The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager

After reading this article about teenagers, i realized that i was being pretty stereotypical even though i myself was a teenager about 3 years ago. LIke the article said, our belief about teens is contradictory. "They should be free to become themselves. They need many years of training and study. They know more about the future than adults do. They know hardly anything at all. They ought to know the value of a dollar. They should be protected from the world of work. They are frail, vulnerable creatures. They are children. They are sex fiends. They are the death of culture. They are the hope to us all." This section of the text was quite a wake up call as i realized that i do myself think of teens in that manner at times, as does everyone i feel. It is expressed that way through the media and through portals of out lives.
People assume that all teenagers are alike and the same and this article expressed that about our assumtions. "all young people regardless of their class, location, or ethnicity, should have essentially the same experience, spent with people exactly their age, in an environment defined by high school and pop culture."
I didnt quite understand the intro section of the article about if teens were necessary. I mean i understand what he is saying i jsut dont think that he chose the right wording in soem cases in the article.
Overall, i think that the article gave great insight to some questions and expleined some things that i had not otherwise been thinking about at all.