The best parts of childhood were those of freedom and responsibility, but as children, that was the last thing we were thinking about. We were allowed to ride bikes for hours on end, hang out with our friends until dusk, and go play with random kids that we saw at the park all because our parents trusted us. We didn’t even realize that as long as we didn’t cause trouble and we were responsible, we weren’t shackled to a stern set of rules. Will we ever have that feeling of freedom again? It seems like as long as we are in school, we will be shackled to those rules that we were avoiding in our childhoods, and we will never get our glory days back. As 16, 17, 18 year olds, there are days where we feel like we are being treated like toddlers. However, in just a year or two, we are expected to be fully functional adults who are going into the workforce, who are creating our own class schedules, who are in charge of managing our own healthcare insurance, and many other tasks that seem daunting, all because we haven’t been properly educated on these subjects that are essential in adulthood.
When will we be treated like we are about to enter the workforce? Who are these new regulations raising, functional, self-motivated adults or kids who have to be regulated and given rewards to act appropriately?
As we get older, we are supposedly given more accountability, responsibility, and trust. However, is that really the case? Right now, that feels extremely far-fetched. Instead of feeling like we can make the best decisions for ourselves, we feel as if we have targets on our backs, like every move we make is being tracked. In fact, we can’t even go to the bathroom without someone watching to see how many trophies are sitting outside the door compared to the amount of people inside the actual bathroom. The message is clear: we are being told that we can’t be trusted to go where we say we’re going.
As many of the upperclassmen are nearing the age of 18, we will soon have the power to vote in presidential elections, join the military, gamble, get a tattoo, and legally adopt or foster a child, yet we’re still being treated like children who need someone to hold their hands and walk them to the bathroom. Our administrators tell us that girls cannot wear a shirt that will show their stomachs when they lift their arms because it is distracting. We are told that we cannot run out to our car because we forgot the book we need for English class, or we are told that we cannot bring food into the classroom because we are hungry and forgot to eat breakfast.
We are told that we are not responsible enough to go to make these decisions for ourselves, but we are constantly being regulated by teachers and administrators.
Every single day we question ourselves, Will I get in trouble for forgetting the trophy? Why are we being watched? Should I be this uncomfortable? Do the guys get dress coded as often as the girls do? Should I change who I am? When will this end? Will we be treated like this for the rest of our lives? Etc.
The short answer is no, your future employer will not force you to carry a trophy with you to the bathroom. The long answer would be no, your future employer will not treat you like you are an incapable and incompetent child that needs to be watched every second of every day. They will expect that you know how to handle yourself in any sort of situation. They don’t want to have to hold your hand and walk you to the bathroom because you are used to having to ask before you do anything. The longer we are treated like children, the longer we may act like children.
There has to be a way for us to bridge the gap between high school and the workforce. As many of us are only a few months away from adulthood, as a society we need to try harder to bridge the gap between young adults and adults.
