Teenage Rebels

Book excerpt: You think the teenagers of today have it good? That their struggles are merely First World pains? Or only kids from broken families go bad? Think again. Negative influences are lurking at every corner and money can buy anything. For everything else, there is the Internet. Want friends? Join an online cult. Want drugs? Click and DIY. Want to forge? Learn how with web videos. Want porn? Upload your own. When such disturbing influences combine with an oppressive pressure to fit in, some teens stick to the straight path society has laid out, while others stray into dark alleys, only to be trapped, committing crimes or developing psychological problems that ruin them, leaving their futures in shambles. Through interviews, experience, and research, the authors expose stories of seemingly normal teens from average Singaporean families. Hear their voices and understand their mindsets. After all, beneath the rosy-cheeked exterior of that sweet child across the road lurks a possible future social psychopath Author Dr Kaiwen Leong is an economist, entrepreneur, lecturer and academic researcher. A graduate of Princeton University, he is currently an Assistant Professor of Economics at Nanyang Technological University. He is also an Associate Faculty Member at the Singapore Institute of Management, and consults for many private sector organisations, including Singapore Business Federation and Oxford Economics. His autobiography Singapore’s Lost Son: How I Made It From Dropout to Princeton PhD was published in 2012.