History of Your Life
Being a Teenager
Essential Question: What does it mean to be a teenager? How has this changed over time? Why?
"A glimpse of teenage life in ancient Rome" - Ray Laurence
Books
Articles and On-line Resources
• Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation by Neil Howe, William Strauss and R.J. Matson (2000)
• The World According to Y: Inside the New Adult Generation by Rebecca Huntley (2006)
• The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw (2004)
• Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069 by Neil Howe, William Strauss (1992)
•The 1990s by Marc Oxoby (2003)
•The Mismeasure of Man (Revised & Expanded) by Stephen Jay Gould (1996)
- "Whatever Happened to the Jock, the Brain, and the Princess? Young Adult Pathways Linked to Adolescent Activity Involvement and Social Identity" by Barber, Eccles, and Stone (2001)
"The Tone of Life on Social Networking Sites" from Pew Research Center (2012)
"TV Personality vs. Twitter Trolls" Story out of Australia about exposing Trolls using Twitter (2013)
In-Class Resources
This is a selection of course Power Points and presentations. Students are encouraged to share their work for the unit here as the unit progresses.
"Teach Your Children" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
"Another Brick in the Wall" from Pink Floyd
"Parents Just Don't Understand" by Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff
"Teenagers" by My Chemical Romance
Clean version with lyrics
"Smells like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana
Quotes
"I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words... When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise [disrespectful] and impatient of restraint"
(Hesiod, 8th century BC).
"The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority, they show disrespect to their elders.... They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and are tyrants over their teachers." (Socrates through Plato)
"The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint. They talk as if they alone knew everything and what passes for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. As for girls, they are forward, immodest and unwomanly in speech, behaviour and dress." (Socrates through Plato)
"A Flapper's Appeal to Parents" by Ellen Welles Page (1922)