American Adolescence

Paper Summary:

Thomas Hine and Patricia Hersch present us with two views of the contemporary American teenager, one based in an historical analysis of the creation of the teenager, and the other based in an ethnographic account of contemporary teenage life. The perspective that results from these two views is a more complex one that the usual, uncomplimentary stereotype of the adolescent as moody, disrespectful, and oversexed. This paper examines the ways in which both of these authors present views of American adolescence.

From the Paper:

"Hine's view of modern teenager is grounded in an historical analysis, arguing in The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager that while the life of teenagers a hundred years ago was certainly quite different from the life led by adolescents today, there are important similarities. The generation of teenagers today uses the years between childhood and adulthood as a time in which to gain the skills needed to become a fully functional adult a status that tends to come later now than it did several generations ago. But while teenagers can in some ways be seen as adults in training, they should also " Hine argues " be taken seriously as cultural, economic and political agents."

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