The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager: Thomas Hine

Understand: In this article, Hine addresses many common misconceptions of teenagers. He basically gives them a lot of creidt in this article. Hine believes that they deserve more respect and that people need to realize that they are going to make mistakes. I think that Hine cares about their downgrading because of the future. He realizes that all of the teenagers now, sane or insane, are our future. I believe Hine is trying to give this statement the respect it deserves.

"Our beliefs, about teenagers are deeply contradictory: They should be free to become themselves. They need many years of training and study. They know more about the future than adults do. They know hardly anything at all. They ought to know the value of a dollar. They should be protected from the world of work. They are frail, vulnerable creatures. They are children. They are sex fiends. They are the death of culture. They are the hope of us all."

(Don't) Understand: Honestly I fully understood all of Hine's statements. I am infull agreement with his thoughts. I also enjoyed that he used factual information, like the story about the girl at prom.

Relations: When I was a teenager, I constantly felt disregarded and treated poorly. This is just how it goes. During teenage years, you make mistakes. They are the prime years for mistakes, and that is also exactly why they are treated so terribly. I still am technically a teenager, but I feel much more respected than I did a few years ago. It all has to do with how you carry yourself. Maturity levels make a huge difference. Once you jump the 'I'm mature now' fence, things start looking up.

Questions/Comments: I enjoyed reading this article because of the tone of the passage. It wasn't some generic article posted by an adult complaining about teenagers. It was logical, fairly easy to read, and interesting.