April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
PERSPECTIVE
Hey, media: Show teens as real people
If TV shows, movies and plays portrayed teens the way they really are, you would see countless movies of late study nights, plays about teens trying to decide where to go to college and TV shows about preparing for the SATs. That stuff is a teen's reality.
The big screen wouldn't be entertaining without some drama and exaggeration, right? That's fine for a TV show, play or movie, but what people can't seem to do is separate how teens are portrayed on the screen from how they actually are.
I've acted in many school plays. I always study my character and think, "A teenager would never do this in real life." It's fun to try new characters and be a new person, but I worry that people get the wrong impression of teens.
On TV, there's never enough time to fully develop every character. But maybe one kid seems to be lazy because he was up all night studying and he's exhausted. Maybe the mean girl acts that way because she didn't get accepted into her dream college.
Teens are real people with real emotions.
Teens are also made out to be rude to younger children. They are portrayed as thinking of themselves as superior. The truth is, we were young kids not that long ago. We understand what it's like to be a kid. That's why I always let younger children play games with me: I think how I would have felt as a kid if a teen said no to me just because of my age.
I have seen very few movies that show teens trying to get a good SAT score, get into a good college and be successful, all while being a good person. All of the teens I know have that goal.
There are so many teens out there working to make a difference. It seems to be that the only time a teen makes the news is when he or she does something bad. Teens' ordinary acts of kindness never seem to be globally recognized.
I asked my friend, Jack, if he had any dreams or goals for his future. "I would love to be a software engineer, since that's a demanding job," he said. "I have the philosophy of, 'Keep on trying no matter what happens, if it's something important to you.' That's the only way you'll get to your goal."
Over the course of my life so far, I've wanted to be many different things when grow up. I've wanted to be a veterinarian, lawyer, speech therapist and more. All of those careers have one thing in common: helping others. It's so rewarding to make a difference in other people's lives. Whatever I decide to do, I know that it will be for the greater good, and not just for me.
I asked another of my teen friends, Sarah, what her dreams and goals are. "I want to be a pediatric nurse at a children's hospital, because I want to help children that are not as fortunate with their health," she said.
There are so many teens out there who are ambitious, nice people who just want to help make the world a better place. Get to know a teen or two. You'll see that they are nothing like they are portrayed onscreen. Like anyone else, they're just trying to make the most of their time on Earth.
(Kara, now a freshman at Catholic Central High School in Troy, was an intern at The Evangelist during the summer. Read her work at www.evangelist.org.)[[In-content Ad]]
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