Being 15 Is Tough No Matter Where You Live: #15Girls
This month, NPR is shining a spotlight on 15-year-old girls â and we've invited our audience members to share their own stories about being 15.
This story is part of our #15Girls series, profiling teens around the world. Read the stories here.
The girls in our #15Girls series face big challenges and have big dreams. We've met girls so intimidated by the gang violence in El Salvador that they're afraid to leave home â and one girl who became a paramedic to help victims.
Her best friend disappeared on the streets of San Salvador. That's when Aby Salas stopped leaving her house except to go to school.
We saw how a girl in Zambia learned Harvard business school negotiation skills to persuade her relatives to lend her money so she could stay in school.
We've met girls in Nepal who have to sleep in a shed outside the house if they have their period â and one 15-year-old who's determined to quash that custom.
And on top of it all, they're 15 â an age that can be tough for any girl, no matter where she lives.
Our audience has used Twitter and Instagram to tell us the hardest thing about being 15. Some of their struggles are just what you'd expect: grades, boys, mean girls. But others are more difficult: their parents' divorce, early pregnancy and depression.
Here's a sampling from the hundreds of responses submitted so far:
Self-Esteem: To Your Own Self Be True
Being at the very beginning of my self-discovery + utterly bewildered: hardest thing about being 15. #15Girls @NPR pic.twitter.com/6bDRNWN31Z
— Alison O'Neill (@malisoneill) October 8, 2015The hardest thing about being 15? Dealing with stupidly low self-esteem while pretending I knew what I was doing. #15girls #MyLifeAt15
— Sophie Drouet (@Snow_phie) October 7, 2015#15Girls @NPR Hardest thing at 15: not knowing (yet!) that happiness comes from being authentic to your awesome self. pic.twitter.com/JejQNZG11X
— Becca Kraybill (@beccakraybill) October 7, 2015Chores: Give Me A Break!
Peer Pressure: Learning Not To Give In
#15Girls The hardest thing when you are 15 is being able to not get influenced by what the others are doing! @NPR pic.twitter.com/dgPbvVH8vd
— Paola Laos (@LaosPaola) October 9, 2015@npr #15girls at 15 -> 9/11/01, grew up in small town, as a muslim, tried to fit in & be like every1 else, thus lost my identity for few yrs
— Nerd (@Nerdyman1013) October 20, 2015In 1965, I struggled with pressures to date early. The boys defined our social importance. College later gave real self worth! #15Girls
— Jeannette DeConde (@seasidemom) October 15, 2015School: Blerg, Chemistry!
Hardest thing about being 15 @nprGlobalHealth? Hmm ... trying to get good enough grades so I could bust out of my hometown #15Girls
— Michaeleen Doucleff (@FoodieScience) October 9, 2015Hardest thing about being 15: organic chemistry :) @Tracy_Wahl #15girls
— Laura (only scarier) (@prairielaura) October 16, 2015Hard Times: Facing A Crisis
Hardest thing being 15? Falling in love. Ended up homeless & pregnant. 20 years later I beat the odds @NPR #15Girls pic.twitter.com/yrCEVSJXI3
— Q (@Arches115) October 7, 2015#15girls @NPR When I was 15 was that my dad started leaving our family for another woman. Books were my escape. pic.twitter.com/U5F42gSQJY
— Alyce Dodge (@m1sh1k1) October 9, 2015Have something to add? It's not too late.
Tell us: What was the hardest thing about being 15? Post a photo of yourself as a teen with your answer on Twitter or Instagram, and tag your post with #15Girls and @NPR. More details here.
See all submissions to our #15Girls social media campaign here:
9(MDE1MTIxMDg0MDE0MDQ3NTY3MzkzMzY1NA001))
300x250 Ad
300x250 Ad