by Matt Turner

Created on: April 07, 2007   Last Updated: May 08, 2007

Non-conformism is, simply put, not following the group. As a teenager living in the teen environment, there are very few non-conformists I see around. Though right now in the teen setting it is deemed cool to be different than others, the vulnerability that sets in when an emotionally unstable teen stands alone forces them to conform with a certain group.

Not completely unlike 30 years ago when high-schools had 3 or 4 different types of cliques, schools nowadays have many different groups. There is simply more variety for a teenager to choose from. Each group can openly claim to be non-conforming, and they are right to some extent. But they are wrong in that they believe to be non-conformists completely. They still dress within certain unwritten guidelines as to be accepted by their respective groups. They still listen to the same music that their group deems appropriate for their appearance, and they still live life based upon how others perceive them.

But enough about teenagers.

To be a non-conformist is a hard thing to accomplish in any scenario. Being completely reliant on your own thoughts, morals, ethics and ideas and basing your actions only upon these declarations is to be a non-conformist. If you look hard enough, you will find that almost always will your actions be influenced in some way or another by an outside source. In completely ignoring outside these influences and acting based only upon your own moral guidelines, you are a non-conformist. Though many may share your exact same thoughts in any given situation, if you seek to truly be a non-conformist, you will not listen to these voices and listen only to yourself. To understand non-conformism is to understand yourself, to know your own moral guidelines and act only based upon these guidelines.

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