In the past, teenagers were thought to be seen as mature young adults who were well able to deal with grown-up situations. Teens played very important roles in their society; they were able to work with new technologies and help their families survive by working at young ages to provide a stable income (Hine 7). Over the past few decades, teenagers seem to be more carefree in their choice of lifestyle and are easily affected by the perils of outside forces; today's teenagers face serious pressures at an earlier age than that at which teenagers in the past did. In our modern society, teenagers are more prone to be involved with distasteful activities because of the rising rate of low self-esteem. Now, more than ever, teenagers seem to be in a rush to grow up quickly, consequently engaging in many adult activities as a way of declaring their "independence." Despite the fact that many adolescents are becoming more and more involved with the wrong type of behaviors and actions, there are still a lot of young adults engaged with beneficial deeds due to the rising rates of low personal income and disease.
             In the past, it seemed as if teenagers had a higher sense of self-esteem and were more able to be confident in what they did. The modern crises of adolescence today involve a vast number of epidemics with eating disorders. This is caused not so much by "dysfunctional families," but more so by our media-saturated culture that destroys the youth's perception of themselves if they do not fit their idealistic image. Most present-day teenagers tend to be perfectionists; they are more involved with all aspects of their lives and strive to do very well in everything. There is a connection between this aspect the fact that most adolescents with eating disorders tend to be perfectionists; they are successful in many aspects of their life (Ulene 3). An eating disorder can be looked at as intense fear of becoming fat by eat...