Nowadays we can see differences between young people and adults, as well as they had been seen many and many years ago. Very often they are just problems caused by generation gap. But what should teenagers do to decrease these problems and to be more sufficient to society? 

“The empty space” (also known as generation gap) between each 2 generations makes the biggest portion of troubles in our lives, and it mostly leads to misunderstanding between parent and child. When speaking about generation gap everyone has to be aware of that large lack of understanding. Everybody tries to keep something in a privacy, especially young people. As teenager grows up, he/she may rapidly change old habits, hobbies and even friends, and this might worry parents. Although adults are confused about their children, they have to think about themselves when they were kids. Even if they live in different parts of the World, they eat different food, speak different languages, all young people have something in common - they (teenagers) are the group of people who are challenged to most. In fact, teenagers in 2006 face variety of problems, teenagers in 1950’ did not have to. Drugs, alcohol, terrorism, discrimination, poverty and so on, these are some of global problems which older generations are concerned about. However there might be people (youngsters) who are looking for troubles, every other normal teenager tries to keep his/her hands out of problems. But young people between 13 and 19 years of age are the supplest group. They are daily influenced by their parents at home, teachers at school, friends outside where no adult is neither watching nor listening and so on. Teenagers try new things, like smoking cigarettes, drinking alcoholic beverages, using new words that are inappropriate to their age, and they do it just to be able to get into a wishful group of peers. Young people do not have only bad manners, but they do not even believe a story about “how youth is the nicest time of one’s life”. Young people are those who need to be tolerated and provided by support from adults. Even though teenagers are supposed to be always fit and strong, prepared for every day’s changes and challenges, and still go hand by hand with a right measure of energy. Is that possible to set our lives up the way as others wish? 

In Slovakia law allows kids over 15 to have a legal part-time job. Of course it is better that they earn money by themselves, and they are taught to be responsible, but is not this one of the reasons that so many young people do illegal things like drugs or smoking? Well, this might not be a truth, but lets say it contributes to that. Teenagers are expected to behave like young adults, what means they must have responsibilities like adults, but also they have to tolerate they are not grown-ups yet and they will remain kids unless they change their behavior, become independent and responsible. Well, it does not work like this, because as far as they live with their parents in a same household (unless they share all expenses for food, house bills, clothes, etc), getting the part-time job makes them feel only more independent. Independency, love, responsibility, having a well-paid job, as well as freedom, these terms are top goals in general, young people would like to achieve and still be able to feel the success and the importance in the society. 

After all I cannot not to mention one very interesting quote: “ Adulthood will not run away from you, so do not try to grow up from childhood very fast. Once you do so, you will not be able to come back and live good, old style – your youth.” -(Anonym). So why are so many young people trying to live as their parents? Is that because of the rush in the World?

Maybe teenagers are minor group of population, but they are part of society, and they have a special need to run in a crowd as well as adults do, without any other thoughts of possible marks which it might leave on them. Youth is supposed to be the nicest time of one’s life. Despite the fact, teenagers should do what adults expect them to be doing, be good students at school, have a sophisticated behavior and stay out of troubles. Whatever we do, it is only our decision, our life, society where we live and we – teenagers.