Students fall victim to trends

THE WAY WE SEE IT

Colin Owens | guest writer

Trends are dangerous fabrications constructed by our desire to fit in with social norms. Today, trends come and go daily and following them can hurt ourselves and others.

Trends allow people, especially teenagers, to find themselves in a false sense of acceptance with their peers.

Whether it be fashion trends, social media trends, or even political trends, these ideas just work to suppress individuality and free thought. As easily influenced people, high school teenagers often fall victim to these trends, even when they do not realize it. Take fast fashion, style trends are constantly being changed by the influence of social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok.

As a result, teenagers often waste money and buy cheap clothing to fit in with trends moving across social media. Not only is this bad for their pocketbooks, but these style trends also devalue individuality and support cheaply-made and questionably sourced clothing options.

Since it is a major election year, another trendy topic has become political opinions. Instead of teenagers and young adults making informed decisions and finding their own voices and beliefs among the chaos, political trends have swept their opinions down the drain. This occurs on both sides of the aisle and forces the younger demographic to put their views in a box without deviation.

Instead of being pressured into ways of thinking, today’s youth should be encouraged to avoid trends, be original, and never apologize for who they are.