By Revaa Vaish
Being a teenager is difficult. You are treated like a child and expected to behave like an adult.
You might have seen a teenager with earphones in his ears, his head hung back and his eyes closed. You might have thought that he was just being his irresponsible, neglectful teenage self; but he could have been going through something and wanted an escape; maybe a family thing; maybe his health; or maybe he just wanted to escape himself.
This society has always been partial towards teenagers. Teenagers are the ones who are no longer children who listen to everything you say and agree with everything you say. They are not yet adults who just consider themselves bits and pieces in a universal machine. No. Teenagers are the ones who question you. They question the system. That is what scares everyone. Adults act like they know everything, but still fail to explain the smallest of things to inquisitive teens.
“Why should I respect that man even though he abuses everyone?”
“He is older than you.”
“Why do I have to meet the relatives who have a negative impact on my mental health?”
“That is how relations work.”
These conversations can be heard in almost every household with a teenager.
If you combine all these unanswered questions with the pressure from studies, from friends, from teachers, from parents, it just gets too much to handle. Even for a little while, teenagers need an escape. A safe space where they don’t exist, where they don’t have responsibilities, where they don’t have to put on a show! More often than not, teenagers find this safe space in music. They close their eyes to escape this crushing reality. They want to forget that they will have to return to this monotonous reality. They want to believe that they live in the music, where they don’t have to worry about the next exam or their future, where no one expects anything from them, where every choice they make is the right one.
Escapism might not be the answer but it helps them to hold things together and not crumble under the pressure of being a teenager.
