I got a book from Amazon the other day. It just arrived in the mail and I spent about an hour digging into it. It's called TEEN 2.0 and its an in depth discussion on adolescence. In short, the author Epstein, argues that there actually is no such thing as adolescence.
I first heard about the book when it was mentioned in a TIME magazine article someone told me I should read. Since, many would say, a large part of my job focuses on helping teenagers navigate through adolescence, I was real interested in seeing what Epstein had to say.
My first thoughts were that one, the book was about 400 pages longer than I expected, and two, because of its Rain Forest Killing Size it would either be very good, or very dry. After spending an hour checking it out I am glad to say that so far the book has been very interesting. The idea that there is no such thing as adolescence is a new one to me. In all my college courses on counseling, psychology, and student ministry not once did we suppose in class that adolescence came about as a result of the Industrial Revolution as Epstein suggests.
Don't worry, I know I just mentioned the Industrial Revolution in the same sentence as student ministry. I am not about to go deep into a philosophical rant on the historical relevance of student ministers, but I am going to talk about what I thought was interesting.
I am no where near finishing this book, or looking into what resources Epstein tapped into for the writing of this book, but so far its been very informative and engaging. I agree with Epstein that a lot of our teenagers problems reflect issues from our society and culture. I also agree with him that a lot of other countries and cultures don't struggle with adolescent issues like we do in America. I'll update you all as I continue to read. Remember that I am not saying this is the ultimate resource in raising or ministering to a teen, but I am definitely suggesting that its a good read (or at least the first 2 chapters are). If you've already read it or are reading it let me know what you think.
Thanks for your kind words about my book, Matt - at least on your reading so far. You can get further information about it at http://Teen20.com. You might also be interested in taking - and in having the teens you work with take - my scientifically-validated test of adultness at http://HowAdultAreYou.com.
ReplyDeleteIn a study I completed a few months ago (with more than 30,000 people between 10 and 83), about 30 percent of America's teens outscored the median American adult on this test, suggesting that about 7 million of our teens are more competent than half the adult population across a wide range of abilities. That's why it's especially important that we evaluate our teens as unique individuals rather than dismissing them all as equally incompetent and irresponsible.
When we dismiss all teens as inherently incompetent, we cause many to become depressed or angry, and we also make them our adversaries. Parents become the enemy, and teens retreat into the inane world of teen culture. Sometimes this adversarial relationship becomes permanent, because the teen years are the last ones during which parents and their offspring have significant contact. The waste of human resources, the unnecessary suffering, the great loss of love -- all a tragedy of epic proportions and all entirely unnecessary.
In more than 100 cultures around the world in which young people are welcomed into adult society at early ages (as soon as they can demonstrate appropriate competence), adolescence as we know it does not exist: no teen depression, no teen suicide, no conflict with parents. Most cultures around the world don't even have a word for adolescence. That should be our standard. Sincerely, /Dr. Robert Epstein