16 At War!

Do you remember your school years?? Don't you think as young girls we spent our time trying to conform to what was regarded as cool by certain individuals around us. No matter how hard you tried not to conform to what was considered as "cool", you were always pulled back in, through one way or another.

Once we reached puberty, it reached a time where you couldn’t wear anything without a guy hollering at you. They could have been 16 or 60 but we heard the same thing. If you tried to ignore these chants from your so called "fellow brothers", then rumors would ensue just because you couldn't give them a minute of your time. You felt if your clothes weren't that tight then those boys would not have liked you. Of course now that we are a little older we have become a lot wiser, it is now our chance to teach young girls that it is okay to be who you are and conforming to what others want you to be is not the way forward. Just because he smokes or she smokes doesn't mean you have to smoke too.

At such a young age like 16, you shouldn't have to feel like you need to be or act a certain way to be accepted by your peers. At 16 you already have the pressures of school, family and then the pressures of life itself. Sex is also a major issue at this age; you're just starting to really know your body and what it can do. However, mentally, no matter how grown you think you are, you’re still unaware about the consequences of sex. It seems as if everywhere you turned; there was always a boy trying to take your virginity. But what we have to tell these young women is that, they are not anyone’s transaction and it’s up to them to decide when they want to give this precious jewel away. At 16 we were at war with ourselves and everything around us. Therefore, in our twenties it is up to us to protect the young women being pushed to be 25.


Elle
Writer and Editor