Year 11/12 winner: Amy Ma, Sefton High School

Often times, if you step back to gaze at the bigger picture, you miss the small, finer details and in particular occasions, these are the most important perspectives of all. It is this that adolescents are able to provide; a different standpoint, an original view of the world through fresh eyes. We are able to hone in on the small scale issues which makes a huge tear directly in our young lives. And what is most important to us during this critical stage of our being than what shapes our values, morals and ethics? It may be difficult to face the simple reality that the lives of all children are mapped out based on their socio-economic factors with little hope of being able to alter their fate. But just perhaps society miscalculated how a teenager lives in the 21st century. Perhaps the poor are rich in self-determination and independence. Perhaps the rich pay the real cost of wealth.

The perfect word in this context would be ‘affluenza’. In the book, ‘Too Safe for Their Own Good’ by Michael Ungar (PhD), he makes mention of the ‘disease of affluence’ which plagues a portion of teenagers today. Society is under the impression that children from wealthy families will live a blessed existence because they are handed the best of everything. But more often than not, it is the lower-class and middle-class families who live in ‘high-context’ communities with strong networks of support to feed the self-growth and positive development of a child. Children from upper-class communities struggle to find vital support through their excessive wealth. Although the parents have provided for the physical needs of their child, they lack emotional support and frequently end up spoiling their children; in turn crippling their child’s independence.

In fact, research by child psychologist Suniya Luthar found the lowest levels of happiness among the most affluent of children. Society wonders how children from wealthy families, especially teenagers, can possibly be unhappy with the luxuries they possess and the great opportunities they are given, but it cannot recognise that these children are actually victims of a designer lifestyle which is forced upon them. Wealthy parents provide their children with every need and want, denying their children the satisfaction that comes with reaping the rewards from hard work. These children are unable to assert themselves or take chances and responsibility and never receive the opportunity to discover their self-worth. The result is a whole population of unhappy, unfulfilled children who demand success from their wealth, rather than trying to obtain it themselves.

Teenagers who move from one purchase to the next are likely to end up feeling empty and depressed, even if they are well pampered. When children are being suffocated by the world around them, their next action can only be to rebel. This can take the form of drugs and alcohol; a seemingly healthy solution to a lack of attention. Abusing their bodies is seen as a way to prove themselves. It comes as no surprise that as a group, this population is more likely to use drugs than the poorer children who may be the dealers.

What we need from the parents of these children is not to remove all the privileges that come with being part of an affluent home but rather to provide substitutes of material goods. Children need the opportunity to experience risk and accountability and that can only come if their minds are stimulated and they are able to think for themselves.

It is vital that teenagers make life-changing decisions, face impossible challenges and suffer the consequences of terrible mistakes. How else will we know we have become adults?