Article about Teenage Issue

What's wrong with being slower or fatter?
Section:
Speakup
By:
DIVYA SANGAMESHWAR
Publication:
The New Paper 28/07/2006
Page:
24
Divya Sangameshwar Columnisttnp@sph.com.sg

THERE'S a frightening phenomenon that has not been given due recognition by our society - angry Singapore teenagers.There is a line between teenage angst and true frustration - and that line is crossed more often than we think.Singapore teenagers have a hard time growing up and finding their identity in a society that embraces an almost extreme form of conformity.What does it mean to 'conform' in the Singapore context? I asked a few teenagers and they came up with an exhaustive list relating to their school lives.

You have to be brilliant in your studies, active in co-curricular activities, speak, read and write at least two languages fluently, and enjoy doing community service. Then there's the need to be a computer whiz, an entrepreneur, be artistically inclined and 'creative', as well as be physically fit and within a specific weight range. Only when you accomplish all of these and more, are you seen as 'in'.If every Singaporean student lived according to that code of conformity, common sense would dictate that he would be either a paragon of perfection or a frustrated and angry teen trying to muddle his way through the most difficult time of his life. The angriest teenagers I have met come from the Normal stream.One of them told me, tongue firmly in cheek: 'In Singapore, it's only normal' if you're in the Express stream instead of in the Normal stream.'The latter group of students are left on the sidelines, shunted aside and made to feel stupid.

As a relief teacher, I have taught many students from the Normal stream. One of them told me: 'Why study? Anyway, they say I'm stupid, what!'Another told me about a gang of Secondary 4 girls who often called her 'stupid Normal girl' and bullied her.As a fellow tuition teacher told me: 'They are good kids, but because they're academically weak, they just can't fit in. They get frustrated.'Do these teenagers deserve to be ostracised? Don't they deserve to be recognised as individuals and not labelled 'failures' or 'stupid'?

Another group of angry teenagers are the overweight ones. One of them told me that 'fat people are the loneliest people in school'. She told me she might not show it, but she hated the way she was made to feel. I swallowed a knot in my throat and silently agreed.As a plump teenager, I spent most of my school life feeling ashamed of myself and had constant thoughts of suicide. I had no friends because as a 'fat' person, students and teachers depicted me as a 'problem kid'. Overweight teenagers have separate PE lessons, their recess time is monitored, and they're subjected to compulsory 'trim and fit' sessions after school. Such acts are humiliating and the teenagers are treated almost like criminals.

The anger that these two groups of teenagers carry with them cannot be easily dismissed as 'teenage angst'.A person should never be measured by a list of 'common' attributes and accomplishments. As long as we fail to recognise the individual as precious, there is no room for creativity, excellence and true accomplishment among Singaporeans - teens and adults alike.

The writer is a 22-year-old political science undergraduate at NUS. To give feedback, e-mail tnp@sph.com.sg