different –– just me. My family is full of strong personalities. My mom is especially strong. She is in the military. So, I guess I’m strong enough to walk away from the pressures.”
Guardian: What are some issues you confront at school?
Keanu: “I have to deal with drama every day. It’s always going to be part of school. There’s nothing you can do to change that.
There will always be girls and boys that do or don’t like each other and you just have to stand back and let people figure it out. As long as you aren’t involved or instigating, there isn’t a lot you have to worry about. You just have to remember what’s important.”
Guardian: What do you like most and least about being in the Army Family?
Adrian: “One of my favorite things about the Army is seeing new places. The only bad thing about the Army is when you have to stay in one place longer than you want to.”
Jacara: “Some military teens have a hard time finding their way and having loved ones leave. My mom could be called away at any moment and I can’t say anything about it. It’s just part of the life. She has been in the military since I was 2.”
Keanu: “Moving around exposes you to different cultures and views –– not all of them good. In some of my moves I’ve been faced with racism. That was a big thing for me. You feel anger but eventually it starts to hurt. That’s not something you think you’re going to have to deal with in today’s world.”
Guardian: Do you care about current events happening in the world?
Adrian: “One day it’s going to be us trying to fix all these problems happening in the world. How are we going to survive? I hope we’ll be up to it.”
Keanu: “Watching the news about the Gulf oil spill is sad. Seeing all these animals with oil on them is hard to deal with. Beyond that, I think there’s a lot of bad stuff going on in the world right now.
I think if you could somehow sit everyone down at a table and get them to listen to everybody’s views, we could get people to understand the world as a whole. Then everyone on the planet could make sense of one another and I think there would be world peace. I know it would be hard, but I think it’s possible.”
Guardian: How do you think technology has shaped your life?
Adrian: “Technology is a big part of what teenagers are about today. It has made it easier to do the things I love. Without technology and the Internet, living here would be a lot more boring.”
Keanu: “I hate to say that I couldn’t live without my cell phone, but I really couldn’t. It sounds bad, but I don’t think a lot of teenagers today would be happy without their cell phones. I could do it if I had to, but it would be tough.”
Jacara: “I’m not a cell phone person. I don’t like talking on the phone. I’ll text, but not a lot. What I love is my iPod. It’s my life. I also rely on Google too much. That can be bad because everybody is so dependent on technology today. If you have a question, you go to the Internet.
I think technology just needs to take a step back. I don’t want my car or computer to talk back to me or tell me what to do. I just want to press the button and have it do what I want it to.”
Guardian: How do you think being a teen today is different from being a teen in the past?
Adrian: “People used to have to wait to do some stuff we do quickly now. Today, you can just text message someone. In the past, you had to write a letter and wait for a while to hear from them. They had a lot more patience than we do. With cell phones and e-mails, everybody wants instant results. You get used to having things immediately.”
Keanu: “Being a teen today is different from the way our parents and grandparents were brought up. Today’s kids do a lot of bad stuff. I guess that’s because everything is changing. We don’t seem to have enough morals these days. It’s really sad. Back in the day, you would get your butt whipped for doing something bad. Today you hear kids cussing at their mom. That’s something you wouldn’t hear 30 years ago.”
Jacara: “Teen mentalities are different. It’s scary how even a few years can make such a huge difference. Everybody is so quick to grow up, but they don’t want the responsibility that comes with it. I think teens today are a lot more immature than our parents were at this age. They had more discipline and patience, but I think teens today are a lot more independent.”
Guardian: Do you worry how you are going to fit in the world as an adult?
Adrian: “These days my fears are becoming real. When I was little, I didn’t think about money. If I wanted something, I would just ask and I didn’t think about where the money to pay for clothes or anything was coming from. It’s just the nature of kids and children to be selfish, but now I see the problems my mom has with money and America as a whole has with money and it makes me think.
We are billions and trillions of dollars in debt. So, in my mind I’m thinking, ‘I’ve got to make it somehow. I can’t afford to fail.’ If I don’t make it, I’ll be just another dude in a minimum wage job. I want to surpass everybody’s expectations. For now, I think I want to go to college and then join the Marine Corps.”
Jacara: “I want to be an obstetrician. I worry about not doing enough to become successful and help people. I want to be the kind of doctor that’s dedicated and involved in my patients’ lives. I plan to graduate this year, go to New York University, get my degree and be the best doctor I can be.”
Keanu: “When I was younger, I wanted to be a professional skate boarder but my mom always said I needed a plan B. I didn’t listen. I would get mad when she said I needed an education too.
But now that I’m older, what she said is starting to make a lot of sense. I’ve started thinking, what if I really don’t make it as a skate boarder? What am I going to do? I don’t want to end up working in fast food. School doesn’t sound so bad anymore, but I’m still going to try to be a successful skate boarder/surfer. I just want to live the simple life and have a lot of fun.”
