Talking Points #1

The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager

Thomas Hine

"The Purpose of this book is to sketch out a useful context for thinking about the young-one that jettisons obsolete and destructive aspects of our contemporary view of teenagers. The teenager was an invention of the Machine Age. We live in a different world now, and we must reconsider how we think about the lives of the young."
As much as I would love to disagree with Hine on his piece, I find it difficult because he expressed so many dominant points. He makes good points about the different ideologies of teenagers hundreds of years ago as compared to this day and age. Back in the day, a 15yr old girl was just about ready to get married, settle down and raise a family, while a 15yr old boy was hard at work tending to his families farm and crops. Whereas today's 15yr old girl is worried about which outfit she'll wear to the mall and the 15yr old boy is trying to decide which AXE deodorant will attract the ladies better. Hine hits the nail on the head with this idea.
I do agree with the fact that teenagers are automatically judged the minute they turn the dreadful 1-3. "Today's teenagers serve a sentence of presumed immaturity, regardless of their achievements or abilities. The prodigy has to finish high school. The strapping, well-developed young man shows his prowess not at work but on the football or soccer team. The young woman who is ready to be a mother is told to wait a decade instead." Although, I don't necessarily agree with the fact that all teenagers are little angels who just happen to have a bad rap. I have been around teenagers my entire life and not all of them have halos. Infact, I can only name a few of the teenagers I know or have known that stand up to the 'goody-goody' persona/image Hine is skirting around in the article.
I especially liked how he brought up the issue of sexuality in a teenagers life. "Young people nearing the peak of their physical and sexual powers are expected to delay using them and focus these energies on acquiring skills and moral values. Adults hope that young people will remain innnocent of their sexual power...teenage sexuality confuses the culture". My interpretation of this quote is basically that teenagers have physical and sexual feelings towards one another but are not supposed to tap into that box of emotions. Instead, adults expect them to spend their time doing something productive. I do agree that it is hard for a teenager NOT to think about sex every minute of the day. Girls are wearing skimpier clothes by the minute and guys are having more and more to look at. When sex is overtaking normal televison/magazines/radio, how can you expect a pubescent teen to NOT have any sexual or physical thoughts?? "Today's young people grow to their full size and reach sexual maturity sooner than did members of earlier generations".
I found this article to be a very difficult read. After I had read it the first time, I needed to skim over it once again to make sure I really understood what he was trying to get across. I felt like his wording made the piece very tiring. Other than that, I think this piece really got across how teenagers are viewed today. I am split down the middle with my opinion of Hine and this article. Overall, I highly agree that teenagers are judged no matter what by society and hopefully in the future we can take the weight off of the word 'Teenager'.