Good morning to the wonderful people who are here today. We already know what I am here for. I will be talking for you and you alone. I cannot change you with one talk. But, I will try my best to be a good speaker for you all. First of all, I think that teenagers are quite the example when it comes to morality. Or, I must say that we are great examples for this. What do we do? What do we want to do? What do we have to do? What are the things we always do? We usually set culture, trends, beliefs, what’s in or out. By the time children become teenagers, parents expect their children to know what is right from wrong.
But, some of us teenagers seem to be taking advantage of this. Parents thought of limiting teenagers too much, but I do believe that “the more parents hold on tight, the more we pull away”. What does affect a teenager’s morality? All of us may know this, because we are here today, living in what I believe is the best part of life — the teenage life. The first is childhood. Childhood is really a huge part of our morality. It shows how well informed we are since we are little kids. A teenager bases his future from his past. A little boy’s dream is to be like his dad in the future.
A little girl wants to be like her mom in the future. But, if these kids grow within a broken family, the words that we can hear from them are “I’m never going to be like my mom or my dad. ” I’m in a broken family, but I’m not saying that I hate my parents. I don’t hate my parents, I just hate the situation. I cannot always blame them if I never tried fixing something broken. The 2nd is education, the more teenagers know, the more they get exposed. Consequently, we get more experience and from those experiences, we get lessons. And from those lessons, we learn.
We know what to do next time. We know how to deal with it. I am not saying that a teenager who doesn’t have the ability to be well-educated is immoral. I just want to say that the more privileged a person is, the more the person is able to gain. Us studying in private school are expected to be respectful and righteous, but are we these things? Are we respectful enough to be a moral person? Are we righteous enough to know things that we need to know 3rd is culture. And by culture, I mean, a pattern of human knowledge, belief, values or shared attitudes.
For us teenagers, our schooling life won’t be complete without a bully. Teen bullying – almost every teenager who committed suicide has the reason of being bullied every day. For all we know, they are at the top of the hierarchy. But is it true that they are the most respected people in school? No, they are not respected, they are feared of. Is it true that they are the most perfect people in school? No. You think that he bullies you because there is something wrong with you? No again. A bully is someone misunderstood. He is scared, insecure, yet he does something to get away from it.
The 4th is time and circumstance. We all know that we live in the modern era. And in this era, teenagers are already exposed to mature situations. As mentioned by the other speakers before, unexpected pregnancy, broken family, drug addiction and others. These situations are not easy for teenagers to deal with. Yet, they make ways to run away from problems instead of passing through them. Can I see the hands of the people who believe the statement: “We fight because we know that we are right. ” I made research about what teenagers do in the modern era.
Let us see if this is true. Cheating 71% of all high school students admit they cheated on an exam at least once in the past 12 months (45% said they cheated two or more times). Can I see the hands of those who admit that they’ve cheated before? Any kind of cheating! Lying 92% lied to their parents in the past 12 months; 78% lied to a teacher. Is it true? Stealing 40% of males and 30% of females said they stole something from a store in the past 12 months. Drunk at School (16%) say they have been drunk in school during the past year Exposure Towards Violence 8% said they hit someone because they were angry in the past year – They say they HAVE to do it, but the real thing is the WANT to do it. If they didn’t want to, they should’ve done something else, right? It’s not like they have no choice. We always, I mean always have a choice. And the only answer is YES or NO. Are we fighting for the right thing, now? Yes, we fight for what we THINK is right and we don’t fight for what we KNOW is right. Childhood, Education, Culture, Time, do you know what covers these elements? Freedom. Yes, Freedom. We already have this since we were born and breathed.
Please remember that we are free. We are human. If we weren’t free, we shouldn’t have been here. We should decide what is right from wrong. There’s no else to blame but ourselves. The heart wants what the heart wants. But, sometimes, we have to fulfill our needs instead of our wants because being free has a consequence and it is a responsibility. If we are responsible enough, we could be moral beings. Sometimes, it’s a matter of choice. Please, choose something that you know is right and avoid something that you think is right. Thank you very much and I hope you’ve realized something.
