teen confusion

Teen. Its etymology dates back to the Old English time, when it meant Misery or Affliction.

Teen. Short for teenager. Refers to anyone within the age of 13-19.

Love. Friendship.Family.Life. Not new things to a growing person. Rather it's something that suddenly becomes more complicated when one enters teen-hood. Why is this so?

The teenage phase is a time of discovery of the self. It is the time when the person begins to lear to judge and oppinionate for his/herself.To recognise both good and bad. Something that is termed in Islam as aqal(akal). It marks the beginning of his/her break away from total dependence on parents.

Decisions are made and the first seeds of wisdom are sowed. Hormones run wild and they busy themselves in their search for love, friendship and life. This is when teens find themselves in a whole new world.

Can a teen discern right from wrong? Good from bad? The answer is yes and no. What a teen lacks is experience and wisdom. Experience dictates actions and wissdom predicts consequences. Some of these things can't be learnt or taught in school. Rather, they are experienced. It is something that we gain as we grow older.

But remember this; Though they may lack the years of experience of an adult, the teen is also gifted with youth and aqal. So, even with these two gifts, can teens still be confused?

Let's further understand the meaning of the word confused first. To be confused is to have the lines between good and bad blurred. To not be able to see the difference. That is confusion.

A teenager, just setting out on his/her journey of self-discovery is still innocent. His/her eyes and mind can be easily clouded by the world and its denizens. Teens are perhaps the most easily tempted to brash and erratic acts due to the lack of wisdom. It only takes time. For teens, like trees, need to grow before they can weather the storm.

So, is a teen confused?
Perhaps. It's natural for a teen to be so.

Can he/she be helped?
Yes

How?
By a friend. Not a parent who treats him/her as a child. A teen does not like to be treated as a child as he/she has grown up. He/she has aqal.Besides, adults can get confused too every once in a while.

We are all travellers here. Equipped with our compass and travelling a road littered with junctions which can confound us at times. All we need, is a helping hand.