youth

The TimesOnline (UK) reports on the backlash that has begun against a culture in which all children are given prizes and young people are only used to getting their way. Reporter Margarette Driscoll writes about the overwhelming child-centeredness of life in Britain with personal anecdotes and scholarly opinions.

A UK sociologist weighs in…

Frank Furedi, professor of sociology at Kent University, believes our child-centredness is really adult-centredness. “It’s a way of reassuring ourselves that our children are going to be insulated from pain and adversity,” he said. “We tell children they are wonderful now for tying their shoelaces or getting 50% in an exam. But really it’s our way of flattering ourselves that we’re far more sensitive to children than people were in the past.”

The trouble is, Furedi says, that it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. “You’re subtly giving kids the message that they can’t cope with life,” he said. “I have a son of 12 and when he and his friends were just nineI remember being shocked at them using therapeutic language, talking about being stressed out and depressed.”

While researching The Dangerous Rise of Therapeutic Education, its co-author Dennis Hayes, visiting professor of education at Oxford Brookes University, discovered a leaflet telling students that if they studied sociology they might come across poor people and get depressed and if they studied nursing they might come across sick people and get distressed – so the university offered counselling.

Read more.

The Boston Globe reports on how the increasing potency of marijuana fuels the fires of partisan marijuana debates.

“…The polarized debate about [marijuana’s] safety has been rekindled by two reports released separately this month by the federal government and a leading drug prohibition group. Both studies conclude that marijuana’s potency has increased, which they link to reports of more addiction, mental health problems, and emergency room admissions related to marijuana use among teenagers.”

And the sociologist weighs in…

In a field with limited research, partisans tend to create paper thin arguments, as easily made as they are countered, said Roger Roffman, professor of sociology at the University of Washington.

“I think [both sides] do a disservice to the general public,” said Roffman, who has written papers and edited books on marijuana use and dependence. On websites of drug policy reform advocates, “you’ll find lots of information about the very adverse consequences of criminalizing marijuana and very little mention of the very real harm associated with marijuana among some people in some circumstances,” he said.

Meanwhile, on government and prohibitionist websites, he said, “you’ll find plenty of information on the harmful consequences of marijuana abuse and very little information, perhaps, on the harmful consequences of criminalizing marijuana.”

Read on.

The Wall Street Journal reports on how high school proms have now ‘landed’ in England, to the dismay of many. The article describes how middle-class kids in England are ‘moved by American tv’ and push for their own proms, which often end up being over the top and ‘gaudy,’ according to the authors

The article draws upon the expertise of sociologist Amy Best.

“Proms in the U.S. began in the 1930s, the invention of teachers trying to help young people make the transition to adulthood, says Amy Best, a sociologist and expert on youth culture at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. The dances largely fell out of fashion in the 1960s but came back in the 1980s and remain popular, she says.”

The trend…

“Proms began crossing over to the United Kingdom several years ago and keep growing in popularity. Ricky Turrell, a photographer in southeast England, has 54 proms booked this year. Proms are practically a daily occurrence somewhere or other in England from May 1 till well into July.”

“Tom Kendall, 16, says American TV shows such as ‘The O.C.’ and MTV’s ‘My Super Sweet 16’ provide a ‘fairy tale’ view of dances and parties that British teens like. ‘The O.C.,’ a Fox show now in reruns on Britain’s E4 channel, chronicles the life of affluent teens in Orange County, Calif. ‘My Super Sweet 16’ airs nearly every day in Britain, showing teens preparing for lavish birthday parties.”

The Wall Street Journal reports on a new series of studies about the trend towards young adults moving back home to live with their parents.

WSJ discusses findings highlighted by sociologist Katherine Newman…

“More upper- and middle-income parents, including many who felt pressed for time when their children were growing up, aren’t ready to be ‘finished with them’ by their 20s, says Katherine Newman, a Princeton University sociology professor and one of the project’s 20 researchers. Also, as more students attend college at older ages, parents are coming to regard the 20s as a time of self-discovery.”

And co-investigators…

“Researchers on the project set out to document economic factors driving the trend, but found it’s bigger than the financial causes usually blamed for it. To be sure, rising housing and commuting costs play a role, Dr. Yelowitz found. But neither those factors nor job-market changes fully explain the 25-year trend. The biggest increase in young adults living with parents came in the 1980s, when the labor market generally improved, he found. And rising real housing costs explain only about 15% of the drop in independent living among young adults, which started years before the sharpest run-up in housing.”

Full story.

The Courier Post recently covered a recent lecture by Nikki Jones, an associate professor of sociology at the University of California at Santa Barbara about the rising problem of violence among teenage girls. Jones asserted that the justice system and social services provide nearly ten times more support to programs for males than those for females.

This lecture in Camden, NJ covered the subject of Jones’ upcoming book on her field work in Philadelphia with female students at Martin Luther King High School, primarily African-American girls.

“Those girls, from middle through high school, she said, can primarily be separated into two categories, but many navigate between both camps. One group of girls, she said, ‘want to be known as able fighters’ and confrontations with them often lead to cuts, especially when the targets are considered pretty.”

“It is not uncommon, she said, for a pretty teen to suffer permanent scarring from a bladed weapon for no reason other than her looks. ‘It’s the code of the street. It’s about reputation and respect,’ Jones said.”

“The other group of girls avoids being in confrontations. As violence increases in a community, Jones said, these girls avoid social relationships, spending more and more time at home and restricting movement in public places.”

“‘Many avoid going to school altogether. They isolate themselves from close relationships, so they have no need to defend anyone because it generally is expected that you will fight for a friend,’ said Jones.”