Roar blog #4- The Rise and Fall Of the American Teenager

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.