Adolescent:

A young person who experiences bodily changes and spends years in search of identity: social expectations, sense of self, and function in the world. Often deemed rebellious, adolescents experiment with challenging authority and gaining authority. Known as the identity-vs.-role-confusion stage in Erikson’s theory, moving past adolescence into adulthood can develop a sense of self and place in society, or, if neglected or unsuccessful, can lead to impaired sense of self, lack of identity, and inability to function in society.

Ah, dear America. We the people are still so young. Our country is only in its adolescence, struggling to find our function in the world as our body changes. We are discovering social expectations and questioning authority figures. We are demanding that we ought to be the authority over our elder countries. We are alienating ourselves from those we depend on, our parent countries, our natives, our neighbors, our friends. As the world around us changes, we are finding our place in that change. Sometimes we express feelings through rebellion.

These are all normal, but we must move past this adolescence. We are growing old, and we must grow up. Like Erikson said, we either address these issues and work through them, eventually coming to solutions; or we leave these problems on the wayside, leaving room for neglect, anger, depression, and confusion to overwhelm us.

America, we must become adults.