NR "The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager" by Hine

NR - not related to ed & tech

For my Adolescent Development class I am reading a book called "The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager:A New History of the American Adolescent Experience" by Thomas Hine. I have only read pp 1-56 & will read pp 138-157 next.

What I appreciate in this book so far for the attempt at a close examination of the term "teenager" and his mission to prove that our idea of what a teenager is, is only an perceived idea, it is not based on anything concrete.

What I dislike in the first few chapters of the book is the sense of being jumbled from topic to topic. Perhaps when I write down my annotations I will start to see the layout of the book and understand how ideas connect more easily.

Intro annotations: "Are Teenagers Necessary?"
Hine introduces the idea that the term "teenager" did not always exist. He talks about the term as being rather a "predicament most people live through," rather than a person. Hine talks about the introduction of the term into our society during the New Deal and the mission to get youth out of the workforce so that there were more jobs for adults.

My favorite quote from the intro: "The absence of a significant economic role for young people has made them dependent on their families for longer periods than their ancestors often were. Young people are often judged to be less able than they are. The concept of the teenager has been an impediment that has kept them from becoming the people they were ready to be." p7

This quote for me is the meat of the issue. Labeling teenagers as being teenagers is doing young people a disservice. We have prejudices against teenagers. Also our fears about the danger of teenagers are self-fulfilling. If we assume teenagers are bad and make up all sorts of silly rules to control them, they will know that rights have been taken away and rebel...thus doing the acts we were working to prevent.

Chapter One annotations: "The Teenage Mystique"
Many other cultures have seen the "teenage" years as the stepping from one stage in life to the next. Many other cultures have ceremonies to celebrate this passage and welcome their young into the life of an adult. This idea makes me reflect on the Quinceanera celebration for Latino young women. In American we do not have a particular celebration that all families participate in (and that makes it clear to the youth that they are now welcomed among the adults). Connects more to chapter 3.

Clumping youth together who are at totally different levels of development is problematic. We have lower expectations of young people because we assume they are all on a lower level. Also, we place all these youth in a sort of limbo between two stages and because of their varying degrees of maturity they are not sure when that limbo will end. In this limbo they are sort of made invisible. "What teenagers do doesn't really count."pg15 (connects to chapter 3)

My favorite quote from Chapter one: "There is [...] no such things (sic) as 'the teenage mind,' only developing human minds."pg16

Hine informs us that youth were judged in earlier times by their size and ability, not by their age. Youth know what they can be capable of, I'm sure, or at least have a good idea of what it is possible for them to achieve. We give them their own special court because we see them as being different than adults and deem that they should be punished differently. (Idea of curfews) Related quote: "One has to wonder whether, by focusing so single-mindedly on teenagers, these laws and exhortations convey the message that smoking is an adult activity--not merely at stupid one."p20 Perhaps this in itself actually encourages teenagers to smoke/do other drugs.

The idea of the "teenage mystique" is the main focus of the chapter. It pulls in all of our misconceptions and fears from and for teenagers. The idea of teen sexuality and violence is addressed w/a rebuttal stating that youth crime rates have gone down as well as teenage pregnancy. Also Hine states that because adults are reluctant to give up their own authority, it is easy to see why teens are kept in limbo for so long (Eisenstadt ch 3). He ends the chapter with the notion that teenagers crave attention/approval from their parents.

Chapter Two annotations: "Only a Phase?"
Hine addresses the idea of a phase in one's life. He brings up the belief that teenagers are controlled by their hormones and connects that to the idea that once women were seen as being controlled by their hormones and were therefore not included in the workforce.

Teens are developing faster than they have in the past. Their bodies are ready but society is telling them to wait for marriage. The length between the start of maturity and marriage is about a decade. Earlier it was easier for teens to wait because their bodies developed later. They didn't have to wait so long for consumation.

Important questions brought up: "What does it mean to be grown up, and how should it be recognized? What is important for young people to know, and how should they be taught? What special role should young people play in society? How do children contribute to the wealth of their parents, and how should that wealth be allocated to the children?"

Holden Caulfield vs. Emile:
Holden Caulfield is the embodiment of the disdain adults feel towards teenagers. He is disrespectful to others and to himself. He does drugs, sollicits prostitues and wastes a bunch of resources available to him (incl. money).
Emile is an imaginary ideal created by Rousseau. He is an impossibility. He is what we want from teenagers. We want them to put off sex and other bad things and grow up mentally first.

Piaget: growing up involves thinking only in the concrete vs being able to understand abstractions. (12-15y old is the time when this transformation occurs).

Peter Blos: "the rescue fantasy" -- because this is just a phase, kids will grow out of it... dangerous way of thinking. Parents need to be involved in their kids' lives and kids need to take responsibility in changing their lives.

Chapter Three: "Coming of Age in Utter Confusion"
Back to the rituals idea, rights of passage (Arnold van Gennep). Social invisibility. America signals adulthood w/giving rights to sin (drink at 21, smoke at 18).

Favorite quote: "[B]ecause adults assume that they cannot understand teenagers' music or humor, [they] most simply don't pay attention."pg 47

Athenian ephebe vs. Spartan guard. Ephebe was introduced to sex/drugs (wine) w/adults. Spartan was used to protect the town, gave youth a purpose (similar to Mao's red guard).
Medieval Europe had the "charivaris"--basically a bunch of young thugs. They attacked older men who "married too young of women" and widows who "married too soon" after their husband's deaths.

Margaret Mead's studies on Samoan teens. Misconceptions about the acceptance of premarital sex.

My mind is combining chapters 1 & 3, so my notes may be a little incorrect. Through my annotating I am starting to see the interweaving themes in each chapter.

Blog to be continued after I read pp138-157.