Courtney Patterson
Roar Blog
April 18, 2010
Roar Blog #4
Summary:
In the book The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager written by Thomas Hine, Hines talks about money and how important it is to teenagers. In the past before the 1920s, teenagers had the same jobs as their parents, so they were making the same amount of money. As time went on more teens were going to school and the jobs that they once had were gone. Now teens had part time jobs, only paid for some of their entertainment, clothes, and maybe a car. The wages that teens were paid was design to be a small amount because parents didn’t want their kids to get a job and make enough money to be able to support themselves. They didn’t want this to happen because teenagers would quit school and would be responsible for themselves.
When World War II was going on all of this had changed. Teens were taking on part-time jobs like they did in the past and many teens drop out of school, so they could participate in the war. The parents’ of these teens were also very busy because they were also helping in the war, so many of the teens were left alone. The teens had money and no adults to watch them, so many of them were staying out and partying. The music that many of these teens partied to was the big band swing. It was a fast paced music that had a specific dance that went along with it. Music wasn’t the only thing that teens around this time period joined. They enjoyed shopping like any teen today. The clothing market was aimed at teens and what they wore. New magazines were showing up that expressed the views of teenagers. One of the magazines were Seventeen, this magazine still is around today.
Hines touches on the “baby boom” that happened during 1946-1964 and how it impact America as a whole. More schools were being built, so they could house all of the new students that they would have. When the first “baby boomers” were growing into teenagers, it was in the sixties and these teens were the cause of the fighting for peace and the justice that took place. The sixties were the start of more rebellion that happened in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Many of the teenagers wanted to make something of themselves, so they were willing to fight to go to integrated schools. They wanted to get the same education as everyone else. The teenagers’ actions had affected today’s teenagers because teens today are able to go to a school with a mixed group of people all because of what teens in the past had done. These teenagers of the 50s and 60s had become Freedom Riders, Civil rights Leaders, and people who wanted a change to happen.
*Pages Summarized 225-273
Quote: “Youth will make the Revolution! Youth will make it and keep it. Be young. Be bold. Be Beautiful” (Hines 250-251).
Reaction: My reaction to this quote is that the youth of this time were making a revolution. It was a long and slow process, but it was useful in the end. They were changing the way people thought about race, war, and about teenagers. The “baby boomers” were the start of something great, because the generations that came after them had followed their actions, so they could make their lives better. Thomas Hine’s writing style is very detailed. He gives the “good” and the “bad” of the teenagers’ actions in each generation. The “good” could be what the teens did that affected the generations after them like talking apart of the civil rights movement and the “bad” could be the violence or dropping out of school that some teenagers might had done, but whether it was “good” or “bad” it teaches the readers about the confusing life that American teenagers could have.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
ROAR BLOG #3: The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager
Courtney Patterson
Roar Blog
April 9, 2010
Roar Blog #3
Summary:
In the book The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager written by Thomas Hine, Hine begins to talk about high school and how it was different from past generations. In past generations high school was not a big deal to go to because teenagers were making money to help support their families. The first high school that was built was in Boston in 1821 and that school is now known as English High, but other high schools were not built until till many years later. The first students that attended these schools were young women, because most of them didn’t bring in enough money to support their families like the young men did.
In time, high schools around the United States started to change because more students were attending and education was finally becoming important to American teenagers in the 1930s and after World War II. Today education is still very important and like Hine said that many teenagers have problems with their family, themselves, and society, but they still continue to go try their hardness in high school. These teens are thinking of their goals and dreams, so they know that have to finish school in order to make these goals happen for themselves.
High school meant a large amount of teenagers spending time in an environment that was about education, but sometimes these teens thought that they were adults and they could make their own decisions. Hine touches on young women sexuality and how it changed from the past to the present. Before the 1920s, teenage girls were seen as innocent and many of them didn’t even kiss anyone until they were married. The act of kissing or showing affection to someone who were not family was an act only adults would be doing. This all changed when the 1920s hit and young women were showing their sexuality to the world. Teenage girls were changing the way they dressed, the music they listened to, the dances they did, and how they behaved. These girls were seen as leaders because adults and children looked up to them. Most people like what they were doing, but of course there were people who didn’t like how they expressed themselves.
The people who didn’t enjoy what these teens were going said that the teens were misleading themselves and were disrespecting their families. They saw them as “loose girls” and people who didn’t have any morals. Although some people didn’t enjoy seeing teenage girls express their sexuality, this was the start of something new. It began a more sexualized society that has continued to this day.
*Summarized pages 138-184
Quote:
“To reject your family is one thing; there may be very good reasons. To reject high school is to reject the society as a whole” (Hines 139).
Reaction:
My reaction to this quote is that it tells the truth about how many people feel about high school. High school is very difficult at times, but in the end it is preparing a teenager to be successful. In today’s society, many jobs ask for a high school diploma because it shows people that teens have received an education. High school is a stepping stone to be successful at life. Teens would always have problems with their families, but if they reject high school that could end many of the goals or dreams that they had for themselves. Thomas Hine’s writing style makes the readers think. He gives enough details to explain what happened in the past and the present, and then the readers are able see the steps that society or teens took that changed everything. Hine makes the readers think if teens had changed for the better or for the worst, when it come to a particular topic.
Roar Blog
April 9, 2010
Roar Blog #3
Summary:
In the book The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager written by Thomas Hine, Hine begins to talk about high school and how it was different from past generations. In past generations high school was not a big deal to go to because teenagers were making money to help support their families. The first high school that was built was in Boston in 1821 and that school is now known as English High, but other high schools were not built until till many years later. The first students that attended these schools were young women, because most of them didn’t bring in enough money to support their families like the young men did.
In time, high schools around the United States started to change because more students were attending and education was finally becoming important to American teenagers in the 1930s and after World War II. Today education is still very important and like Hine said that many teenagers have problems with their family, themselves, and society, but they still continue to go try their hardness in high school. These teens are thinking of their goals and dreams, so they know that have to finish school in order to make these goals happen for themselves.
High school meant a large amount of teenagers spending time in an environment that was about education, but sometimes these teens thought that they were adults and they could make their own decisions. Hine touches on young women sexuality and how it changed from the past to the present. Before the 1920s, teenage girls were seen as innocent and many of them didn’t even kiss anyone until they were married. The act of kissing or showing affection to someone who were not family was an act only adults would be doing. This all changed when the 1920s hit and young women were showing their sexuality to the world. Teenage girls were changing the way they dressed, the music they listened to, the dances they did, and how they behaved. These girls were seen as leaders because adults and children looked up to them. Most people like what they were doing, but of course there were people who didn’t like how they expressed themselves.
The people who didn’t enjoy what these teens were going said that the teens were misleading themselves and were disrespecting their families. They saw them as “loose girls” and people who didn’t have any morals. Although some people didn’t enjoy seeing teenage girls express their sexuality, this was the start of something new. It began a more sexualized society that has continued to this day.
*Summarized pages 138-184
Quote:
“To reject your family is one thing; there may be very good reasons. To reject high school is to reject the society as a whole” (Hines 139).
Reaction:
My reaction to this quote is that it tells the truth about how many people feel about high school. High school is very difficult at times, but in the end it is preparing a teenager to be successful. In today’s society, many jobs ask for a high school diploma because it shows people that teens have received an education. High school is a stepping stone to be successful at life. Teens would always have problems with their families, but if they reject high school that could end many of the goals or dreams that they had for themselves. Thomas Hine’s writing style makes the readers think. He gives enough details to explain what happened in the past and the present, and then the readers are able see the steps that society or teens took that changed everything. Hine makes the readers think if teens had changed for the better or for the worst, when it come to a particular topic.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
ROAR BLOG #1: The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager
Courtney Patterson
Roar Blog
April 1, 2010
Roar Blog #2
Summary:
In the book The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager written by Thomas Hine, Hine research if being a teenager from the way they act, talk, and do other things, is a phase or a part of people that never goes away. The readers learn about the phases that teenagers go through. One of the phases that Hine wrote about was how many teens express their conventional wisdom, but they also take apart of awful behavior, that many adults think is unnecessary. The same adults who don’t agree with the teenagers’ behaviors can sometimes behave the same way as the teens. Is the teenage agers a phases that many people get out of their system when they are still teens or is this a phases that which people could not never fully get over?
The readers also learned that the growth spurt and physical maturity that happens with teenagers today, has happened quicker in today’s teens then the teens in the past. Hine believes that it’s due to the food and how people live in today. Maturity is always a difficult thing to go through and Hine talked about Erik Erikson, who believes that today’s society moving too fast. The older generations aren’t able to pass on their thoughts/ experiences about how teenagers should deal with maturity.
The culture that American teens live in is very fast paced and it forced teens to deal with adulthood quicker than most culture, but coming of age is shown differently in every culture. Some culture feed their teenage girls fatting foods and forbids them to do any physical activity, because they are preparing them for marriage. In America, Hine express that the culture helps many teenagers have eating disorders because America is always telling teens that they should be extremely thin, but at the same time America always tries to force advertising for fatty snacks down teens’ throats. This also leads to many teens having to deal with obesity.
*Pages summarized 27-44
Quote:
“Older people may complain about the hardships they had to endure when they were growing up, but when it comes down to the things that really count, it never gets any easier to be younger” (Hine 41).
Reaction:
My reaction to this quote is that it shows how growing up will always be hard, because culture is changing and things are not the same way they once were. This quote is important to understand because it shows that being young will always be difficult to deal with. The other generation will always complain and say that the new generation is out of control, but the older generations need to understand that the new teens are living in a different time, so it calls for new experiences. Thomas Hine’s writing style is very good at expressing both how today’s teens lived their lives and their cultures, along with the other ways that pass generations lived their lives.
Roar Blog
April 1, 2010
Roar Blog #2
Summary:
In the book The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager written by Thomas Hine, Hine research if being a teenager from the way they act, talk, and do other things, is a phase or a part of people that never goes away. The readers learn about the phases that teenagers go through. One of the phases that Hine wrote about was how many teens express their conventional wisdom, but they also take apart of awful behavior, that many adults think is unnecessary. The same adults who don’t agree with the teenagers’ behaviors can sometimes behave the same way as the teens. Is the teenage agers a phases that many people get out of their system when they are still teens or is this a phases that which people could not never fully get over?
The readers also learned that the growth spurt and physical maturity that happens with teenagers today, has happened quicker in today’s teens then the teens in the past. Hine believes that it’s due to the food and how people live in today. Maturity is always a difficult thing to go through and Hine talked about Erik Erikson, who believes that today’s society moving too fast. The older generations aren’t able to pass on their thoughts/ experiences about how teenagers should deal with maturity.
The culture that American teens live in is very fast paced and it forced teens to deal with adulthood quicker than most culture, but coming of age is shown differently in every culture. Some culture feed their teenage girls fatting foods and forbids them to do any physical activity, because they are preparing them for marriage. In America, Hine express that the culture helps many teenagers have eating disorders because America is always telling teens that they should be extremely thin, but at the same time America always tries to force advertising for fatty snacks down teens’ throats. This also leads to many teens having to deal with obesity.
*Pages summarized 27-44
Quote:
“Older people may complain about the hardships they had to endure when they were growing up, but when it comes down to the things that really count, it never gets any easier to be younger” (Hine 41).
Reaction:
My reaction to this quote is that it shows how growing up will always be hard, because culture is changing and things are not the same way they once were. This quote is important to understand because it shows that being young will always be difficult to deal with. The other generation will always complain and say that the new generation is out of control, but the older generations need to understand that the new teens are living in a different time, so it calls for new experiences. Thomas Hine’s writing style is very good at expressing both how today’s teens lived their lives and their cultures, along with the other ways that pass generations lived their lives.
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