Teenagers in the mid-1900s were viewed as people that were capable of knowing right from wrong, non-materialistic people, and able to build a better world compared to teens today. For instance, Meg Bostrom from the Frameworks Institute claims that teens today do not have a very good sense of right from wrong when she writes, “The proportion of Americans who believe that young people today do not have ‘as strong a sense of right and wrong as they did, say, fifty years ago’ has shifted from a minority opinion in the 1950s, to an overwhelming majority today” (Bostrom, “The 21st Century Teen: Public Perception and Teen Reality”). The media gives a false representation today of what is right and wrong. Teens today are faced with a lot more opportunity to participate in wrongful activities. Teens in the mid-1900s had very limited influences on what they thought was right and wrong. The perception of teens today has changed because teens cannot help acting out because what they do wrong appears to be right. Furthermore, San Diego State University reveals through statistics that teens are more materialistic today when they write, “62 percent of students surveyed in 2005-07 think it is important to have a lot of money, while just 48 percent had the same belief in 1976-78” (Chee, “Today’s Teens: More Materialistic, Less Willing to Work”). Today in society there are more materialistic things than in the past. Humans have desires naturally within them and due to the increased amount of material things; teens have become more materialistic today than in the mid-1900s. Adults perceive teens as more materialistic today when teens naturally cannot help themselves because they are surrounded by more materialistic things than in the mid-1900s, such as electronics. In conclusion, in Sarah Health’s review of Grace Palladino’s book, Teenagers: An American History, she explains that Palladino compares the 1940s teen to now when she writes, “Palladino offers marvelous anecdotal evidence to show how popular magazines like Seventeen suggested that young people could inspire their parents and friends to ‘build a better world’ “ (Health, “Review of Palladino, Grace, Teenagers: An American History”). Teens today have not been given the chance to improve the world because of the stereotype of teens being lazy perceived by adults today. The demographic of teenagers was new around the 1940s and they had new qualities that made them seem like they could change the world. Teens today no longer are considered able to change the world because of the stereotypes that are getting in the way of the true potential of teens today. The perception of teens today has changed drastically compared to the mid-1900s because of the false representation of right and wrong, the increased amount of materialistic things, and stereotypes in society today.
Works Cited:
Bostrom, Meg. “The 21st Century Teen: Public Perception and Teen Reality.” Frameworks
Institute. Frameworks Institute, Dec. 2001. Web. 15 May 2014.
Chee, Beth. “Today’s Teens: More Materialistic, Less Willing to Work.” NewsCenter. San
Diego State University, 1 May 2013. Web. 15 May 2014.
Heath, Sarah. “Review of Palladino, Grace, Teenagers: An American History.” H-Women. H-Net
Review, June 1997. Web. 19 May 2014.
Bostrom, Meg. “The 21st Century Teen: Public Perception and Teen Reality.” Frameworks
Institute. Frameworks Institute, Dec. 2001. Web. 15 May 2014.
Chee, Beth. “Today’s Teens: More Materialistic, Less Willing to Work.” NewsCenter. San
Diego State University, 1 May 2013. Web. 15 May 2014.
Heath, Sarah. “Review of Palladino, Grace, Teenagers: An American History.” H-Women. H-Net
Review, June 1997. Web. 19 May 2014.