Sometimes the idealistic nature of early adolescent thinking causes junior highers to temporarily hold an unrealistic view of themselves. Elkind has labeled this view the personal fable. It is a form of self-centeredness that says, "I am a special case. I am unique." Indeed, young people are special and unique, but the personal fable distorts reality to the point that the young person sees himself as immune or invulnerable to the things that happen to other people. "Others will get pregnant, but not me. Others will get hooked on drugs, but not me." The personal fable is an untrue story that young people tell themselves.
It is often futile to talk to junior highers about the consequences of their behavior, because they don't believe those consequences will actually happen to them.
They believe they will always be the exception. When kids get into accidents, get pregnant, or get involved with drugs, they do these things not because they have chosen to accept the consequences would happen to them. In the perfect world of early adolescence, things that happen to other people don't happen to them.
Despite the widely publicized health risks associated with smoking cigarettes, early adolescents continue to smoke at an alarming rate. When American Cancer society created a series of anti-smoking poster featured a celebrity with cigarettes stuck in her ears. The headline read, "Smoking spoils your looks". This poster was so effective because it emphasized smoking's effect on "how others see you "(the here and now) rather than "what might happen to you" in the future. Similarity, many junior highers express their fear of getting AIDS in terms of what others would think of them rather than in terms of the health risks.
Another example of the personal fable is the junior higher who says ," You don't understand me. You just don't know what it feels like!" The young adolescent perceives that his feelings and needs are so unique that they are beyond the realm of anyone else's understanding, especially that of adults. Sometimes this can make communication with a junior higher difficult, particularly when you are trying to let him know that you do understand.
It is usually unwise to argue with a young adolescent about this. Instead, accept her point of view and encourage her to check her version of reality against that of others. Rather than trying to persuade a junior higher that his perception of himself is wrong, you can help him see that other people are just as special and unique as he is. If we try to understand others better, then that opens the possibility that others can also understand us better.
Have a nice day!
BY: ORCHIDACEAE
