       There are many problems that young people have to face when they stop being children. Is it easy to be young? Are teenagers happy to be their age? Teenager years form some kind of between the childhood and the grown-up life. At this age all feelings and emotions are very strong, all problems seem very important.
       We can distinguish two types of problems - personal problems and the problems the whole generation has to face.
       Personal problems can look silly and unimportant to the eyes of grown-ups, who have already passed this period of learning. For the young it is different. The first and terrible thing is misunderstanding from the dearest people - from the parents. They do not understand why I need to buy certain things, listen to certain music or spend most of my spare time with peers. Father says I am a lazybones, mother cries sometimes. I do not want to hurt their feelings but they should try to understand me. They don't, they still think I'm a baby. But I am 17 years old, I can make decisions and understand everything concerning my life. That is why I spend much time with my friends - they understand that I am a grown-up already.
       The same misunderstanding we face sometimes from the side of the teachers. They think that youth is given for studying. But a person who only studies is dull. Some teachers do not understand that youth is the time for us to learn about people and about ourselves, to play and try things. They try to keep us away from all «dangers» which make up life. But we need to be taken seriously to meet a friendly hand. We have just become grown-ups, so young people need somebody to discuss different prob¬lems and relationships. As long as parents and teachers can't take teenagers seriously, they form their own social groups, which is the phenomenon called "subculture". A subculture is a cultural group within a larger culture, which includes certain methods of communication and identification. I think that the Russian culture includes many such subcultures. Teens subculture is a part of culture and it reveals itself in many features — clothes, styles of favorite music, hair-dos, way of life, opinions about life, future and education, the choice of friends and other aspects. On the one hand, teens express their individuality and their difference from children through within framework their subculture. On the other hand, many groups of teenagers follow a certain fashion which requires to wear a certain piece of clothes (like jeans, army boots, bandanas), jewellery (like earrings for boys, wattles bracelets) certain hairdos (ponytail. shaved heads, coloured or dyed hair), sometimes certain colours. It of course prevents young people from expressing their individuality. So you have to choose a subculture you want to belong to. It's not only the question of appearance. There is a certain philosophy lying in the basis of the every lifestyle, every subculture. To choose a subculture to belong to one should thoroughly consider one's likes and dislikes, one's way of life and habits. There are so many subcultures to meet all demands!
       Skinheads and fascists of different types form a military-like subculture. They often wear uniforms and have military looks. Hippies, on the contrary, wear national-style clothes "to be closer to nature". They like flowers and jewellery made leather and beads. The acid subculture is built on drugs. Metallists and bikers like black leather.
       Some people consider teenagers violent. They say that youth gangs control streets and have bloody fights. But I don't think that teens are violent. Sometimes one can look violent, but there is always a certain reason, for that young person's violence is usually provoked by the grown-ups around, who don't take a young person seriously. Many young people run away from their parents and homes, because they need free¬dom in choosing clothes, friends and music. Many teenagers shout at their parents and teachers if those don't want to listen to teenagers' wordsand reasons. As for the youth gangs, I think, some teenagers need to prove that they are the strongest and the coolest, so they fight much. Idon't think that's good.
       Nevertheless, some subcultures are built on the idea that there are better people and worse people. In this case teens' fight can be looked at as political and ideological acts. I think this is worse than just shouting and answering back to adults. But teens' subcultures have many other characteristics which can be considered positive. These are: relative freedom in expressing individuality, a circle of confederates, which help you understand yourself, positive emotions and communicating with peers. An ideal subculture, to my mind, is a group of young people who understand and respect each other, who exercise freedom in expressing their individuality without hurting other people's feelings and limiting other people's freedom. In such a subculture of teenagers you can have a girlfriend or a boyfriend. In this case everyone approves you. Some grown-ups think that to have a boyfriend or a girlfriend at school is a deadly sin. I do not think so. There are many films and books about love, and the main characters are usually young. I think at school is the right time to find a boyfriend or a girlfriend, because studying is difficult and they can support each other. It is important to have a person who really understands you. There can also be a problem, if your peers (classmates, for example) do not understand you.