The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager

The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager written by Thomas Hine.

Teenagers are constantly misrepresented and misunderstood. Hine’s purpose in this piece is to “sketch out a useful context for thinking about the young.” I thought the fact that Hine’s had written this piece over a 30 year period was very interesting. It is true that teenagers deal with a lot of stress and a high level of hormones but Hine’s says that “surveys show that teenagers are not miserable at all. They have problems, of course, but they feel confident about coping with them. I feel as though parents and adults do not understand the fact that teens can cope with problems when that say “I don’t think he or she will understand they don’t have enough experience,” or “he or she can not cope they are too young.” How might an adult know if the teen can cope or deal with the topic at hand if they do not allow them?