'Teenager' an astute, critical look at the next generation

By Geoffrey M. Anenberg

For the Daily

The same question is asked, over and over again, by one adult generation of its successors. Today, of course, the question is no different: What is wrong with these kids? In his "The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager," Thomas Hine answers.

Author of three other books, Hine is also a regular contributor to The New York Times among other publications. This book is no surprise. Hine delivers the facts, extensively, with a style and refreshing insight one should expect from an accomplished writer. The work is strung together by countless anecdotes, social commentaries and studies that span the decades, even centuries, in tracing the path of American youth from its origins to what we now call the Teenager.

Hine gives a number of in-depth reports including the 1931 account of the Scottsboro boys, wherein two white transient teenage prostitutes sent several black youths to prison on alleged, yet fraudulent, rape charges. Another is the 1997 incident of a high school girl giving birth to and discarding her infant son in the restroom at her senior prom. Without further research, one can easily conclude that crime has successively become more gruesome, as teenagers today are kept safe thousands of miles away from any military threat or economic hardship, unlike the many generations before it.

Crime rates, particularly in larger cities, have statistically improved from the '80s, though public opinion doesn't seem to take that into account. Hine explains that, "depending on who the observers are, what they're looking for, and what they expect to find, the coming teens appear to be monsters, or saviors, or anything in between." It's not some national anxiety that keeps American youth out of trouble, for the late '30s early '40s youths that had under the looming fear of being shipped off to war the next day were having more sex, staying out later and breaking all the rules in general.

America's youth has undergone a wild and rapid evolution from the time when 16-year-olds were considered men. With time the conditions changed that delivered youth from the "jazz age" and "dead end kids" of the '20s and '30s to the "Goths of Tomorrowland." Hine believes that today, "Young people are exposed to all the violence and economic insecurity of society at large, but, unlike their predecessors, have few avenues for bearing real responsibility to improve their situation." As always, the game has changed. The reigns are getting tighter and kids are reacting the only way they can: Ferociously.

Hine's opinions are powerful, balanced and easily agreeable. He might have made a stronger impact on the reader with more specific applications of his conclusion to match the content rich body of his argument; perhaps that's for his readers to figure out. Overall, it's a wonderful read for anyone interested in a serious investigation of today's youth. Or, more simply, for anyone seeking an insightful analysis of how we got here and where we are going.

REVIEW

Thomas Hine

The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager

Avon Books

Grade: A-