Caleb discusses how adolescents often feel the need to hide behind metaphorical masks to fit in or avoid judgment from others. However, these masks can isolate teens and prevent them from forming genuine relationships. In 8th grade, Caleb befriended an annoying classmate out of pity but later distanced himself, hurting his own social standing. As a freshman, stereotypes from middle school followed Caleb until he was able to show his true self and make new friends. Caleb concludes that authentic relationships are vital for adolescents and that while some privacy is good, isolation is harmful. Teens should avoid masks that prevent them from connecting with others.
Caleb discusses how adolescents often feel the need to hide behind metaphorical masks to fit in or avoid judgment from others. However, these masks can isolate teens and prevent them from forming genuine relationships. In 8th grade, Caleb befriended an annoying classmate out of pity but later distanced himself, hurting his own social standing. As a freshman, stereotypes from middle school followed Caleb until he was able to show his true self and make new friends. Caleb concludes that authentic relationships are vital for adolescents and that while some privacy is good, isolation is harmful. Teens should avoid masks that prevent them from connecting with others.
Caleb discusses how adolescents often feel the need to hide behind metaphorical masks to fit in or avoid judgment from others. However, these masks can isolate teens and prevent them from forming genuine relationships. In 8th grade, Caleb befriended an annoying classmate out of pity but later distanced himself, hurting his own social standing. As a freshman, stereotypes from middle school followed Caleb until he was able to show his true self and make new friends. Caleb concludes that authentic relationships are vital for adolescents and that while some privacy is good, isolation is harmful. Teens should avoid masks that prevent them from connecting with others.
Caleb discusses how adolescents often feel the need to hide behind metaphorical masks to fit in or avoid judgment from others. However, these masks can isolate teens and prevent them from forming genuine relationships. In 8th grade, Caleb befriended an annoying classmate out of pity but later distanced himself, hurting his own social standing. As a freshman, stereotypes from middle school followed Caleb until he was able to show his true self and make new friends. Caleb concludes that authentic relationships are vital for adolescents and that while some privacy is good, isolation is harmful. Teens should avoid masks that prevent them from connecting with others.
Metaphorical Masks Putting on a mask. This is probably a term you have heard about. I have put on a mask to hide my true feelings about people. I did it because I felt it was right. But I was super wrong. Adolescence is a stage in your life between Childhood and Adulthood. During this stage you get to experience many changes. One of the biggest is relationships with others. In adolescence relationships change a lot and sometimes adolescents have to hide their true selves behind a mask, but, when we take off this mask we see a whole new side of adolescents.
In the modern era teens like to hide behind a mask of their own making, but, that can be bad. Sometimes the mask is happy and smiling and sometimes it is humorous. This mask can be formed for many reasons. One way is the teen wanting to fit in and in order for them to do that they need to build a mask so others don’t know the real them. Another way is wanting to hide true feelings. In adolescence there are many feelings that develop, such as love, depression, anger, and loneliness. Some teens hide those feelings behind a smiling mask because they don’t want others to see that. But the third way is stereotypes. In adolescence your crowd or clique could leave you stereotyped. If you are classified as a jock people will think you only care about the game and nothing else and if you are classified as a nerd then people will think you only talk about school. But a big one is older people think that if you are an adolescent then you will cause trouble. These stereotypes make teens hide their true selves because everyone sees them as their stereotypes. I found this truth out in 8th grade.
That day in humanities class I was assigned a project about protest. We were asked to pick partners. I looked around the room and I saw nobody was picking the kid who had just joined our school that year. So I walked over to him, tapped his shoulder and asked, “Do you want to work together?”. He said yes so we went out into the hall and started working. We chatted to get to know each other and eventually we found we had a lot of similar interests. We became friends and we hung out every day. A few weeks later the kid became more annoying and everyone stopped hanging out with me. I had made a big mistake. He wanted to hang out with me any chance we got and he only wanted to talk about certain things. I had gone from hero to zero and As Christmas rolled around I found myself hitting my brain every day. I couldn't take it anymore. But I knew that if I told him how I really feel then nobody would hang out with him. I decided to hide my true feelings about him behind a mask. As we got back from Christmas I looked over his shoulder in class and saw he was looking at attending DHS the following year. I had the feeling I was going to Animas. So I figured if I could put up with him until the end of the school year then I would never have to speak with him again. Creating the mask was the right thing to do, but, it was also bad.
Masks have their purpose in adolescence, but, sometimes people misinterpret the purpose. In the story I formed a mask to protect that kid’s feelings. In the moment it appeared to be the right thing to do. But I was wrong. This mask hurt me. Being outcasted with the kid made it hard to fit in later. Since people only saw me one way. It also hurt me in the sense that my other friends had left me or our relationship was weakened. Meaning that when I went to high school I would almost have to start over with them. But since I protected the kids feelings: Was it worth it? Well I found this answer out in my freshman year of high school. Caleb J. Bates
It was the first day of school. I drove to AHS and was dropped off. Since covid was still happening I was put in pod 3. Coincidentally I was put in a pod with a lot of the adolescents from my 8th grade class. Meaning they knew how I acted the previous year with the annoying kid. This caused them to form stereotypes around my character. But what they didn't know at the time was that I mainly only acted the way I did around the annoying kid to protect his feelings. This ment they thought I only talked about certain things. This meant I had to break that mask to show them the real me. But that was harder than I thought. Eventually the stereotypes got to me and I was outcasted again. Eventually I found a group of people who didn't know me in 8th grade and they became my friends. With their help I was able to show the others I was a different person this year. I had finally made a real social connection, and, this is super important in adolescence.
Real social connections are the most important thing in adolescence, but, it can be hard to make them. During adolescence you go through a lot of important things. Such as relationships which shape how you take on the real world. If all your relationships are built on lies then why have them. Plus the friends you make in high school are the friends that stick with you through the rest of your life. I know many adults still hang out with their high school friends. Even high school romantic relationships can shape how you take on future relationships. It reminds me of a story where one of my friends was classified as a jock. This caused the whole school to think they were a jerk who only cared about the game. This hurt him to the point where he was thinking of not coming to school. But I stood up for him and showed everyone that he was really a cool guy. I helped him break through his mask, and, it helped me break through too.
In conclusion, adolescents create masks, and, this is a bad thing. The best way for adolescents to make it through this time is to let others in and create firm relationships. But it is also important to give adolescents a little space. Sometimes adolescents need a little time to process. But don’t give them a ton of space. That is called isolation and that is even worse. Relationships are everything and you need to make them to have a better adolescence experience.
