Raby, "A Tangle of Discourses" Post 4

Quotes

pg 432

"In light of Steinberg’s work, it was telling that, while the idea of youth as an

essentialized period of disruptive change was echoed by some of my respon-

dents, particularl y in terms of rebellion, it was conspicuous how few respondents

discussed this conceptualization of adolescence in terms of biology. The topic

only arose when prompted, suggesting that it may be just too obvious, for some

it may be an area of discomfort, it is less central than many might think, and/or

these hormonal changes are as constructed as adolescence itself. In follow-up

interviews, I asked why it might be that people had not commented on bodily

or hormonal changes in earlier interviews. Rita and Elizabet h both suggested

that perhaps people feel that this area is private. Jazz and Angela both said that

bodily and/or hormonal changes were not that important to their experiences of

adolescence and those experiences of their friends"

Raby throughout this piece references Steinberg works, I agree with Raby and think that this evidence is quit telling. No one ever wants to talk about biological changes in teens, although I think they are quit obvious and that maybe why they are not mentioned as much? When she quotes the two teen ages girls about this topic they both said how they did not understand what people meant when then mentioned changes, or hormones, until after they had experienced it for themselves. We know as adults that teens are going through changes, but no teen wants to admit that they are changing, I don't think teens ever want to admit anything that may make them feel uncomfortable. I live in a very open family and rebellious acts, and bodily changes were always talked about and mentioned to everyone. God forbid one of my cousins or my sisters got their periods, everyone in the family knew about it a day later, nothing was really private in my family.

pg 433

"Less prominent in the more sensationalistic media, but nonetheless present in

much literature on teens is the concept of teenager s as ‘becoming’, usually

discussed in terms of self-discovery and/or identity formation. As Vienna

observes,

they assume that all teenagers rebel just because this is the age when

we start to become our own person. Like 12, 13 you really start thinking

about things for yourself and not necessarily doing everything that

your parent s do, you know? Becoming more independent … To Lesko

(1996b) , youth are perceived always in terms of what they are becom-

ing, rather than what they are being: they are potential, not yet fully

formed. "

What this quote means to me is that when it comes to teenagers a lot of what they are depends on a continuous assumption of how they are supposed to be or what they must be like because of the age group the fall into. When I was a teenager I was not allowed to go anywhere or do anything unless my mom new the parents of the other child and she would drop me off places and wait for me outside, I lived in a very strict household, I think it all depends on what the teenager is allowed to do that will essentially determine their outcome. Not EVERY teenager is rebellious and does bad things, but that is what most people assume. The good things teenagers might do isn't shown on the news, but the spray painted city walls are. What friends of the teenagers do and say is very important, and I don't think much of anything else matters. It depends on who they get involved with and become friends with. The city I live in has many sterotypes, and all the public schools are bad, and the education stinks, but i always succeeded and did well and it was because of the group of friends as a teen that I got myself friendly with.

pg 435

"Risk was a prominent pre-occupation for my respondents, particularly among

grandmothers. Jan was concerned that there is more stress and pressure on teens

today than there was in the past. Sandy said there are more hazards and

challenges , particularly with the in􏰁uences of drugs. Anne believes that teens

today have more responsibility becaus e they have to think more about their

futures, are less innocent, and are more exposed to the problems of the world.

Among the granddaughters, both Rita and Allanah said that there is more

violence for teenagers to deal with today than in the past. Such risks are also

gendered, with girl s particularly at risk of pregnancy or assault , and boys more

likely to get in trouble for things like drug offenses."

I liked this quote because throughout my teenage years and even sometimes now I hear people who are older than me and more experienced tell me the same things. My grandmother tells me all the time how hard it is today compared to when my mother was growing up. Its obvious that there are many more distractions today for teens than ever! Driven to work the other day on the radio there was a survey about teens and cell phones. 50% said they would give up food before their cell phones, and that just blew my mind. FOOD? Like are you kidden? I wish parents would really think twice before getting their teens a cell or a texting plan, what did teens for 20 yrs ago when they needed to get in touch with parents or frineds? House phones? Pay phones? Wait, do you even see pay phones anywhere anymore? NEVER. More over when this quote mentions pregnancy I also believe that teenage girls have it a bit more harder than boys and you do hear parents in situation where they have a daughter and son around the same age and the son gets away with a lot more than they girl ever would because of the chances of her getting pregnant.