Talking Points 1

The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager
by: Thomas Hine
Hine goes back thirty years, to his adolescents to continue writing a piece that was originally due for the yearbook. His trip down memory lane has been an insightful one that many could learn from. Hines explores the troubled youth of yesterday and today and the different trials and tribulations that some have experienced. He goes back to a time when the biggest question that needed to be answered was, "Where do I fit in?" and on his travel back into time he discovers that he had found himself. As he describes, "I found myself as a beginner, practicing a craft that I'd learn better, making some mistakes that I wouldn't make now." I feel that this is an important concept for us a adults to remember, after all isn't that exactly what teenagers are doing, learning some sort of art that they will one day perfect. Hines also made mention of the fact, "that survey after survey of young people show that they aren't misereable at all. They have problems, of course, but they feel confident about coping with them." So why do we as adults have this huge misconception that all teens are miserable and sad when they clearly do not feel that way themselves. Throughout the reading, Hines discusses how teenagers are viewed and perceived and he gives examples of why adults might have come to these conclusions. Although Hines gives some horrible examples of teenage behaviors, a girl who kills her baby on prom night and kids who go to school with switch blades, he also makes mention of the facts that most adults forget. Hines mentions teen deaths are considerably lower, teenage pregnancies are in the decline; dropout rates are much lower and aspirations for higher education is much higher. Overall, I feel that Hines point is to help adults acknowledge that teenagers are just young adults, trying to find themselves as we all once were and that regardless of how quickly we forget we were all once teenagers and that person still lives and breaths inside all of us.