By Malikah Williams

Teenagers today are experiencing and accepting certain behaviors, such as getting tattoos, piercings, and dressing more expressively and risqué, which in the past were considered taboo or unheard of. The behaviors that these teens are accepting are the social norms of the time.

“A social norm is an expectation for behaviors that is found in a culture of society, essentially how people are supposed to act, what they should do, and what they should not do,” sociology professor Michael Rutz said.

The norms of society today are results of what teenagers are exposed to through the vast and easily accessible media sources, which may or may not be a good thing.

“Being that the media is so uncontrolled, there is no limit on what one can see on the internet, what one can hear in music, or what one can see on television, there are very few limits,” Rutz said.

Activities are considered more acceptable based on the amount of people doing them.

“I am okay with [facial piercing and tattoos] because I see them so often that I just adjust to them,” junior Kiera Ortiz said.

In the last decade, the trend of getting tattoos and piercings has increased exponentially.

“Piercings are everywhere now,” junior Dorothy Horsley said. “In seventh grade when I got my first piercing everyone thought it was weird, but now everyone has [a piercing].”

According to a study done by National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health in 2000, the rate of teens getting tattoos is 14% with the average age being 16.8 years old.

“I got my tattoo because it was my birthday and I was getting a special tattoo that I drew myself,” senior Alex Cain said. “[Getting tattoos is] more traditional now when one turns 18 and has freedom to do what one wants.”

The behaviors that teens exhibit are also dependent upon what their parents believe to be acceptable.

“Parents are now more lenient with their kids and they just have learned to accept the changes,” Horsley said.

Parents also acknowledge that they give their children more freedom in deciding what activities they participate in.

“[I let Kiera] do volunteer work in the community and hang out with large groups of kids,” Kiera’s mother, Karen Ortiz said.

While some social norms may be acceptable to certain teens today, others norms are not, due to the beliefs or morals of that person.

“I would never let my surroundings push me to do something drastic like crack or cocaine,” Ortiz said.

Other teens disregard what is acceptable in society and do what makes them happy.

“I am out there, I do what I want,” sophomore Gabriel Rivera said. “ I am not embarrassed to get out there and have fun.”

The social norms of society constantly change over time.

“When I was in school everybody smoked cigarettes, including me,” guidance counselor Bill Havard said. “It went from being a socially accepted custom to being a social pariah.”
Not all social norms are viewed as negative by older generations.

“People [teens] are much more accepting of different sexual preferences, faiths, races, and ethnicity than 20 years ago,” Havard said.

Social norms may change but the core values tend to stay the same.

“Values are what a culture deems as good or desirable or even something beautiful in society,” Rutz said. “The basic values of the United States that we see [now], we saw fifty years ago: hard work, a value around the family, and a value of individual responsibility.”

While these social norms are acceptable to teens and their parents, it does not mean that the norms are correct or even safe.

“Kids get away with a lot and it also endangers their lives and their futures with some of the things that they are allowed to get away with,” Rutz said. “It has also been seen as a reason to our lagging behind in education and success as a country.”