Comments on: Why Teenagers Aren’t Grown-Ups http://karenrayne.com/2008/03/27/why-teenagers-arent-grown-ups/ Thu, 17 May 2012 23:51:56 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 hourly 1 By: Adolescent Sexuality by Dr. Karen Rayne » Raising Grown-Ups http://karenrayne.com/2008/03/27/why-teenagers-arent-grown-ups/comment-page-1/#comment-2517 Adolescent Sexuality by Dr. Karen Rayne » Raising Grown-Ups Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:43:11 +0000 http://karenrayne.com/2008/03/27/why-teenagers-arent-grown-ups/#comment-2517 [...] commenter on yesterday’s post makes some very good comments about adolescence as a social construct.  I couldn’t agree [...] [...] commenter on yesterday’s post makes some very good comments about adolescence as a social construct.  I couldn’t agree [...]

]]> By: Alice http://karenrayne.com/2008/03/27/why-teenagers-arent-grown-ups/comment-page-1/#comment-2510 Alice Thu, 27 Mar 2008 20:05:32 +0000 http://karenrayne.com/2008/03/27/why-teenagers-arent-grown-ups/#comment-2510 I remember when the sex ed unit came up in health class my junior year in high school, they gave us permission slips for our parents to sign. The idea that I might have to talk to my mom about sex scared me so much that I left the permission slip at her place at the table before I went to bed that night. The next morning when I got up and she was still asleep, it was signed, at my place at the table. That was the end of <i>that</I> discussion! I remember when the sex ed unit came up in health class my junior year in high school, they gave us permission slips for our parents to sign. The idea that I might have to talk to my mom about sex scared me so much that I left the permission slip at her place at the table before I went to bed that night. The next morning when I got up and she was still asleep, it was signed, at my place at the table. That was the end of that discussion!

]]> By: Margaret Pevec http://karenrayne.com/2008/03/27/why-teenagers-arent-grown-ups/comment-page-1/#comment-2506 Margaret Pevec Thu, 27 Mar 2008 16:07:37 +0000 http://karenrayne.com/2008/03/27/why-teenagers-arent-grown-ups/#comment-2506 I think it's important to remember that teens, like adults, come in a wide range of competencies and that those competencies are largely determined by the culture. I'm reading "The Greatest Generation" by Tom Brokaw, and realizing (again) the amazing competency of my parents' generation, many of whom went to war or stepped up to other enormous challenges as teenagers. The word "teenager" wasn't even in common usage until sometime after 1938; there were children and adults, and adulthood happened no later than 18 for most people. I think if school was structured such that adolescents could spend most of their time doing meaningful, important community work; if they felt their opinions mattered to society and were included in all decisions; if they had the freedom and encouragement to find compelling work; your words would be painting a different picture. That paintbrush is awfully wide when you say things like, "Adolescent bodies, social instincts, and emotions develop way faster than their ability to envision realistic consequences or incorporate abstractions (like value systems) into their decision-making processes." I know plenty of teenagers with a fine ability to envision realistic consequences. And most children have great value systems, if adults would care to inquire, and leave their superior attitude at the door. My point is the adults control the culture and largely define what we will and will not allow adolescents to do and learn. You just have to think back to WWII to know that's true. Sexuality education is a good example. Arming young people with comprehensive information that includes not only the physiology but the psychology of sex and relationships with concrete strategies to deal with the complexities of relationship that we all, especially teenagers, encounter on a daily basis, would go a long way toward supporting them to adulthood. I think it’s important to remember that teens, like adults, come in a wide range of competencies and that those competencies are largely determined by the culture. I’m reading “The Greatest Generation” by Tom Brokaw, and realizing (again) the amazing competency of my parents’ generation, many of whom went to war or stepped up to other enormous challenges as teenagers. The word “teenager” wasn’t even in common usage until sometime after 1938; there were children and adults, and adulthood happened no later than 18 for most people.

I think if school was structured such that adolescents could spend most of their time doing meaningful, important community work; if they felt their opinions mattered to society and were included in all decisions; if they had the freedom and encouragement to find compelling work; your words would be painting a different picture.

That paintbrush is awfully wide when you say things like, “Adolescent bodies, social instincts, and emotions develop way faster than their ability to envision realistic consequences or incorporate abstractions (like value systems) into their decision-making processes.” I know plenty of teenagers with a fine ability to envision realistic consequences. And most children have great value systems, if adults would care to inquire, and leave their superior attitude at the door.

My point is the adults control the culture and largely define what we will and will not allow adolescents to do and learn. You just have to think back to WWII to know that’s true. Sexuality education is a good example. Arming young people with comprehensive information that includes not only the physiology but the psychology of sex and relationships with concrete strategies to deal with the complexities of relationship that we all, especially teenagers, encounter on a daily basis, would go a long way toward supporting them to adulthood.

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