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Perks of Being a Wallflower

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The Perks of Being a Wallflower As teens or young adults you are still trying to figure out who you are and what you have to offer the world. There is so much pressure around teen’s every day of their lives. They do not know what is the right or the wrong choice, but certain influences and relationships help determine the choices they make. They need guidance and someone they can talk to, like a non-parental adult. This is an adult who wants to make a difference in the life of teens, and is someone they can rely on for support. Non-parental adults can come from many different socially-defined contexts: Teachers, coaches, or extended family. These adults play a tremendous role in teens lives’, which is exemplified well in Bill, a male adult character in Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Chbosky, Stephen: Pocket Books UK, 2009) is a novel set sometime in the late 1990s, and focuses on the life of a fifteen year old boy, Charlie. He is a high school freshman, who is painfully shy, but also a very raw, real, vulnerable, and honest character. Throughout the book you see Charlie develop many different relationships. In fact, Charlie finds himself battling some moments of depression and he might not have found his way out without those relationships. An example of a non-parental adult that really impacts Charlie throughout his first year in school would be his English teacher, Bill. Bill recognizes Charlie’s intelligence and writing talent. He encourages his writing by giving him books to read and assigning him essays. He encourages Charlie to participate in life and quit over thinking things. He wants him to live in the moment. “Enjoy it. Because it’s happening.”-Bill He is great to Charlie and gives him encouragement he doesn’t seem to get anywhere else. Teens spend anywhere from six to eight hours a day at school with

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