A Book Review: Hurt 2.0 Inside the World of Today’s Teenager – Baker Academic, 2004 Dr. Chap Clark

Chap Clark has dedicated his life to working with young people and had three teenagers of his own when he embarked on the task of understanding this age group. He thought he was well prepared, but one of his sons told him that no adult “gets” teenagers. As the centerpiece of a team compiling research on the topic, Clark replaced a California high school with a diverse demographic and good academic performance for several months.

As part of Part I – The Changing Adolescent World, it reports that while at the beginning of the 20th century people were classified as children or adults, within the 50 years adolescence became an intermediate stage. Now social scientists speak of early, middle, and late adolescence. Throughout Clark’s time with these middle teens, many adults made comments without acknowledging the changes that have taken place. Clark’s premise is that teenagers are in fact different from those of the mid-20th century. In addition, it presents that the transition from child to adult took about three years in the 1950s and now takes up to 15 years. Freedoms that were previously kept for the late teens are now granted to middle teens. Dr. Clark’s reach lies primarily in understanding who these people are, with just a few suggestions for resolution.

Chap believes that the defining theme of contemporary adolescents is abandonment. This study has convinced him that there is a much greater gulf between youth and adults than he and most adults have realized. By David Elkind The hurried boy describes how often parents overbook their children, often in inappropriate activities for their age. On At Tribe Apart, Patricia Hersch reflects on how teens in the 90s were the most isolated and unsupervised to date. As a result of this abandonment, they form their own “family” with their peers. Around the age of fifteen, abstract thinking begins to develop and adolescents begin to realize that they need to find their place in the adult world. If they don’t have a strong connection to a parent or other important adult, they are drawn to their peers. Often these ties are stronger than with your family. Finding a balance in your loyalty is a challenge. Rather than proving themselves different, Clark believes that adolescents operate primarily in this world “underneath.” Chap argues that teens don’t trust adults with their most intimate lives. Adolescents, according to Clark, do not believe that adults really care about them.

In Part 2: The Landscape of the World Below Clark explores the following areas of adolescent life: peers, school, family, sports, sex, hustle and bustle, ethics and morality, parties, games and social media, and marginalized children . (any margin: the vulnerable and the privileged). In this last section, the author talks about the three aspects of individuation: identity, autonomy and belonging. Identity reflects how we see ourselves; autonomy includes taking responsibility and making the right decisions; belonging reminds us that we are designed to be part of a group, not isolated. Part 2 takes up half the book and deserves more space in this review than I can give you. In the section on school, Chap reports that cheating is considered the norm. Also, I want to say that Clark recognizes the importance of family in the lives of adolescents.

Finally in part 3 – Where do we go from here? Clark offers some suggestions. When there was a shift from a “nurturing” approach to an institutional approach, much was lost. So going back to parenting is one step. As one teacher concluded, she needed to hear more. In addition, adolescents need a stable and secure presence, as well as authentic and intimate relationships with adults. In the end, Clark offers five strategies for turning the tide of systemic abandonment:

1. Train youth workers to understand today’s teens.

2. Those who work with youth must work together.

3. Those who work with young people need to understand them and set limits.

4. Parents should learn about their teens and should be encouraged in their upbringing.

5. Communities need to make sure teens have some important adults who advocate for teens.

Clark is currently involved with an organization, http://www.Parenteen.org, that is actively working on crafting Clark’s suggestions presented in this and other books.

As I continue to explore this topic, I have the following concerns:

1. While the scope of the book stated by Clark is to observe the teenager today and start the conversation about what to do about it, I wonder if more attention should be paid to causes to facilitate the solution.

2. Although Clark includes the family and the church, in this book they appear to be relatively minor participants in the solutions presented.

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