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The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager | 
 enlarge | Author: Thomas Hine
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
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Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 313947
Media: Paperback
Pages: 336
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.3 x 0.8
ISBN: 0380728532
Dewey Decimal Number: 305.2350973
EAN: 9780380728534
ASIN: 0380728532
Publication Date: October 1, 2000
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Amazon.com Review
Providing a historical perspective on a modern phenomenon is no easy task, but Thomas Hine has done an admirable job cataloging that ever-changing creature we know as the American teenager. Beginning with a look at colonial times and ending with the present-day burger-flipping menaces portrayed in the press, The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager is a fascinating look at a culture that we take for granted in these times, yet is quite a recent development. Looking deeply at the economic and educational realities of people ages 10 through 20 over the last 300 years, Hine takes readers through a world where teens were expected to contribute greatly to their family's financial well-being; in fact, in the early years of the industrial revolution, employers would often refuse to hire the head of the household unless he had several sons to offer as part of a package deal. While the first few chapters cover 50 to 100 years in one shot, time moves less rapidly beginning with the 20th century, and each decade earns its own complete chapter. Using personal stories from revolutionary-era students, 19th-century millworkers and immigrants, and classic all-American cheerleaders from the 1950s, we're given an accurate picture of what life was really like for inexperienced kids. The evolution of modern education is closely examined and will provide a wealth of interesting insights for today's educators. What was once meant as a viable alternative to the college experience has now simply become a holding pen for teens, some who may go on to a university, some who are destined to join the ranks of the perpetually underemployed. The last chapter offers a few possible suggestions for bringing realistic change into the current system; the rest of the book is sure to provide plenty of inspiration for readers to invent their own set of educational possibilities. --Jill Lightner
Product Description
In the groundbreaking work, Thomas Hine examines the American teenager as a social invention shaped by the needs of the twentieth century. With intelligence, insight, imagination, and humorm he traces the culture of youth in America-from the spiritual trials of young Puritans and the vision quests of Native Americans to the media-blitzed consumerism of contempory thirteen-to-nineteen -year-olds. The resulting study is a glorious appreciation of youth that challenges us to confront our sterotypesm, rethink our expectations, and consider anew the lives of those individuals who are blessing, our bane, and our future.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
 Interesting in parts, but spotty February 2, 2001
Courtney L. Lewis (Kingston, PA USA)
23 out of 28 found this review helpful
I found Thomas Hine's work to be fairly well-written. The sections on 18th and 19th century realities for young men and women was particularly interesting. I do wish that Hine would have footnoted his sources, as many historical and psychological assertions are made without the reader being entirely sure as to the origin of the material.My biggest concern about the book is that I was unable to see, after careful reading, where the "rise and fall" actually was. Despite societal changes and historical trends, it appeared to me that teenagers have simply risen (or fallen depending on your perspective) and there has in actuality been little fluctuation at least within the 20th century in the degree of their powerlessness. Hine's writing becomes a tad more flamboyant when speaking of the 60s (as he confesses this was his own coming-of-age period) and there is very little contemporary information for the 1980s onward. This book would probably be more helpful for the researcher looking for information on the 1800s and early 1900s, but would not lend itself to someone looking for insight into adolescent culture of the last 25 years.
 A very enlightning book. September 27, 1999
wjbussell@juno.com (Stone Mountain, Ga.)
19 out of 22 found this review helpful
The information presented in this book is very interesting in that it explains a lot of what I went through in my own teen years as well as what my two children went through in theirs, and what my grandson has faced and the others will face. At this present moment I believe everyone, especially news reporters should be made aware of the contents of this book. My son, a Police Officer, has found the informaiton helpful, and my wife a school teacher has found this to be true also.
Wow. February 7, 2005
D. (SF, CA)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
I could not put this book down once I began reading it.
It was entertaining, informative, and really made me question the way teenagers are classified today. The amount of both freedom and responsibility granted to younger adults in earlier generations is amazing in comparison to the idleness and lack of direction granted to them today. I'm fascinated by the evolution of the high school--beginning as an actual *useful* place for building work skills and as a replacement for college and how it has evolved into a glorified babysitting service that regurgitates information. I recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn the varied places of youth in America across history.
nothing more than a boring textbook July 16, 2001
7 out of 14 found this review helpful
Thomas Hine's "The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager" is based on a very interesting topic, one which I was extremely excited to learn more about. However, when I began reading the book, I was immediately turned off by Hine's writing style. Hine took a topic that could have been a great work of sociology, and turned it into nothing more than a textbook of history. Occasionally, he gets off topic, and uses first person not to share his own experiences, but to say something like, "I have already talked about..." His sources aren't cited in the text, and his sentences are short, choppy, and have no real flow to them. He often touches on greatness and his writing at times flourishes, but for the most part, the book reads like a poorly completed textbook. Everything I got from this book's 300 pages can be gathered by simply reading the inner sleeve of the cover and the preface. No real need to waste your time here.
A must April 15, 2002
David DeLong (Sonoma, CA USA)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Anyone who wants to understand the American teenager or American culture of the 20th century must read this book. Essential to any student of anthropology, archaeology, sociology, architectural history or popular culture. Extraordinary insights which reflect a remarkable and creative understanding of our own history and place in time.
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