Young Adults or "Teenagers" !

When I am finished working with the treadmill and weights I usually go into the attached dance studio at the college to do  mat work. The other day one of the physical education teachers brought her class into the same room while I was completing my stretching. It was definitely a non-traditional class of relatively young students. I know the teacher well and have high regard for her teaching skills. However, some of the students in this class seemed strangely immature and unable to appreciate what was being taught. Obviously, or so I observed, there were a few students who simply have not emerged from their 'teenage' culture.

Now I have nothing against 'teenagers', I just don't like that designation. I prefer to think of them as young adults and hence, treat them as such!

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Many years ago, even before my time (!), there were children and there were adults. Of course not everything was perfect and we have all heard how in some industries child labour was used and abused. Age 15 eventually became the cut-off age, but at one time even children 7 years old were expected to contribute to the family economy. Marriages at 15 or 16 was not unusual. Children were seen as economic assets and not, as economic liabilities. This same system still exists in parts of the world today. But in the beginning of the 20th century, Canadian provinces established laws prohibiting the use of child labour and then later introduced strong legislation requiring school attendance. 

Since the 1920's  and through two world wars, many cultural changes occurred. The car, radio, special music, schools, birth control,  peer-pressures, less parental supervision etc. and of course, all mixed into a common space which we now call the high-school. This eventually produced a distinct culture. At the same time the larger society moved into a more liberal age and family life became more fluid - for want of a better word.

Our American neighbours use generation nomenclature such as the GI-Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation-X, Generation-Y and Millennials. Obviously, the people in each designation are about the same age and have experienced the same historical events, such as war, economic booms or busts and political change. Statistics Canada simply says that the Canadian population is made up of many different generations.

Young adults definitely need to discover themselves and move away from authority figures and develop group relationships with their peers. While they are no longer children they must deal with rapid physical and mental development as well as re-evaluate their role in society. But the over use of the word 'teenager' demeans and slows down the maturing process and inhibits the older generation  from giving  them a chance to express their emerging adulthood.

In 1959 Anna Quindlen in her book Thinking Out Loud wrote,"America is a country that seems forever to be a toddler or teenager, at those two stages of human development characterized by conflict between autonomy and security."

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Young adults are capable of  making wonderful contributions to society when respected and treated as adults. A 15 year old boy recently invented a pancreatic cancer detector tool; a high school girl produced a super capacitor that can charge your phone in 30 seconds; Franz Schubert wrote his First Symphony at the age of 16 and Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft at the age of 19. 

Often media portrays 'teenagers' as homeless, involved in violent deaths, immoral, engaged in cyber bullying and unwanted pregnancies.  These stories, as sad as they are, may lead some to regard all young adults in a negative way.  By treating them as young adults and not just  'teenagers', we can make a huge difference in their lives.

Remember the saying, "Children should be seen and not heard" (Table Rules for Little Folks). 

My, how times have changed and for the better. Our young adults need to shed that ugly epithet "teenager" and see themselves, with our help, as young adults.

And that's Dick's View of the World this Week

Did you know?

That the American dollar is 17% lower than it was in 2002. As a matter of fact, it is 27% lower than it was in 1995. Knowing that however, does not ease our anxiety when we travel south!!