Redefining the Teen Scene Article from The Toronto Star, October 2, 1999 by Janice Turner If you think parenting a teenager is tough these days, just try being one. Residing in teendom at the close of the 20th century is a predicament-- not a privilege , says Thomas Hine, Philadelphia-based journalist and author of a new book titled The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager (Bard, $35)

It is an "age-segregated existence," one that may be light on responsibility but even lighter on respect.

Heck, we're on the verge of a new millennium. Can't we find a way to make the teen experience more meaningful? People ages 13-19 desperately need to be appreciated for more than style setting and consuming, Hine says.

How about we get rid of the term Teenager, which pigeonholes youth of a certain age as kids? The designation has only been around for the past 60 years or so. Still, it may have already outlived its usefulness.

"One of the things that studying history does is show you that the future can be different," Hine said in a recent interview with The Star. "Now maybe we're ready for an important redefinition of how we view the second decade of life."

The world has changed enormously since the 1940s. When the term "teenager" first came into usage, knowing what you would do for the better part of your life seemed a lot more straight forward. The high school, it was determined, knew best how to prepare you.

These days it's not just teens it's their parents who are grappling with their careers on a regular basis having their very own identity crises.

Sheer numbers make the topic of teens compelling. During the first decade of the 21st century the United States will have the largest number of teenagers in its history "even more than when the baby boomers bought their first blue jeans," notes Hine. In Canada, there are 2,866,000 13 to 19-year-olds, representing 9.5% of the population. That number is expected to grow to 2,889,000 to represent 9.8% of Canadians by 2006.

Teen consumers on both sides of the border are being wooed with passion (hence, an entire TV season built around the teen years). Youngsters, it is presumed, form valuable life-long buying patterns. "We tell people what they buy is who they are and that particularly includes teens and youths," Hine says. Teens spend vast amounts of time with other teens and the "buzz" about what's in, what's a must buy, apparently spreads even faster among kids than adults. (For the record, aspiring North Americans actually become part of the "teenage" market by at least age 9.)

How can we complain about their materialism when, for the most part we've given up any attempt to an anti-consumerist message?

One thing that parents can do is convince their children that they aren't pure consumers, but have an obligation to do something with the money they earn, Hine says. Adults who are increasingly fearful and distrustful of teens should take at least some responsibility for those uncomfortable feelings.

"Being viewed as slightly dangerous is a kick," says Hine, "At least it shows that people are paying attention." Today's teens behave very much as we expect them to. If you have any doubt, consider the state of the family (often splintered), Hollywood films (increasingly permissive), so-called youth entertainment (more violent certainly more fast paced), the convenient role teens serve as cheap labour in the fast-food / retail industries.

Kids growing up too quickly these days?

Hardly, says Hine. Teens spend far too much time suspended between childhood and adulthood. When people say kids are far too adult like, what they likely mean is that they're engaging in / obsessing about sex at an early age. That's no surprise for a TV dad to remark that his teenaged son is "horny". The boomers who write and produce the shows, and the movies and the video games, and design the marketing campaigns think they know what it means to be young to be beset by raging hormones, disrespectful of authority, repulsed by the presence of adults, notably parents. Then they crank it up for a few notches for good measure.

The stereotypes don't do much, however, to encourage teenagers to be citizens, Hine says. They make it easier to attribute their choices and behaviour to one long 'phase' and to practically abandon them at a time when they clearly need adults as critical sounding boards.

We entrust our youth to teen culture -- the culture of their high school and of their peers - because it's either a)the easiest thing to do, or b) we think we're powerless against it.

It's estimated that North American teens spend about 12 hours less a week with a parent than they did 25 years ago. Not only are both parents more likely to be working, but teens are more likely to be working, albeit part time.

We hear a great deal about the importance of the first three years of a child's life - even the first six years, among so-called development experts. But what about the entire second decade, asks Hine?

Perhaps it's time to treat young people as beginners rather than big kids: Inexperienced people who aren't fundamentally different from adults, but who, because they are dealing with so many new things in their lives, often need more help, more attention and more patience tan those who have more experience.

Now, there's a thought.

And what of the teen temple, the high school?

Hine maintains it need a radical rethinking. The concept of the high school as a sorting device for employers and its one-size-fits-all approach, is no longer up to the challenge. There are many more ways to succeed in life than there are in succeeding in high school, says Hine. High schools often produce failures and outsiders at an early age. "We have to find ways to be more responsive to students so we don't have them dividing themselves into tribes."

Get rid of high schools? No, but provide young people with more flexible -- and relevant -- learning and work experiences. Above all, ensure they feel valued.

"People tend to act best when they know others are somehow depending on them, " Hine says. Why should not-quite-adults be any different?