Self mutilation, binge drinking, under age sexual intercourse, all of these habits have bad connotations, but did you know many teenage females in today’s society are participating in one or more of these things? In the May 10th edition of MacLean’s, Dr.Leomard Sax, a family physician, wrote an article called “Inside the Dangerously Empty Lives of Teenage Girls”. In this article, he describes the average lives and problems of teenage girls, and why. His two main points were that girls are feeling more anxiety over everything which leads to destructive and harmful habits, which parents need to pay more attention to what their teenage girls and that the times have changed and brought with them many new social cues and habits, and that parents and teenagers need to learn to adjust to them.
Sax’s first main point he stresses in his article is that girls are feeling much more anxiety which in today’s society, is absolutely true. According to the article they found out “that the average teenage girl today is more anxious than the average girl admitted to a psychiatric unit for in-patient treatment 50 years ago.” This anxiety is coming from many different things including stress from school, their social life, their looks, their habits, and their home life. Because of this anxiety that teenage girls are feeling, many of them are resorting to destructive habits and practices. “More than one in five girls” are cutting themselves in today’s society. To make themselves prettier, they obsess over food, dieting, clothing, and they even “spend […] time photoshopping their pictures.” To become more popular “they are cornering [boys] and giving them blow jobs”. To try and forget all their problems, they are drinking more and more, which is “more toxic for females”. This article clearly and accurately points out and describes what one of the main problems with teenage girls is in today’s society, anxiety.
Another point Sax makes is that parents need to pay attention more to their teenagers’ lives. In today’s society, parents try give their children as much “autonomy and independence” as possible, but they are still children and very new to this world. Our society is not like the 80’s. “In the ‘70s and ‘80s, sex was about intimacy” but sex is viewed very differently today. It is looked at as a “commodity that girls provide to boys.” Also, men you to look for women with meat on their bones because they would be preferable for raising children and that were considered attractive. Nowadays, skinny is pretty, and girls are doing anything to become this new image of beauty. If parents don’t “set limits” and pay attention to their children, then most teenage girls will keep on this harmful paths. They are young and many do not know restraint yet. He suggests to “monitoring […] what your daughter’s doing online.” Also, take away their cell phones at night. Many girls will get the most upsetting and anxiety striking texts in the middle of the night because it is the time when most people party. If parents don’t pay attention to their children, they could very well end up like Phoebe Prince “the girls in Massachusetts who recently committed suicide due to cyberbulling.” But this is not true for all teenage girls. Many do know restraint, and do not need all of these limits. Parent’s need to get to know their children, and when and if they do, they will be able to decide if they need to be watched more or not.
Girls may be doing better in “motivation and academic achievement” but when it comes to down to it, girls are failing in many of the essential skills need to prosper and grow. Dr.Leonard Sax gives substantial proof to this in his May 10th MacLean’s article “Inside the Dangerously Empty Lives of Teenage Girls”. He explains how the increase in anxiety in girls is leading to many of the harmful habits they have, and how times have changed and that parents need to pay more attention to what their teenagers are doing. Girls are not princesses anymore, and real life isn't a fairytale, and people need to understand that and do something about it.
Sax’s first main point he stresses in his article is that girls are feeling much more anxiety which in today’s society, is absolutely true. According to the article they found out “that the average teenage girl today is more anxious than the average girl admitted to a psychiatric unit for in-patient treatment 50 years ago.” This anxiety is coming from many different things including stress from school, their social life, their looks, their habits, and their home life. Because of this anxiety that teenage girls are feeling, many of them are resorting to destructive habits and practices. “More than one in five girls” are cutting themselves in today’s society. To make themselves prettier, they obsess over food, dieting, clothing, and they even “spend […] time photoshopping their pictures.” To become more popular “they are cornering [boys] and giving them blow jobs”. To try and forget all their problems, they are drinking more and more, which is “more toxic for females”. This article clearly and accurately points out and describes what one of the main problems with teenage girls is in today’s society, anxiety.
Another point Sax makes is that parents need to pay attention more to their teenagers’ lives. In today’s society, parents try give their children as much “autonomy and independence” as possible, but they are still children and very new to this world. Our society is not like the 80’s. “In the ‘70s and ‘80s, sex was about intimacy” but sex is viewed very differently today. It is looked at as a “commodity that girls provide to boys.” Also, men you to look for women with meat on their bones because they would be preferable for raising children and that were considered attractive. Nowadays, skinny is pretty, and girls are doing anything to become this new image of beauty. If parents don’t “set limits” and pay attention to their children, then most teenage girls will keep on this harmful paths. They are young and many do not know restraint yet. He suggests to “monitoring […] what your daughter’s doing online.” Also, take away their cell phones at night. Many girls will get the most upsetting and anxiety striking texts in the middle of the night because it is the time when most people party. If parents don’t pay attention to their children, they could very well end up like Phoebe Prince “the girls in Massachusetts who recently committed suicide due to cyberbulling.” But this is not true for all teenage girls. Many do know restraint, and do not need all of these limits. Parent’s need to get to know their children, and when and if they do, they will be able to decide if they need to be watched more or not.
Girls may be doing better in “motivation and academic achievement” but when it comes to down to it, girls are failing in many of the essential skills need to prosper and grow. Dr.Leonard Sax gives substantial proof to this in his May 10th MacLean’s article “Inside the Dangerously Empty Lives of Teenage Girls”. He explains how the increase in anxiety in girls is leading to many of the harmful habits they have, and how times have changed and that parents need to pay more attention to what their teenagers are doing. Girls are not princesses anymore, and real life isn't a fairytale, and people need to understand that and do something about it.
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