Think before you speak.

As we exit adolescence some may feel empowered to improve one’s attitude towards life and in general alter the way we behave in order to be the portrayed as a classy, sophisticated individual: this is deemed to be of up most importance, a requirement some may state. During early adulthood, what a large quantity of us fail to realise, is that maturity doesn’t necessarily nor automatically come with age; at least not for everybody and it varies among circumstances and situations we are faced with – why else would it be called ‘personal development’? With all this in mind our verbal responses can reflect our inner maturity, or should I say immaturity?

To be direct I’m aiming to emphasise that there is a present unrealistic expectation for young adults who have completed higher education or who are in the early stages of employment – the supposition being that those aged between 18-30 should be able to speak with a logical approach or educated response; without a trace of ignorance, an unsympathetic manner or unworldliness.

People outside of said age range aren’t to blame for surmising that all young adults are unruly, nevertheless this goes to show that progressing in mental and emotional maturity isn’t a quality that can be instantaneously obtained. Young age is not an excuse to be excused from punishments nor chance to be spared from the backlash of disappointed/disgusted onlookers whom may or may not be off an old age. On the other hand, people who have lived on this earth for longer than thirty plus years should not assume that young people should consistently not how to conform in the sense of sensibility.

Think before you speak – a phrase said countless times to anyone of any nationally, ethnicity or background; it’s a term that encompasses numerous examples.

I am perhaps in the wrong position to be able to urge this, nevertheless I will write freely.

Before you utter a word, no matter of your age of social status, think about the consequences of your negative actions and words before you project your voice. A line is crossed when a so called joke becomes offense to the counterpart. Regardless of humour being intended, people who are a particularly sensitive due to their current mental state are more susceptible to being negatively effected by nasty comments which are only amusing to the person who expressed such words. Considering that on the most part mental-health issues are undetectable, evidently its not entirely obvious when in who’s company you should be conscious of your words. Therefore I truly believe in the importance of always striving to adopt a sensitive, inclusive approach when socialising – whether this take place in person or online. It’s only natural to be clumsy with our speech, just keep in mind that anything referring to body image, mental health, suicide, people’s physical appearance etc are touchy emotion conjuring topics – jokes based around these are never acceptable.