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A 16 year olds greatest enemy?

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I think the greatest enemy any 16 year old has faced thus far in their life; is lack of self belief. Discuss!

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  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    G-Raffe wrote: »
    I think the greatest enemy any 16 year old has faced thus far in their life; is lack of self belief. Discuss!

    I'd say a lack of self belief is the biggest obstacle anyone of any age can face.

    If we are talking about 16 year olds specifically I think having crap parents is a pretty big obstacle. I see a lot of kids these days with wasters for parents and they end up becoming wasters themselves off the back of it.

    Lots of wasted potential amongst young people either way, and it's seemingly becoming more of a problem as time goes on.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Not having the support of others, whether it be parents, services, school, or friends. Not having those at any age can be difficult but I would say being isolated from all of those is hardest when you are young.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Erections in public.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'd say at 16 the bigger issue is lack of belief in you from others and support from others.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    G-Raffe wrote: »
    I think the greatest enemy any 16 year old has faced thus far in their life; is lack of self belief. Discuss!

    Hippy piffle.

    ETA: I suspect you'd be hard pushed to find a subgroup with a higher rate of people who are utterly convinced they are 100% right about most things.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hippy piffle.

    ETA: I suspect you'd be hard pushed to find a subgroup with a higher rate of people who are utterly convinced they are 100% right about most things.

    Outside P&D discussion boards obviously ;)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Outside P&D discussion boards obviously ;)

    Haha, yeah. You could probably extended that to 99% of all "discussions" that have the internet as their medium. :D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I would say that's partially true. But consider that a lot of 16 year olds these day grow up feeling very empowered and able to stand up for what they believe, so self-belief is less the issue than critical self reflection. It really depends, because I know and love people on both sides of the fence.

    I personally was pretty shy but it wasn't because I didn't believe in myself, but I always just didn't feel like anyone would like me or want to be friends with me. I was pretty lonely at 16, and craving companionship and friendship if anything was unhealthy for me because I over-focused on those aspects of my life to the detriment of well-roundedness.

    My sister on the other hand who had a very similar upbringing never had self-confidence issues, perhaps if anything she had too much confidence. She never second guessed herself or worried about the impact her decisions today would have on other people around her, or even herself in 5 years time. She literally had some of the most amazing opportunities presented to her and she squandered them for nothing.

    We both turned out alright though, even if we've taken different paths. I am a much more confident and social person now, and she is much more careful and considering in her actions. I think the long story short is that all teenagers are going through a transitionary period in their lives which is seldom easy or straightforward, but somehow everyone gets through it and comes out the other side okay. There will be always things we'll look back on and wish we had done differently, but that's what makes the teen years so memorable at the end of the day ;).
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I don't think it's lack of self-belief that's the enemy. What are a lot of 16 year olds gonna do anyway?

    Youth services closing down... Feck all jobs... EMA gone and many people too afraid of debt to go to university.

    I'm not joking, I work with unemployed people and I have met so many young people who are now not going to university because of the fees (and probably partly because they'd need a part time job to survive on top of studies - them jobs ain't there).

    I think that society looks down on young people... Especially in the cities. Young people are criminalised and it's f*cking disgusting because said attitudes would be frowned upon if applied to another group. You never hear about young people in my local papers, in case somebody has been stabbed.

    So really... 'Self belief' to do what?

    I think the problem is prejudice and ageism... But then that's me.

    Man am I glad I'm 27. :rolleyes:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I don't think it's a lack of self-belief or confidence, there's a lot of that going around. What there isn't a lot of is experience and knowledge to back them up. I work in schools, it's my day job. Yes, there are extraordinary kids and teens in those schools, who are no doubt smarter than me academically and will probably be more successful than me in later life.

    The trouble is they're trying to get there too fast. They enter a situation full of confidence and self belief with little thought for the conscequences and with nothing to fall back on when it all goes wrong. It's symptomatic of all teenagers, myself included when I was that age.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I thought you were a cop?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Namaste wrote: »
    I don't think it's lack of self-belief that's the enemy. What are a lot of 16 year olds gonna do anyway?

    Youth services closing down... Feck all jobs... EMA gone and many people too afraid of debt to go to university.

    I'm not joking, I work with unemployed people and I have met so many young people who are now not going to university because of the fees (and probably partly because they'd need a part time job to survive on top of studies - them jobs ain't there).

    I think that society looks down on young people... Especially in the cities. Young people are criminalised and it's f*cking disgusting because said attitudes would be frowned upon if applied to another group. You never hear about young people in my local papers, in case somebody has been stabbed.

    So really... 'Self belief' to do what?

    I think the problem is prejudice and ageism... But then that's me.

    Man am I glad I'm 27. :rolleyes:

    agree completely. nominated you for potw too :P
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Namaste wrote: »
    I thought you were a cop?

    I work in schools as part of my role.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Teenages really seem to have it tough. I think lack of oppertunities with the crap job situation is the main problem. It does not seem to matter if you're a yob or not you'll still be demonized. It does not matter if you are hard working or a lazy bum because jobs are hard to come by.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'd imagine that a 16 year old's greatest enemy is the same as everyone else - Mumm-Ra the Ever Living.

    Or Super Shredder.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I agree with most of the posters here, although in my opinion it's not exactly self-belief it's more like lack of everything, to be specific there are no jobs out there, you have to have lots of experience, lots of qualifications and lots of things behind you, to even get your foot in the door to a min wage job, let alone anything more. And min wage is not enough for someone to live on their own, in a flat and stuff. So people 16-18 with no previous experience or just coming out of school, can't get a job, can't pay for university (or afford the debt), where does that leave us?

    They told me to do well, work hard in school get the best grades i could, and everything should be fly from there on. For an example, i have 11 A to B GCSE grades, two A-levels both B grade, i have 3 previous experiences in shop type jobs, i did D of E, loads of things in school to add to my CV, i did 8 week charity work for free, with St Lukes Hospice. I'm good with people, and get on well with things, and i'm a hard worker, i've got plenty of references from school, and other work experiences.
    How long have i been unemployed? 10 months now. How many jobs have i applied for (everything and anything i could apply for i have), must be about 150+, and how many interviews have i got 2.

    Either I'm doing something really wrong, or there is something wrong in this country. And trust me if anyone can tell me why i can't get a job, i'm open all ears because i need one.

    Young people in this country really are being left with nothing, there's no money for us, EMA is cut and it's affected a lot of people i know, some people have dropped out due to no being able to afford huge travel costs (£4-5 a day for a bus ticket). Even when i was made completely homeless, i was on the streets for 2 months, before the governments tried to do anything about it, and after i just received a letter saying i wasn't entitled to accommodation. Wow 17 on the streets, and i don't qualify for any sort of accommodation or JSA?

    There really needs to be change, it's so difficult these days :/ I've chosen to go back to college again, to do more courses, whilst it's still free :/
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