What happens to kids when they can have almost everything they want? What happens to kids when life’s hardships seem to avoid them freely? What happens to kids when they reach the peak of their teenage turmoil and not have any other outlet?

Self-destruction. Very creative self-destruction.

After several years of living here I still can’t get over the number of creative ways of how teenagers kill themselves. Every year, the Australian government try to find new ways to tighten the road rules just to save these kids from themselves. There are three levels of drivers license in Australia: the red P, green P, and then the full license. They designed this so that drivers undergo a couple of stringent tests before going on the road. The red P platers are the worst of them all – the teenage drivers.

According to studies, the frontal lobe of a teenager’s brain is not well developed, thus causing irresponsible judgment especially when driving. There are suggestions of pushing the age limit for drivers to 18 years old or even 21 to ensure these drivers’ brains are fully developed. Scientifically, this might be sensible, but I think part of the issue is also the complete disregard for their own lives. I’ve become insensitive of driving accidents after hearing so many stories on TV about yet another red P plater stupidity. It would have been okay if they only kill themselves, but almost every single time, they include families, kids and pensioners in their hunger for death. They want to crash their super turbo cars onto trees, that’s fine with me, as long as they don’t take anyone else down with them. There is a very strong lobbying going on that if they get caught speeding or road racing, the punishment should be crushing their cars into tin cans while they watch. Sweet sweet punishment.

Last year, these teenagers’ creativity went up a notch when they decided to race their boats out into the dark night near the harbour bridge in Sydney. So what happened? They found themselves crashed into a fishing boat and killing several of their friends. They got bored racing cars so now they’ve moved on to boats.

If it’s not crashing cars and boats, these young idiots go out binge drinking – killing themselves slowly through liver poisoning at an early age, or speed up their death through violent drunken riots and a new phenomenon called “glassing”. As the term implies, “glassing” basically happens when someone smashes a glass on someone else’s face sometimes causing irreparable damage. These glassing incidents do not choose victims as well, especially since young Aussie women have become increasingly violent during the last couple of years. Many drunken pub and street brawls include young women – it’s been called the Princess Bitchface syndrome — also the title of a book I’m currently reading describing this bizarre phenomenon.

Early last year, a 16-year old kid shocked the country when he announced his house party online while his parents were out of town. Hundreds of teenagers crashed his party, mostly strangers, and caused thousands of dollars worth of damages to his parents’ house. The police had to be called and the party became a national issue. The little dick was so arrogant he refused to apologise for the chaos his actions have caused. The parents promptly forgave the little twerp instead of sending him to military school or a deserted island near the Abu Sayyaf territory. He even became a guest in Big Brother and extended his 15-minutes of fame. It’s ridiculous how he got away with it. It’s even more ridiculous that the media helped in extending his time in the spotlight thereby strengthening to other teenage morons that irresponsibility will be rewarded with fame (oh what am I saying, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Amy Winehouse, yes, today’s society rewards insanity with fame).

I’ve been contemplating for quite some time why teenagers here today are so selfish. I guess it is easy to understand given how well off this society is. Parents give in to their kid’s every whim just to avoid tantrums. It is unheard of to not give your kid the latest iPod, mobile phone, Wii or Playstation game. These luxuries become instant gratification instead of something to work for. When I was a kid, I had to earn my prizes with high marks in my exams and quizzes. You earn the prize with your hard work, not because you sulk and have a tantrum.

While growing up, I was constantly made aware that although I have very little, there are those who have nothing. It’s not hard to know other people’s circumstances given the society I was living in. All I needed to do was look left or right to see other kids going hungry and although I was eating a cheap cassava cake, at least I was eating.

In Australia, the poor seem to be hidden behind invisibility cloaks. It is easier for today’s youth to compare themselves against the rich instead of be thankful they have somewhere to sleep and something to eat. Selfishness is an art and the world revolves around their little heads. I feel like getting a baseball bat and bashing these kids’ heads into sensibility. I should suggest to the government to implement a program that would send these kids to third world countries so they see how well they have it here and shut their whining.

I’m a parent and there is no manual to this gig. But I do hope that when my daughter sees the plight of others everytime we visit the Philippines, she will know and appreciate how great her life is here.

*** Kristyn Maslog-Levis is a freelance journalist and photographer based in Sydney.

Other post/s by Kristyn Maslog-Levis

• A new citizen - February 25th, 2010