Thinking About "Young People"
Last Friday, I was listening to a taped presentation of H. Stephen Glenn, and he made the point that prior to 1955, the word Teenager didn't appear in our language. Teenagers as a class of being was created as a side effect of the Baby Boom, and having such an large contingency of young people in the 13-19 age range. This led to social scientists studying them, and the label teenager.
Unfortunately, this labeling process has resulted in a culture which thinks largely in stereotypical terms when it comes to young people in this age range. We have some lock step ideas of what thirteen year olds are like, and how nineteen year olds are more mature, or should be than thirteen year olds.
If we pay attention to our experience, rather than the stereotypes, we will notice very mature thirteen year olds and incredibly immature young people who are nineteen.
Steve encouraged us to abolish the term teenagers from our minds and adopt the much more respectful young people for young people of all ages. I agree, though it is a challenge for me to maintain this discipline. I find that when I do succeed, each young person I meet can be seen as a unique person
