Skins Culture: What is Normal?

With the new series of e4's Skins having ended, I've come to the realisation that although it fails to represent actual norms in society, many teenagers believe it to be an accurate portrayal of teenage relationships, drug use and drama. These attitudes are worrying, because some people don't view Skins how it should be viewed - as an entertainment/drama show that is supposed to appeal to teenagers due to it's contemporary nature - but as a way of life that should be imitated in order to render it's viewers as "normal" teenagers and prevent them being branded as "losers".

The characters in all the seasons of Skins all have certain things in common: they think nothing of taking hard drugs regularly, have liberal attitudes to sex and love to listen to Dubstep. It's no surprise then, that the show appeals to so many teenagers. They feel that it has an element of realism because after all, people find it easier to relate to snorting mephedrone in a public toilet than sunning themselves on a beach in Beverly Hills 90210 or marrying Chuck Bass (now there's something I wish I could relate to). It is this illusion of realism, however, that is so dangerous to suggestible teens.

Don't get me wrong, I've probably done most of the things depicted in the programme: I've hardly lived under a rock all my life. Everybody goes to parties. However, Skins shows it's characters going to parties 24/7, in houses that can be trashed without consequences and picking up drugs in foreign countries within minutes of departing the plane, and it is elements like this that really make me question just how close to reality the show is. Unfortunately, most people lack the mental capacity to ask the same questions, and this results in people rocking up to university or college with ridiculously high expectations of what their social lives should be like, and consequently becoming disappointed when they don't live up to the hype.

It sounds ridiculous that anybody would try to emulate the lives of the people on Skins, but sadly they do, and it isn't uncommon for people to hold these ideals about what it is to be a teenager. I've met people that can talk the talk about sleeping around, taking drugs and partying 24/7, but when it really comes down to it, I go out more often than they do!

It's depressing how many teenagers drone on about how many dub nights they've apparently been to in the past week and how fucked they've apparently been every night for the past month, when I know for a fact that the people doing the talking have actually done nothing of the sort. Why is it deemed to uncool to talk about something else for a change? Yeah, getting drunk is all very well and good but if that's all you enjoy doing/all you think you should be doing then there's something very wrong with you and, without sounding too harsh here, I can guarantee that most people who know you will find you a very empty and uninteresting human being.

I'd much rather have a friend who I can bond with about common interests, who I can then go out and get drunk with because of that bonding, than a friend who the only thing I have in common with is our alcohol intake that week.

Guys, it's immature to brag about this stuff. Drugs have been around longer than you, and will continue being around long after you have gone. So has sex and so have parties. Just because you are no longer a child and are old enough to do certain things, do not think that you are impressing anybody by prancing around telling everybody about just how wild and crazy your life is. It impresses nobody. Let's inject some substance into our lives, not our veins.