Just Chill

Just Chill

Life was so simple when the words " just chill" meant to put something in the refrigerator to be cooled down to a desirable temperature. And now, all that the next generation says is just chill . My son's answer to every query posed is just chill mama! It angers, infuriates me to no end but at the same time I smile . How did the baton of being a worried parent pass on so quickly and smoothly without even a bump or a murmur?

This generation of kids who are growing at a faster pace than genesis and are embracing the change as if it was akin to breathing have an attitude where they are more relaxed. They take less tension , do not get worked up  like the parents and are nonchalant about majority of things. A teenager is moody , maddening, impulsive , and will try the patience of a saint . Parents wonder why they do not listen to them, teenagers think the parents are too strict do not reason out , fret over little things .

The child in this day and age is open to excitement, novelty , risk , is heavily influenced by peers ,the society and the combination of all theses makes him do foolish things to impress or to be cool. The words just chill also stem from this belief. To be cool , with it by wearing the kind of clothes parents think are not right , tight jeans, t-shirts which will not let an extra breath in, hair which is either too wild or is cut so short that it's not even there. The teenager looks towards his peers as they are his future, he is brought into a world by his parents , they shape his formative years ,due to cultural, social influences( geographical limitations) and then he wants to move forward to fit into the future, rather than the past . We live in a world made by our peers not by our parents. Yes, they bring us up , they shape the boundaries, the initial years but it is the peers who define the lines for lives. It is looking at them the teenagers that they shape their lives. It is keeping these in mind that they are the main show, and not to be sidelined.And also being with familiar people, teens offers them more comfort . Family is there , to dish out the requisite pocket money which always falls short but friends offer the zone to them ( as they put it). They do not question, do not scold, do not ask , do not put down in any way which is demeaning or makes them feel small.

Teenagers actually learn to be more adaptive , both as individuals and species when they fend themselves against their own cronies and the peers. Actually , parents constant nagging to perform better , to achieve higher results makes them at first say just chill in a very modern western way. This is not limited to the West only but is a cultural constant all around the world. Teenagers want to be understood , they want to talk , to be heard and not be lectured all the time. They say they are not crazy as they look! According, to them they say that life comes with an expiration date and one should enjoy it rather than live in the past worrying about the future.

Just Chill , is the anthem of the youth .

Ravneet Sangha