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There's constant pressure at high school to make sure your appearance lives up to some standard set by the stars on television or by the pupils at school. It tends to lead to teenagers being too self-conscious about how they appear and it is often taken too far. Some teenagers in the pursuit of achieving the famed look that their favourite celebrity has can lead to them starving themselves, which is not healthy.

Life in high school:

Everyone knows that bullying often takes place in schools. And why is that? It's because someone is an easy target for bullying if they look out of place or don't share popular interests. What does this do? It helps foster an inherent need in teenagers to be too self-conscious of their appearance to avoid being on the receiving end of a joke. Matters are only made worse when they see celebrities on television or in the newspapers/magazines who have the body they want. It leads to teenagers (and adults) going: I hate how I look. Or, do I look great?

Well, as has been summarised, it's important to consider how you look in high school. But, it's not important enough to starve yourself or to drive you insane in an effort to look just right. An effort should be made to look presentable, but not as beautiful as you can be. This should help avoid bullying. Lets look at the people who bully as well: if they won't settle for you looking presentable, are they really worth bothering with? Also, by making sure you keep yourself looking presentable, you give people one less reason to tease you and it should help prevent them taking pot-shots at your unpopular interests if you have any.

So, while I believe that you should be able to look and dress how you want, it's not feasible if you don't want to be picked on in high school. Starving yourself and fretting needlessly definitely isn't the way to go, but keeping your wits about you to take care to not look scruffy etc. is. Besides, beauty isn't just skin deep despite what some people may think.

For later in life:

There are some jobs that require you to look good and not just presentable. These, in my opinion, are not worth bothering with. If a job requires you to look great to land the position or keep it, what does that say about the job itself? It may pay well, but in all honesty, you're best looking elsewhere for an employer who won't demand good looks. It may sound odd mentioning this as well, but employers only looking for a certain type of person does happen.

So, in conclusion, never let yourself get too self-conscious about how you look. It's fine wondering about it, but don't take it too far.

Learn more about this author, Dan Cartwright.
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