Being a teenager in 2024 means deciding between “should I study for the test?” or “should I continue scrolling through social media?”. I know I should be studying for the test. I know I should be more productive. But there's something inside me, blocking the path between what I should be doing and what I shouldn’t at the moment.

Okay, I finally countdown from ten to zero; yes, I’ll keep the phone away. Something I’ve learnt from YouTube shorts is to start a countdown to get on with your work. Ten, nine, eight, seven, three, two- and... my mom comes in, “Shouldn’t you be studying? Why are you on your phone?” She goes away after giving a small speech, expecting me to mug up some useless stuff for a useless test. Yeah, there’s no way I’m studying now. It’s really hard to explain the logic behind why I don’t want to do something after I’ve been told to do it, especially since I was going to do it anyway, but there’s that. I continue scrolling.

This was just a glimpse of a small everyday routine in a teens life. There’s other stuff too, like, “I WISH I WAS HER.” “HER LIFE SEEMS PERFECT.” We are all influenced by social media to such an extent that we fail to see the boundary between real and fake. A teen views an influencer's life, tries to replicate it, posts it; we see it; we want to replicate it too now; we post it. All our actions, all our posts, all our stories—any of them that pose a glamorous lifestyle—are simply a tactic we all subconsciously play so that others can have thoughts like we do after we view someone else’s shiny lifestyle.

At times, we feel insecure after looking at someone else’s rich and popular life; we take a step up and find motivation to prove that “I’m cool too; I can post some cool stuff as well,” to feel an ‘accomplishment’ in our own life. We post that. Others see it, some feel motivated while some feel insecure, and the cycle continues till there are hundreds of teens posting fake smiles, hiding the insecure feeling about their face, their body, their clothes, etc etc. That’s how fake everything online is; that’s how fake we can be to prove ourselves “cool” or “part of the cool community” or whatever.

Being a teenager in 2024 is toxic—in short, only for the ones who can’t control themselves. The ones who do control themselves, they’re going to be living THE life. A teenage life that’s authentic, crazy yet safe, lazy without feeling the guilt of not being productive, because by then you’re already done with what you’re supposed to do. I want to celebrate new years with my friends like they did in the 2000s. I want to LIVE the best moments of my life, not capture them. I want one cameraman on festivals; what's the point of celebrating if everyone's the cameraman?

I want to have fun without the need to make sure others know I’m having fun.