The creation of a youth culture in America is a 20th century phenomenon. It can be broadly understood as the outcome of two distinct trends. On the one hand, developmental psychologists and educators discovered and delineated what is unique about childhood and youth. The discovery of physical and intellectual developmental phases set childhood and youth apart as distinct periods in the life course. Developmental theory displaced previous notions of children and adolescents as "little adults" physically with plastic personalities to be molded into socially acceptable adult forms. This new emphasis on the uniqueness of childhood and youth in terms of developmental theory had ramifications for how youth were educated and led to increased awareness of problems that were special to youth and children. Progressive education and the proliferation of social work are two of the most prominent examples of how this new thinking about youth affected the larger society.

Increased leisure time and consumer power for youth is the second distinct trend that created a 20th century youth culture. Children went to school more than they went to work beginning in the twentieth century while concurrently increasing their economic clout. Children and youth, like their elders, became an integral part of the growing consumer culture. Leisure time along with spending power made the youth market a distinct and exploitable niche for the providers of consumer goods. Like other target markets, youth exhibited tendencies toward both exploitation and agency. Often youth developed their own fashions and their own tastes, forcing corporate America to catch up to current trends. Youth's leisure time and consumer power has also led to perceived periods of youth rebellion in the twentieth century. Often a show of agency, independence and creativity on the part of youth has been co-opted into the larger culture.

This course will explore these trends in detail. It will provide a context in which to discuss: the growth of the professions (education, social work, child psychology); the way youth cultures varied for children of various ethnic, racial, or class backgrounds; how gender, race and class definitions were filtered through the prism of youth; how a consumer culture is both manipulative and manipulated; the changing social value of children and youth; and the symbol of youth as both the hope and warning for the future of America.

2.  Gary Cross, Kids' Stuff: Toys and the Changing World of American Childhood. (1997)

3.  Thomas Hine, The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager. (1999)

4.   Bernard Lefkowitz,  Our Guys: The Glen Ridge Rape and the Secret Life of the Perfect Suburb. (1997)

5.  Peggy Orenstein, SchoolGirls: Young Women, Self-Esteem, and the Confidence Gap. (1994)

6.  Jonathan Kozol, Ordinary Resurrections: Children in the Years of Hope. (2000)

7.  Selected readings on reserve at George T. Potter Library or distributed in class.

1. Attendance and Participation (10%)

2. Midterm essay exam (25%)

3. Film Review (10%)

4. Six reaction essays to assigned readings (30% total - 5% each)

5. Final Exam (25%)

-Please arrive to class on time; consistently late arrivals disturb the class.

-Please, when possible, bring assigned readings to class.

-All assignments will be due on the date specified; late assignments will be severely penalized.

-Become familiar with the various forms of plagiarism.  Using others' ideas without giving full credit will not be tolerated in your assignments.  If you are unsure with what constitutes plagiarism, please click here for a helpful introduction with examples from the Indiana University Writing Resource page: Students' Guide to Plagiarism.

-Keeping up with the reading is imperative in this class; if you find you are falling behind or find the reading load difficult, please contact me so that we can find the appropriate help.

-I highly encourage all of you to come by and see me during office hours or by appointment to discuss your progress in the class or other issues.