Teenage Struggles: Navigating Relationships, Self-Image, and Peer Pressure

Joanna’s Story

Joanna is a teenager and a brilliant student. She has two younger brothers, and her parents are a happy couple. Joanna’s best friend is Clare. Joanna has blonde, curly hair, a round face, and blue eyes, but she doesn’t think she’s as pretty as Clare. Clare is also a brilliant student, but she’s very popular and beautiful. Clare has a boyfriend, a very popular German student. Joanna goes out with Nick for a time, but one evening in the park, he talked about her “big bottom,” and she broke up with him. Joanna feels ugly and big. She starts a diet, and this is the beginning of her problems. She gets angry with Clare and her parents. She eats almost nothing but diet coke, black coffee, and salad. They are worried about her, even Clare. They think that she suffers from anorexia and want her to see a doctor. Dr. Parker is a very good and understanding person, and Joanna starts her treatment. She is an outpatient. One day at the hospital, she meets Billy, who is also a patient. They have a lot in common and start a relationship. Joanna also rekindles her friendship with Clare.

Analyzing Joanna’s Relationships

Joanna felt less than her schoolmates and boyfriends. She didn’t know how to behave around them. She thought she wasn’t popular or beautiful. Nick was her only boyfriend, and she broke up with him because he spoke about her “big bottom.” She was infatuated with her Literature teacher, but perhaps only because it was an impossible love.

Joanna’s Biggest Problem and Overcoming It

Joanna’s big problem is that she underestimates herself. She felt inferior, ugly, and unpopular. She thought that dieting was the solution, but it was the therapy and Dr. Parker who helped her.

Ricardo’s Story

Ricardo was a brilliant student and a good friend. His best friend was Pablo. But… Ricardo woke up in the hospital, badly injured and remembering nothing. He had a car accident, and Pablo was with him. Pablo is worse injured than him and is very angry with Ricardo.

Before the Accident

Some time before the accident, Ricardo’s life had changed. Pablo and Ricardo started to study at a new college. On the first day, Pablo was ill, and Ricardo met some new people, Raul and his friends. They are bad students and spend most of their time drinking. Ricardo went with them to the park and missed his classes. He got drunk for the first time. He started to go out every night and drink too much. When Pablo realized the new situation, he tried to help Ricardo, but Ricardo liked his new friends and the feelings and sensations of drinking.

Ricardo’s Changing Behavior

Ricardo’s parents were worried about him. He had changed; he was always bad-humored and tired and came home drunk almost every night. Ricardo’s school marks also changed.

The Accident and its Aftermath

One night, he had a terrible car accident. He took his parents’ car without permission; it was Raul’s idea. His parents had to go away, and he took the car. Pablo went with him because Ricardo was too drunk, and Pablo wanted him to reconsider driving. They had an accident, and Pablo was very badly injured; he had to spend a lot of time in the hospital. Ricardo had a lot of time to think about his behavior, and his parents were always with him. They told him to think about who his real friends were. Raul and his gang never came to visit him. He thought about all this and went to see Pablo to apologize again. They rekindled their friendship, and Ricardo started attending Alcoholics Anonymous for therapy.

Ricardo’s Personality

Ricardo is a responsible, good student, but when he met Raul, everything changed. He didn’t want to be threatened by Raul and his gang, so he pretended to be as rude and tough as them. But he assimilated their behavior very quickly. He was very adaptable.

The Real Issue of the Story

Your real friends are always with you no matter what happens. The people who drink with you and try to change you are not real friends. Family and real friends are very important in our lives.

Anne’s Diary

Anne is a brilliant student who had a happy family. She had a younger sister, Sarah. Their parents were happy until something changed. Her house had become a battlefield; her parents were always arguing. She went to school, studied, and went to parties. She met new friends and went out with a boy, Mark Chum. Everything was very ordinary. But her whole world came crashing down because of the problems at home. She and her sister went to France with their mom, and she told her the truth. Her mom had an affair, and their parents were thinking about their future. Back at home, things got worse. Anne and her sister went to their grandmother’s for a while. Her school life was getting worse too. She couldn’t study or concentrate.

The Aftermath of the Affair

Finally, her parents decided to divorce, and that was a good solution, but it was too late for her exam results; she failed everything but History. Her parents were very understanding, and she went to an independent school and passed all her exams in January, so she went to France. She had gone to France last summer when she met a boy, Roman. Now she has a good future: France, Roman, and a new life.

Exercise

The Role of Parents

Joanna’s Parents: They were very worried about her health and her problems and looked for a solution. They were always there to help her.

Ricardo’s Parents: They tried to help their son before the accident happened, and afterward, they were still there, although he had done things without their permission. They were at his bedside and helped him to realize who his real friends were and to find help.

Anne’s Parents: They had problems, but they tried to keep their children aside. They wanted to protect them and tried to be understanding with Joanna’s results. Sarah was younger, and they were worried about her too.

Family Problems in Anne’s Diary

Anne’s family was in big trouble. Her parents were always arguing because her mom had an affair. They tried to find a solution and took some time to find it. Finally, they separated and divorced.

Influence on Family Members: Anne was distracted and worried. She was worried about her sister and didn’t want to take sides. She tried to comfort her sister. Her dad was always sad and angry, and her mom was upset and was the one who told Anne the truth, but the decision was her parents’. Anne’s results were terrible, and her sister had nightmares and went to sleep with Anne.

Role of Adults: The adults tried to help the children. Her grandmother was a great help to her and her sister. She talked with Anne about adult life without taking sides.

Role of Children: Children were the victims of the situation because they paid the consequences of adult problems.

Word Lists

a. School Life: primary school, popular, comprehensive school, grammar school, entrance exam, uniform, class, extracurricular activities, first year, break-time, subjects, learn, homework, work hard, to do our best, schoolwork, top-student, to do well, missing classes, to attend, revision, term, retake, independent college.

b. Love Relationships: boyfriend, to kiss, to assess, wimp, jealous, romances, perfect couple, infatuation, to embrace, date, to hold hands, to argue, to shout at each other, to take sides, divorce, marriage, affair, to meet somebody, to fall in love, to fall out of love.

c. Friends: best friend, gang, party, to meet, to go out, to worry, to help, conversation, to talk.

d. Dieting: to go on a diet, to lose weight, slim, to miss lunch, food diary, fruit, vitamin tablets, diet coke, thin, eating disorder, hunger pains, anorexia, high-protein diet.

e. Health and Injuries: hospital bed, obsession, illness, to overcome, cure, treatment, outpatient, nurse, pain, badly hurt, broken leg, crushed, recovery process, operation, to remove pins, to get better, intensive care.

f. Car Accident: to crash, to smash a car, fully insured, alcohol, badly injured, broken leg, unconscious.

g. Drinking: fizzy drinks, soft drinks, calimocho, drunk, pathetic alcoholic, social drinking, drinking problem, wine, to act crazy, to vomit, to feel cool, to feel dizzy, hangover, headache, beer, to have a good time, unconscious, Alcoholics Anonymous, habits, party, numb feeling, effects, pathetic.