Since the 1980's Teens in some aspects have not changed very much, and yet in some ways they have changed a great deal. It seems to me that teens today are wilder then we were growing up with drugs, alcohol and sex being more common with younger teens.
Not all the changes have been bad. Today it is more common for high school students to have part time jobs, and more teens are doing charity and volunteer work.
When it comes to Eyeglasses and teens there have been some major changes since I was growing up. back in the 1980's it was practically a social death sentence to be told you would have to wear glasses, but today with the abundance of fashionable eyeglasses, not only is it not a death sentence it can be a boost in a teens popularity.
In schools all over the USA you can find teens wearing glasses with plain lenses just to use the glasses themselves as a fashionable accessory. Kids are running out to the glasses stores in the mall to be the first to get the same eyeglass frames as the stars are wearing on the red carpets and in their movies, or to see the new colors and styles that are available. Glasses are quickly becoming a popular fashion accessory.
You may be thinking that this is only going on with the girls, but think back to when you were a teen, if the girls were interested in it so were the boys. In my day it was the Guido look, with Z Cavaricci pants and you had to drive an Iroc, or a Mustang GT if you wanted to be hot, I chose to stick with my old Lee jeans, engineer boots and pocket tee shirts, so, I was definitely NOT part of the popular crowd.
The guys may have other criteria for picking out their glasses. They do not worry about what celebrity is wearing the same glasses, he is worried about looking cool, if he thinks the glasses will make him appear cool to the popular girls he will buy them. Ever wonder why the sales clerks are usually young attractive females? It's because men of any age, once they hit puberty, will buy almost anything an attractive woman says make us look good.
This has made it easier for kids who require prescription glasses to go to school wearing them and not have to worry about being made fun of, as opposed to when I was growing up and many kids would either leave their glasses at home or would leave them in their backpack and would not let anyone see them. These kids developed the attitude that it was better to be cool then to get a good education.
The change in attitude towards glasses has given kids who in the past would not have done well in class because they could not read the board of their books, a chance to be cool and get a good education. In the past these students were more likely to get into trouble in class and outside of school because of the frustration of not being able to see well, imagine how you would feel when you study and try hard in class but still have the wrong answers on homework and tests because you can‘t see the material correctly.
