Thomas Hine-Talking points #1

The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager.. By: Thomas Hine

While I was reading this article written by Thomas Hine, I kind of got the assumption that he was sort of on the teenagers side but he also understood where all of the accusations and sayings about teenagers came from. Like when he says on page 2 about Anna Freud's theory and how there is a serious problem with this theory because survey upon survey have only pointed out that many teenagers are not miserable and in pain or turmoil. I agree with him when he says, "It's simply that we remember ourseleves as ourselves." That means that whatever we want to remember about ourselves we will remember. Thats why many people often forget what it was like to be a teenager because for some it was a time when life was confusing and for others it was a time when somehow everything seemed to make sense. The point is that not everyone is going to remember good things about themselves as teens but everyone will always have those cons that in time will get better.
Thomas Hine's also says that "After school is over teenagers in public are a suspet class, of particular interest to local plice and the security forces of shopping malls and private businesses."Its very sad when the world comes to look at individuals with this watchful eye just because they may dress differently or if they are not the same as others who may seem to come across as less threatning
It kind of got me upset when they were talking about the senior ball incident and how proms are looked at differently and about the girl being pregnant and not knowing. I firmly believe that if something is unknown to someone there is more of a chance that they are going to do it then if they were warned or told about it. Thats why it makes me mad when people just judge teenagers because there is more to a teen then their apperance and how they dress..maybe they dress that way to get attention.

Somethings that I didn't really understand were mainly just some big words that I have never even seen before..for instance, anachronistic.
I also don't really understand when he said on page 21, No part of the teenage mystique is more alluring and preplexing than sexuality. I guess I really don't understand what he means by that..


When we did that project last week in class it reminded me of something Thomas Hine said where he said, figuring out where they fit in-to the universe, the world, the economy, their social circle their family-is a project on which teenagers spend a lot of their time and energy. Just by doing that activity made me remember things and memories that quite often can be forgotten but its nice to remember things that shape up to the person we are today!

I already stated this before but I think that if a teenager is unaware of something for instance, sex there more opt to do it then if they learned about it in health class. It seems that when something is unknown teens are more willing to do it for the risk and adventure.