Why Growing Up Feels so Complicated Now

"High School will be some of the best years of your life!"

It's something that many teenagers have heard a lot since elementary school. Parents, teachers, and even movies say it. You grow up seeing iconic characters or even people around you handling high school effortlessly and start to wonder, "What am I doing wrong?".

The answer is most likely nothing.

Despite the influence movies and adults have in making it seem perfectly sorted out, growing up has become way more complicated than people like to admit, and here are some reasons why.

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Overworked

The expectations teens are held to seems like a never-ending list.

Get good grades, join clubs, play a sport, keep a hobby, get a job, spend time with loved ones, learn to drive, etc.

At some point, it begins to feel impossible to live without that constant sense of impending doom.

This leads many students feeling pressured to be productive 24/7, like relaxing automatically results in falling behind. Even hobbies that used to be fun start to feel like just another item to cross off on your transcript.

Another factor in this growing issue is the illusion that everyone else also seems to be busy and successful, which makes it easy to believe you're the only one struggling to manage.

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Overburdened

School stress isn't the only part of why growing up feels so complicated now.

We're growing up in a time where global conflicts, climate issues, AI expansion, and political controversy consume the media. Plus, social media has become a common news source, making it extremely hard to push past everything happening in the world. It's hard to focus on future goals when you're not even sure what the future looks like.

College tuition continues to rise, living costs become almost unattainable, and people are always asking, "What do you plan to do with your life?"

The pressure to have everything figured out early while simultaneously attempting to determine if it's realistic is mentally exhausting in a way people don't really talk about, especially when adults dismiss it as "moodiness" or "stress."

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Overstereotyped

Teenagers today are often judged on stereotypes, such as "lazy" or "unserious". In reality, many teens are juggling more responsibility and perfectionism pressures than ever. As stated previously, between academics, hobbies, and societal pressure, a lot of teens are giving their absolute all.

At the same time, society expects teenagers to act mature and succeed while still treating them as children.

Because teenage years are known to be viewed as that "in-between" stage of childhood and adulthood, teen struggles are often dismissed as overreacting or complaining. Adults sometimes forget to consider that even if teenage problems seem smaller in comparison, they can still feel very real to the person experiencing them.

These stereotypes create a disconnect in how teens are perceived and what we actually experience day- to-day. It adds pressure to meet the standards, while also going against unfair assumptions.

How to Help

Growing up has never been easy, but newer generations will face new pressures that make it feel like we're expected to do more, worry more, plan more, yet somehow still manage the basics of growing up.

If it feels like a lot, that doesn't mean you're failing. Growing up right now is just a lot, and others are certainly feeling it too.

It's important to focus on what you can handle, take breaks, and keep in mind that most of the time it's not as serious as it seems. Even if it seems like it, life isn't a checklist, and being a teenager isn’t about doing everything perfectly. Most of the time it’s about learning, growing, and finding who you are.