Teenage Rebellion example essay topic

390 words
Teenage Rebellion The term 'teenager's tarted being used in the 1940's. After the depression, young men and women were able to stay in school longer than previous generations. For the first time there were large groups of kids aged 15 to 18 that found themselves in the same place. This created the social class of the teenager. The main purpose of the teenager was to rebel.

At that time rebellion was as easy as saying a bad word or wearing a skirt above your knees. The social majority saw that kind of behavior as outrageous and isolated the perpetrators, therefore giving the teenager a sense of immortality. With every new form of defiance came a new sense of freedom, a detachment from their parents' discipline and the rules of their schools. In the 1950's, music showed its first mainstream role in the rebellion of the teenager. Rock 'n' roll was born and with it a whole new way to show the world: "teenagers are different than you!" Rock 'n' roll had a fashion style, an attitude and its own dialect, all of which were seen as in opposition in mainstream life. Throughout the 1960's and 70's teenage rebellion continued to flourish.

Teenagers discovered drugs and alcohol as an effective way to disconnect their life style from their parents'. During the latter years of the 60's, the teenagers added sex and politics to their rebellious roster. The teenage generations of the 1980's and 90's had a bit of a harder time being rebellious. More then a handful of their parents had already rebelled through music, drugs, sex and politics. The teenagers of this generation also found that the adults were more reluctant to give up their teenage association so easily. This left the teenagers of the early 80's lost and labeled with an X. Many turned to violence.

Youth gangs first started to become a public threat. Handguns became epidemic throughout the 90's. Others rebelled by doing nothing. 'If social majority is going to ignore us, we " ll let them,' was their creed. Skipping school, refusing to achieve anything and not bothering to find a career were their tools. To discover why teenagers are so rebellious, it is.