critical response essay
Nowadays when people think of teenagers, they automatically think, violent, partying and insane drug addicts. Well, sure we can allow that to some extent. There’s reasons behind that though. The Road to Adulthood by Ken MacQueen, is a reflective essay that brings up good points about us, adolescents. From his own parental views, he sees that teens have become more desensitised by video games and television, making teens reckless and violent. MacQueen also hints that teens are more out of control these days than they were before. More things are available to them that would cause teens to be wild. MacQueen is also baffled by the idea that teens are being driven everywhere by their parents. In his days they always found their own ways of transportation. He views this as parents being overly paranoid. I strongly agree with MacQueen’s arguments. His valid points make me more aware of the teenage world. Video games and T.V have desensitised teens to violence, and only made them more reckless. This generation of teens does indeed seem to be more out of control. With all the partying, drugs and alcohol who wouldn’t expect some careless nights. In today’s world the media reflects every details of crimes and accidents, so of course it’s understandable for parents to be paranoid with the safety of their children. Teens are being driven around everywhere, yes it is paranoia but also, parents see it as a necessity, not only to make sure their children are safe , but also saving their children some more time instead of wasting time waiting for the public transport, (especially for the families that live in areas that don’t have easy access to public transport). Today’s parents feel more relaxed if they know that their children will be waiting to being picked up, rather than the parents waiting for their children to arrive home on their own. It can be said that this generation of teens is so desensitised that violence doesn’t seem to be such a big deal anymore. MacQueen clearly states his opinion that video games have made teens reckless. Of course they have. I’ve seen and played enough video games to know what it’s like. Each one has it’s fair share of run over bodies, pits of bloody corpses and decapitated people and animals. Not only are we seeing this in video games, but also on T.V. Watch "The Sopranos," for an hour and you’ve been exposed to enough swearing, sex and death as you can handle. So if teens keep seeing this over and over again, what’s stopping them from thinking it’s okay to do it in the real world? We are exposed to so much violence that eventually it becomes a part of us.