ABSTRACT

In Chapter Two I described the boyologists' approach to adolescence as a romancing of youth. By this I meant a tendency both to see youth in the best light with rose colored glasses and to emphasize the expansive human potential of youth as a route toward progress or improvement of the human condition. Although this romancing was of white boys and was accompanied by programs and administrative arrangements that fettered the romanticized youth, there was something important and valuable in the boyologists' devotion to adolescent development and education, understood broadly. The romantic aspect carried a fair amount of idealism, belief in unlimited potential, and a willingness to invest time and energy in youths' lives. In saying this, I remain aware of the place of both desire and fear in this romantic devotion to youth and to the future they came to represent.