Letter to an Adolescent
Dear John,
I am delighted to celebrate you as you turn 13 years old, happy birthday! You are now beginning teenager life, a new journey into adolescence. However, this age of life will present you with much confusion. I hereby write this letter to inform you of the things that I wish I had known at your current age. Despite the usual confusion, having the support of our family and relatives will enable you conquer this stage of your life. Always know you are a strong young man and you are going to win all the challenges that may cross your adolescence.
Liam, you are lucky to have me share to you what you can expect to experience both socially and emotionally during adolescence. As your older brother, I have been through this stage and know more than you can imagine. During this your teenage period, you will begin to notice physical, mental, and emotional changes in your body and life. Your brain will become more open and knowledgeable of what surrounds you. This process will help you understand more and better than when you were younger, such as abstract issues. You will show intense emotions and strong feelings; this is due to your brain’s adjustment to learning and ways of controlling emotions.
You are entering the stage of life in which peer influence and pressure rules. You will be busy working out who you are and where you fit in the society and world at large. Your peers will influence your identity, and they will greatly shape your choices in the whole adolescence period. Liam, this is the phase of life where you will explore new experiences, including risky ones such as premarital sexual behavior. You will struggle with thoughts about the risks and consequences of trying new experiences. Again, I know you would want more independence on matters friendships, leisure time, and exposure to new places.
During this period of life, you will encounter both bright and dark sides. I foresee you enjoying this period of life given my support and support from our parents and close friends. As a growing boy, you will be exposed to bad company, where there are greater increases in drug use and delinquency levels. Again, you will find that your freedom and independence on social matters is highly limited by our parents and also me. You will realize that peer influence has negative consequences in the long run, as this will adversely influence your respect to older people and also your school performance.
The joy for this stage of life is that you will be able to explore yourself without serious consequences. Again, you will make a lot of good memories during this stage. You are at a stage of life where I missed a lot of memories and fun. Personally, I regret failing to interact with the right company and always being unable to listen to Dad and Mom when they corrected me. We tried substance abuse and even watched pornography. My parents were unhappy of my conduct, and eventually took me for adolescence counseling; and this cost a lot of money to our family. Liam, I am there for you in case of any problem, always share your issues with me.
Yours loving brother,
Jef