Teenagers today
face many problems like peer pressure, poverty, and fitting in. Ned the main
character of Teen Angst? Naaah… by Ned Vizzini face problems present in
today’s society. There are many problems Ned experiences in the book that
affect people today.
One problem in the book that Ned and many teenagers face is fitting in. Many
teens in today’s society sometimes act different to fit in. One example of Ned
trying to fit in was on page 23-24. “I tried walking fifty feet ahead of
my family or trail far behind them, but the suburban kids were onto me no
matter what. They gave me dirty looks and snickered as I passed by.” (Vizzini
23-24). Ned and his family go on lots of road trips, for example this time they
went to Pennsylvania for a county fair. Ned wanted to fit in with all the other
suburban kids who were hanging out around him so he tried to avoid being seen
with his family. Another example of Ned trying to fit in is on page 54. “Now,
Dad isn’t an embarrassing guy, but the Shrivel show was an important social
gathering, and I didn’t want him escorting me to and from it.” (Vizzini 54). Ned
and his friends from his school were going to a concert and Ned wanted to go.
Ned’s mom didn’t want him going alone so she sent his dad to drive him there.
Ned didn’t people seeing Ned with his dad so his dad dropped him off a few
blocks away.A third example of Ned trying to fit in is on page 88. “I could go
in the afternoons, but the karate school has a very large window, and I’m afraid
my friends will see me training as they walk home from school.” (Vizzini 88). Ned
started taking a karate class with a bunch of smaller kids. There were two
classes but Ned choose the later class so he wouldn’t be embarrassed if his
friends saw him while walking home from school. This is one of the examples
teens face in today’s society.
Another problem Ned and many other teenagers face is peer
pressure. Many teenagers do things their peers do to fit in. One example of
peer pressure is page 52-58. Many kids at the concert started fights so Ned
decided to join a fight because his peers were. Another example of peer
pressure was on page 76. “A group of boys trekked the woods bringing me along.
They all lit up camel, enveloping me in a smell familiar from my high school. I
was offered one and shown the proper puffing technique. I took a drag.”
(Vizzini 76). Ned went to a sleep away camp in the summer of his freshman year.
Ned and the others boys went into the woods to smoke. Ned smoked with them to
probably fit in and not chicken out. A third example of peer pressure is on
page 109-110. “I drank some beer. It was
like apple juice, in that it was yellow-brown and, if you drank fast enough,
you didn’t taste it for a few seconds. When I finally did taste it, the beer
was bitter- like dirt mixed with tap water. Every gulp I took made me
thirstier, until all I really wanted was a Coke. Owen and I walked to a more
secluded street, sat on the curb, and passed the bottle back and forth until
only froth remained.” (Vizzini 109-110). In the summer of Ned’s sophomore year,
Owen his friend and Ned brought beer from a store with fake I.D’s. Ned was
pressured by Owen to by beer because Owen would keep begging Ned to buy it.
This is another issues many teenagers face in today’s society.
Today’s society holds many issues that affect many
people. These issues can affect their lives forever or just for a minute. In
the book Teen Angst? Naaah… Ned faces many issues in his high school
journey. Ned faces problems like fitting in and peer pressure in the book.
These issues do in fact happen in real life. Some teens do naughty things to
try and fit in or get peer pressured to smoke, drink, or worse. There are even
more issues in today’s society that affect many teenagers. The book shows teenagers
how many teens can get into social issues and affect their lives drastically.
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