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I read a truly sad news article the other day in a popular, well-known national newspaper. I grew up in the state of Connecticut. During the course of the public school year 2010-2011, fully 25% of all high school students in the state of Connecticut were the victims of bullying incidents. Reading this statistic left me with an overwhelming feeling of sadness within my being. Social anxiety in teenagers, as the results of this type of abuse has become a serious problem on a national and global scale.
Teenage kids feel an almost wanton desire and need to fit in amongst their peers. It is not necessary for me to explain the psychology behind a 13/14 year old kid's need to no longer spend 99.9% of his/her time hanging out with a parent(s). Kids at this age instead want to achieve a level of independence in taking control of their lives. This would include the notion of making friends with others of their own age. While it still is the parents' responsibility to instill a level of respect and discipline in their off-spring, nevertheless at some point there has to be a gradual "letting go" process. Kids, like any other form of species on this planet must be allowed to "leave the nest"; eventually make it in life on their own.
Today we live in the electronic age of communication involving Blackberry's and I-Phones. Text and voice messaging has, sadly, replaced the notion of face to face communication. There are social networking outlets on the Internet which involve Face Book, You Tube, Twitter, and My Space. Without a person's consent, his/her private information can be posted online. Within milliseconds this information can potentially be read by anyone, anywhere who has access to the Internet. This fact is both sad and somewhat scary if you think about it.