{"id":5098,"date":"2013-04-25T04:57:15","date_gmt":"2013-04-25T08:57:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/?p=5098"},"modified":"2013-04-29T12:37:55","modified_gmt":"2013-04-29T16:37:55","slug":"the-social-butterfly-transforming-the-teenage-soul-series-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/?p=5098","title":{"rendered":"The Social Butterfly: Transforming the Teenage Soul Series Part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

Part 3: Beliefs behind Boston<\/span><\/p>\n

In the wake of the Boston Marathon Tragedy, two suspects were quickly identified. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, a former champion boxer, was the clear leader of the operation. Yet Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, also known as Suspect #2, is the one who seems to be on everybody\u2019s mind. Why? Because at only 19 years old<\/span><\/i>, Dzhokhar has committed one of the worst terrorism assaults on American soil of this century. How<\/i>, and <\/span>Why<\/i>, could a teenager commit such a horrible atrocity? <\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout all the numerous reports on Dzhokhar\u2019s interrogations, it has been noted repeatedly that his brother Tamerlane influenced and recruited him to participate in the bombing plot. Clearly, at some point in his journey, Dzhokhar became fully immersed and decided to partake in his brother\u2019s radical activities. Was this his true<\/span><\/i> sense of self? We\u2019re not sure, but certainly this was not his highest<\/i> sense of self. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The reason why I\u2019ve decided to include this topic in this series is because it has everything<\/span><\/i> to do with teenagers handling social sway and group dynamics. The level of immersion that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had with Tamerlan\u2019s ideology was very, very, deep; so deep, in fact, that he lost the light of reason. The influence of his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, had become too ingrained into Dzhokhar\u2019s physical, psychological, and (this hurts) spiritual perspective for him to remain uninvolved. Whatever \u201cdream\u201d Dzhokhar had, supposedly to finish medical school and become a doctor, became overshadowed by his fixation with this terrorist thought. With his brother\u2019s strong presence, Dzhokhar\u2019s own presence seems to have been completely overshadowed. With Dzhokhar\u2019s situation, I realized that his social dynamics could be broken down into a simple formula: <\/span><\/p>\n

Immersion + Influence = Extremism (aka Complete Loss of Choice)<\/span><\/p>\n

This same level is not only reflected in the Boston Bombings, but also in the lives of teens across the world. This group extremism can manifest itself violently in gangs, or it can appear much more subtly in athletics, Greek life, and other cliques. Gang activity and its influence on teenagers can be seen in the cities of Chicago, London, Cape Town, and even Beijing. In both small villages and vast megacities, teens are falling out of grace and falling in with the wrong crowd. And, like every parent fears, teens are making decisions that are extremely<\/span><\/i> opposite of their highest potential. <\/span><\/p>\n

My question for teens, and especially for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, is simply this: what group is so worth being involved in that you lose yourself? <\/span><\/i>If it is simply a matter of trying to be \u201ccool,\u201d it is not worth it. If it is a way to be \u201cfun\u201d, it is not worth it. \u00a0If it is the best attempt to be \u201cpopular,\u201d it is not worth it. <\/span>\u00a0The Self \u2013 the mind, the body, the spirit \u2013 is the beautiful manifestation of your consciousness. Why dilute it with someone else\u2019s ideas to create a darker vision of an inferior version of you? <\/span>Teens have the choice<\/i>, and they can choose <\/span>Who They Are in the context of every situation<\/i>. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Some teens, however, still don\u2019t believe that they have power in their choices. Using the equation from above, there is a way to incorporate choice into those beliefs: through the power of detachment. <\/span><\/p>\n

–<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If you are in a situation where you cannot avoid the influence, choose not to become immersed. You can observe the beliefs and actions of the group, but decide not to become involved if the group\u2019s direction does not match the direction of your own moral compass. Giving healthy distance will keep immersion from becoming over powerful. <\/span><\/p>\n

–<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If you are in a situation where you cannot avoid immersion, decide not to become influenced. Deciding to act as an individual within a group is not an easy task, but it is manageable. Remember your<\/span><\/i> core beliefs, and your<\/i> sense of self, will keep you on your path. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

–<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If you are in a situation where you have experienced both high levels of immersion and influence, make a conscious effort to detach yourself from the situation as frequently as possible. By taking a moment of step outside the group\/gang\/ideology, the activities and beliefs of the group\/gang\/ideology can be reviewed holistically, or as a whole. Through analyzing what\u2019s really being said and what\u2019s really going, it becomes very clear on what is truly happening, and whether or not you want to fully embody the group\u2019s purpose in your own life.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

With this in mind, we can stay true to our own physical, psychological, and spiritual beliefs. Instead of falling under the influence, we can choose to be guided by our own self in our own decisions. Having the awareness to know who and what is in control of the group, and possibly you, is vital in remaining centered with your own state of being. With this in place and present, the world can make sure that there will never be another Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

(Lauren is a Feature Editor of The Global Conversation. She lives in Wood Dale, IL, and can be reached at <\/i>Lauren@TheGlobalConversation.com<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span>)<\/span> <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part 3: Beliefs behind Boston In the wake of the Boston Marathon Tragedy, two suspects were quickly identified. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, a former champion boxer, was the clear leader of the operation. Yet Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, also known as Suspect #2, is the one who seems to be on everybody\u2019s mind. Why? Because at only 19 years […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[1158,251,1117,245],"class_list":["post-5098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-younger-generation-take-on-things","tag-boston-bombing","tag-lauren-rourk","tag-social-life","tag-teen-spirituality"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5098"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5098\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5128,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5098\/revisions\/5128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theglobalconversation.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}