Teenagers today are defined by several key features. One such predominant feature is friendship. But honestly, are these bonds really what we define them to be? Or, is it just a relation enforced on us by society, to act completely the way they expect us to? Maybe we all know it, yet fear to accept it.
Teenage years and High School present an exquisite journey to all of us and we tend to think it is better when encountered with someone by our side. However, most of us believe in companionship as a necessity, and regardless of what the truth is, society has labeled it as a need. This has ensured, friendship no longer remains a free will, its lurking around everyone in the school, anticipating acceptance to avoid ending up on the wrong side of bullying.
And, that’s not it. To be accepted as a friend, you have to present yourself in a way others expect you to be rather than your true self and live with a fake personality. On a rather general note, some of the conditions to be accepted include acting ‘cool’, don’t be sensitive, don’t engage in lame’ activities, participate in whatever is in trend and crack immature jokes. This really explains why we have been eager to create robots, after all, we do just want to have a personalized companion that can fulfill all our needs.
Fast forward past the initial stage of friendship, to a stage where you would perhaps be thoroughly familiar with your friends and things don’t get better. At this point, in each bond, one will always be ready to sacrifice, whereas the other will prove to them on multiple occasions why it wasn’t worth it. The ‘friends’ impose pressure on you when they should be the ones to release it. They are supposed to stand with you and for you in times of difficulties but instead are at the helm of difficulty itself.
It’s time that we all start to recognize differences between friendly bickering and verbal bullying. The people you so fondly call “BFF’s” are usually the ones slandering you behind your back. Such hypocrites are more like personality modifiers; they decide who you can converse with, what you can converse about, and the length of your conversations. Honestly, the friendship that we try to portray is only a fantasy. Maybe it’s time that we realize that friendship is nothing more than a desperate yet unnecessary attempt to compromise ourselves to fit in the world.