NCJ Number
171439
Date Published
1996
Length
332 pages
Annotation
Using data that show the actual frequency of problem behaviors of America's teenagers, this book argues that politicians, private interests, and the media unfairly scapegoat adolescents for America's problems.
Abstract
The general view of America's youth held by the public and politicians is that they are disproportionately involved in violence, drug abuse, suicide, and pregnancy. This book uses data to show, however, that violent youth crime is increasing due to poverty rather than to drug or the influence of media violence. Teenagers, regardless of race, are not more violent than adults. Rather, American social policies force 25 percent of youth to grow up in poverty, leading to high rates of gang violence not found in other Western nations. Other generally held beliefs are that teen suicide and drug abuse are "epidemic." In truth, teenagers account for approximately 7 percent of U.S. suicides and 2 percent of U.S. drug deaths; these rates are far lower than found among adults. Although politicians are preoccupied with casual teenage marijuana smoking, the most significant drug danger America faces is increasing hard-drug abuse, injury, and death among middle-aged adults, including many parents. Another myth is that teenagers are sexually irresponsible. The facts show, however, that two-thirds of all births by teenage mothers are fathered by adult men over age 20, not by peer boys. Most "sexually active" girls under the age of 15 were victims of sexual abuse and rape by older males; and nearly all teenage AIDS is among impoverished youths, runaways, and prostitutes victimized by adults. The author advises that the path back to intergenerational cooperation would be difficult at this advanced stage of deterioration, even if a consensus existed among aging Americans to try. It lies in ending the futile efforts to "rejuvenilize" adolescents and, instead, inviting adolescents into adult society, where every sign over the last six decades suggests they belong. Extensive figures and tables and chapter notes