Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul - It's Tough to Be a Teenager

            Here’s another poem from the Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul series although this one comes from the second edition under the Tough Stuff section.  It is entitled It’s Tough to Be a Teenager which I definitely agree with:

It’s tough to be a teenager, no one really knows

What the pressure is like in school, this is how it goes.

I wake up every morning, and stare into this face

I wanna be good lookin’, but I feel like a disgrace.

My friends they seem to like me, if I follow through with their dare,

But when I try to be myself, they never seem to care.

My mom, well she keeps saying, I gotta make the grade

While both my parents love me, it slowly seems to fade.

It seems like everyone I know is trying to be so cool

And every time I try, I end up just a fool.

I’ve thought about taking drugs, I really don’t want to you know

But I just don’t fit in, and it’s really startin’ to show.

Maybe if I could make the team, I’ll stand out in the crowd

If they could see how hard I try, I know they would be proud.

You see I’m still a virgin, my friends they can’t find out

‘Cause if they really knew the truth, I know they’d laugh and shout.

Sometimes I really get so low, I want to cash it in

My problems really aren’t so bad, if I think of how life’s been.

Sometimes I’m really lost, and wonder what to do

I wonder where to go, who can I talk to.

It’s tough to be a teenager, sometimes life’s not fair

I wish I had somewhere to go, and someone to CARE.

By Tony Overman

I think this poem is a great reminder that as teachers we can be that person to care about the adolescent as they go through all of these different changes in development.  It is a confusing time and sometimes just having a trusting open adult to turn to can be the difference.