ABSTRACT
A great deal has been written about American teenagers. The first task is to make clear the particular focus of this book.
THE QUESTIONS I ask two sets of interrelated questions: First, why do American teenagers behave the way they do? Why are many teenagers obsessed with who sits with them at lunch, the brand of clothes they wear, what parties they are invited to, the privacy of their bedrooms, the intrigues of school cliques, who is dating or hooking up with whom, what is the latest popular music? Why have alcohol, drug use, and casual sex become widespread?1 Why has the status of cheerleaders and football stars declined in many but not all schools? Why do students in some schools rigidly segregate themselves by race and ethnicity and yet get along together reasonably amicably? Even more frequently students from different crowds and cliques shun one another with all the determination of orthodox Brahmans avoiding Untouchables: Why their penchant for caste-like divisions? Why are teenagers frequently mean and even cruel to one another? Why do the girls see one another as more petty and catty than the boys? How does the experience of being a teenager vary for urban, suburban, and small-town settings, for private schools, religious schools, and military academies? These are some of the questions this book asks-and answers. The usual explanations of teenage behavior tend to focus on the importance of hormones, psychological development, parenting styles, and social background characteristics (e.g., class and race). It is my contention that these factors are much less important than is usually assumed. Rather, a clearer understanding of adolescent behavior requires that we focus on the way adults have used schools to organize young people’s
daily activities, and the teenage status systems that result from this way of structuring their lives.
