Expectations, Matthew Napoli

Expectations

Matthew Napoli

Although this is a general word to use in the focus of this assignment, it is a word that closely relates to me when I was growing up as well as right now as a young adult trying to figure out my life. Expectations are placed on adolescents the second they are put into the education system in a variety of ways. When they are younger, the expectations of young students in their early years are very low, the bare minimum is expected of students such as learning basic math and English at a calm pace and not too rushed. However, as students get older, especially in the teenage years, expectations become much more daunting and pressuring for students. The period that I’m talking about is between twelve to eighteen years old. Partially speaking from personal experiences as well as what is commonly understood about students of those age ranges, there is a pressure felt on them that grows increasingly. The expectations begin to pile in several ways. The expectations in school, to get the grades they need to succeed, the expectation to be selfsustaining and balanced although they are tasked with more and more responsibilities.

These expectations are placed on these students through several outlets. There can be expectations from parents who may put additional pressure on their children to do well in school and have the responsibility to succeed in everything as well as maintain a job. Or perhaps expectations from teachers who can expect a lot from their students and sometimes even too much. The one which holds the most influence for me is society. The conception of perfectionism is an expectation that is placed on these young adolescents from an early age, and it can be crippling for many as these are unrealistic expectations. As I have just said, the kinds of expectations that are faced can be within education, making money at a young age, and even worse, social expectations. Social expectations are where society has the focus of how people

should be like in society, what is expected of them rather than people being true to themselves. Societal expectations are unhealthy for the youth for the reasons stated. The idea that they need to do well in school, they need to get a job and make money when they are young, they need to adapt to societal standards. All these focuses are very crippling for a young person who is growing and sometimes needs the extra time to focus on the essential things in life. Not every person has the availability to meet these expectations and it can grow to be something very negative for a young individual. As I stated initially that this is a general word to use, it is one that holds great purpose in the study of adolescents and youth and without understanding the expectations that are being placed on the young generations, we can’t understand why they feel the way that they do or understand why they behave the way that they do. Hence why that is the word that I chose and found significant to use in this assignment. Academic source:

Feliciano, C., & Lanuza, Y. R. (2016). The Immigrant Advantage in Adolescent Educational Expectations. The International Migration Review, 50(3), 758–792. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43948671 Non-Academic Source:

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