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Popular Culture Review
to raise them more or less responsibly. Males says both of these groups deserve
admiration, “It is as much maturity from us as you’re going to get.” (267). The
third group — a fairly large one — reproduced with little or no clue as to what the
monumental task of child-raising actually entails:
The revelation that children demand parents who give up addictions,
petty inabilities to get along, and general hfelong self-indulgence was
bitterly unwelcome news to this group— especially since the carefree
condominium lifestyle of the childless yuppie, particularly those with
double incomes, no kids, super-opulence was abundantly flaunted before
their eyes in the 1970s and 80s. These are the so-called parents who angrily,
indignantly act as if nature and the universe had let them down, demanded
that higher authorities raise their kids. There have always been parents
less mature than their children, of course, but the Baby Boom sprouted
them in job lots - and affluent enough to demand services. (268)
Raised under latchkey or after-school programs, Bridgers look for social ties.
In survey after survey, many kids — even those on the honor roll — say they feel
increasingly alone and alienated, unable to connect with their parents, teachers,
and sometimes even classmates. Th ey’re desperate for guidance, and when they
don’t get what they need at home or in school, they cUng to cliques or immerse
themselves in a universe out of their parents’ reach, a world defined by computer
games, TV and movies (Kantrowitz 36).
As E. Dionne Jr. points out in an article in The Washington Post, what this
generation seeks perhaps more than anything is a sense of balance between selfreliance and strong communal relationships. This is obvious in my classes at Penn
State as well. In evaluations or during office visits students often express fhistration
when the teacher seems to have no specific relationship with them individually.
They already know and recognize the expectations of doing the work, but they
define their classes as successful based upon what personal fulfillment they receive.
What we are seeing is something unique in the social development of youth.
Since they first emerged as a demographic entity early in the nineteenth century,
adolescents have carved out their own secret worlds, inventing private codes of
styles and behavior designed to communicate only within the in group and to exclude
or offend adults. But lately this developmental process has come under great strain.
“In the past the toughest decision [teens] had was whether to have sex, or whether
to use drugs,” says Sheri Parks, who studies families and the media at the University
of Maryland. “Those are still there, but on top of those are piled all these other
issues, which are very difficult for parents or children to decipher.” New
technologies and the entertainment industry, combined with changes in family