Edsicie Coaxum

1. According to Hine, when was the word “teenager” first used, and what was new about the idea of a teenager at that time?

I believe it was used about 60 years ago when World War II was in play. The term “teenager” was coined to mean every young person regardless of race, social status and age. The way society sees it is that all teens are meant to experience the same if not close to the same experiences. In a way that could be true, it doesn’t necessarily have to be the same situation. Maybe the feelings were the same about it. What made me mad as a teenager could have made another teen feel a different way. Or a really bad situation for me could just be a normal situation for them.

student 2

1. According to Hine, when was the word “teenager” first used, and what was new about the idea of a teenager at that time?

The word teenager was first used during World War II, in the 1940s, and was believed to encompass all young people regardless of their social class, whereabouts or race (Hine, 2000, p.11). Based on the readings, the book thinks all teenagers should have had the same life experience as we all know that is not the same. All of us in this class had a different journey during our teenage years. “Our beliefs about teenagers are deeply contradictory: They should be free to become themselves.” (Hine, 2000, p.11). This is my belief on teenagers. During these years, I think it is important that we provide support to the youth, especially our own children, because this will help shape their lives moving forward. I’ve seen some co-workers not support their children because they have made decision that they do not agree with such as having a different sexual preference, choosing to partake in another religion that is different or unique from the rest of the family. Last year, NBA star, Dwyane Wade, chose to support his son that wanted to be identified as a different sex than what he was born as. Dwyane Wade supported his son at home and in the media, even after receiving backlash from individuals stating that his son could not make such a big decision as a young age, but Wade supported and still supports his son to this day regarding his sexuality and I believe that is very important. If Wade had not shown support for his son, this could have lead to a big problem for his son throughout his life from trust, to self-confidence and a number of other issues that affect teenagers. I think these are the years when individuals start to form their own beliefs and opinions about certain situations. In these years, you begin to learn a lot about the United States government in your history classes and you start to form your opinion and believe what you think is correct or should be changed, such as political parties. When you read textbooks, you start to think in your mind that, “this is wrong”, or “I agree with this statement”. In my opinion, I believe teenagers should be given room when mistakes happen, so that they can grow and learn from the experience. In my experiences, I have seen sheltered teenagers experience situations for a first time as adults and it leads to trouble, such as parties in college. My parents allowed me to attend parties as a teenager and always told me that I know what is right and what is wrong. If I made a mistake, I was punished and learned from the situation after I had a conversation with my parents about what went wrong.

REFERENCES

Hine, T. (2000). The rise and fall of the American teenager. New York: Perennial.

Edited by Kenya Capers on Jan 11 at 6:56pm

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