Teenagers

You can definitely tell that both articles written in Chapter 7 were written in the 1990's. I remember this media craze that painted an awful picture of teenagers. They were convinced that an entire generation was evil and was pretty much doomed. They would meet their demise via drugs, alcohol, sex, and violence crimes. But yet, that didn't actually happen. That generation is still kicking. I remember this media campaign against teenagers (I was probably in 4th/5th/6th grade at the time) and it was the first time that it occurred to me that the media might not know what they're talking about all of the time. What an epiphany! I looked around at the teenagers I knew and thought to myself, they don't seem all that bad to me. Sure, you have the bad seeds that do have some serious issues and need help. Like the article stated, they were probably abused as children. But for the most part, teenagers were teenagers. Some a bit rebellious, some a little hormonally crazed, but nothing too out of the ordinary. As we all know, the media likes to sensationalize things. They got a hold of some statistics that were not accurate and they ran with it. I think the reason they concentrate on teenage issues and crimes is because it is more shocking than when adults do the same things. When an adult murders someone, it's news-worthy but not necessarily shocking. When a teen murders someone, it's more alarming. The media eats this kind of thing up and then tags on the age-old phrase to the end of the report: "What's happening to the youth of America?" Stop generalizing like that! Anyway, I think things have gotten better in this decade. The youth of America doesn't get picked on as much as they did in the 90's. Hopefully it stays that way. We need to stop blaming teen problems on music, movies, television, and video games. It starts with the parents. If anyone is to blame, it's the parents, not the teens.

Girls vs. Boys

I found it really interesting that in other cultures puberty is celebrated. In cultures where the person immediately takes on the responsibilities of an adult, the transition is acknowledged with a ceremony of some sort. It's a shame that more developed societies can't look at the transition as a positive thing. In contrast, we treat puberty as some scary, strange thing that no one is supposed to talk about. It makes adolescents feel embarrassed about something that is completely natural. I found the quote on page 28 particularly poignant. It talks about how boys feel more positive about puberty because they have this whole world open to them and they can chose their future, whereas girls feel like their future has already been stamped out for them. They will become mothers and take care of the home just as their mothers did. Thankfully, our society has moved away from this female stereotype and women have the same opportunities as men. But I think this feeling of doom for girls is still there to some degree and it can make adolescence all that more turbulent. I don't think enough research has been done on how puberty affects boys. The chapter concentrated mostly on girls' issues and I am curious as to how difficult these changes are for boys. So I guess my question is: Is puberty more of a crisis for girls than for boys?