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?' 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 castelike 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 the way adults have used schools to organize the teenage status systems that result
The second set between teenage culture and the broader society, especially the link between teenage status systems and consumerism. Teenagers have long been preoccupied with the clothes they wear, how they fix their hair, the cars they drive, the latest music, and what constitutes being "cool." Adults have been complaining about teenagers in general and their materialism and consumerism in particular for more than fifty years. Why has little been done to change these patterns of adolescent behavior? Certainly in other societies and in other historical periods in our own society adults have exercised more control and authority over young people. If so many adults are critical of teenage behavior why have they hesitated to exercise more control and authority? Why have the numerous attempts at curriculum revision and school reform had so little impact on these patterns? Why do adults both bemoan the consumerism of teenagers and yet do many things to encourage it? The answer to this second set of questions has relatively little to do with family values, liberalism, or progressive education. Rather, it has to do with the benefits that adults, especially parents and businesses, gain from the present way of organizing young people's lives.
