As an adult in today’s world, it is very easy for teenagers- especially teen girls- to have their emotions and feelings overlooked. Adults today grew up in a more peaceful time where technology wasn’t big, everyone was friends, and respect was a mutual thing between everyone. But a teen girl in 2024 would disagree with all of these claims now. Being a teenage girl now can almost be exhausting for many girls in today’s world, gaining friendships that are real is something I’m sad to say not many people in today’s time will experience, including me. I’ve read so many stories and articles of girls having such a hard time and they are so relatable, so many girls change themselves to fit in a certain group because if you aren’t exactly like them they will not acknowledge you. Fighting for a friend’s attention and being scared to be yourself is not a friendship, it’s a fake relationship between two people.

I hate that there are so many people out there asking themselves “What is wrong with me?” or What did I do wrong?” But girls are mean, and they will do anything to be the popular pretty girl that everyone likes, but when you truly know them they aren’t pretty on the inside like they are on the outside. Sadly in today’s world mental illness in teen girls has increased so much. In the article “The Reality Of Being A Teenage Girl” this girl claims, “Since the age of five when I started school, I developed a very common mental illness called anxiety all revolving around the school environment. And whilst I climbed my way up the educational ladder, it began to spiral out of control.” Showing how young school and environment truly affect a kid’s mind. I can relate to this too considering that I got to high school and, realized my friends only talked when they needed a favor or I had something they wanted, which caused my anxiety to just get worse, many girls out there can say the same. I have asked why girls are so selfish and mean sometimes ever since I’ve been here.

Friend groups usually start big in middle school, but split off into different groups in high school. The sad thing about these groups is the number of girls that could truly be the sweetest people, but they are people pleasers and do anything that would make them look good to the people around them. I have had so many friends that I’ve had to cut off because of their changing personalities depending on who they were around, it’s exhausting to be someone’s friend one minute, yet feel like they hate you the next. Keeping people in your life, even when they drain you, just to keep a big circle isn’t worth all the pain, having a large circle and being miserable all four years of high school is not worth your happiness. Another point made in the article is, “The biggest pressure a teenage girl faces is body image and appearance. We exist in a world of unattainable and unrealistic beauty standards and, unfortunately, skinny is all the rage.” Which causes so much jealousy and useless hatred toward one another just because one girl wants something she doesn’t have. Jealousy is the main cause of arguments and backstabbing behavior in teen girls today.

My advice to any girl going into high school, or even middle school would be to not change yourself for another person’s opinion of you. Another girl’s opinion should not affect the person you are and you need to always stay true to yourself, because there are people out there who will love you, for you. Not some fake version you’ve created for other people, they will just love you. One saying I always go by is “2 dollars will always be worth more than 100 pennies” because I will always choose the two people who love me through everything over the people who love me through times when they want something.