In what ways do people today still struggle with tensions between individuality and conformity?

Whether people are young or old, people of all ages still struggle with self-actualization and discovery of whether they prefer to be a unique individual or to conform with the rest of the crowd. As a younger child and a teenager, it is particularly hard to not conform as everyone wants to accepted and to fit in with the crowd. They struggle with the way they dress, how they talk and whether or not they study or even have cell phones. This is why it is so important to have a select group of good friends that have acceptable behavior at a young age, because young people are so impressionable.

As young people grow up, the tendency is to be independent and people struggle with what they feel are chains or bars drawn up by their parents to protect them. It is then that there is danger of being a rebel is greatest. As an adult, people still struggle with tensions whether they should dress proper and look presentable at the workplace even when they hate the way that they have to dress.

It depends on each individual as they continue to grow to choose which they prefer. Standing out is not easy and one can get mercilessly teased for being different. One would have to have a thick skin and be a strong-willed person. Being a person who prefers to conform with others, is a lot easier and to fit in the crowd, to not be teased or bullied is a good thing, but if a sense of individuality is strong, then one would find it hard to conform. I would suggest that life can be hard and though it may be hard to conform or not to conform, individuals should pick their own path because of what they want and not because it is a path that someone else pushes them on.