A STUDY OF ADOLESCENT ATTITUDES
Abstract
For many of us, life as an adolescent was vivid with new contrasts between the experiences of our daily lot and those of others whom we might soon come to resemble. It was hard to believe that that vividness, of realization of a point of view peculiar to our age, would ever fade; yet the astonishing reality is that even after very few years it had almost gone, lost in a kaleidoscope of more recent images. John Young's student teachers, themselves barely out of their teens in many cases, were sent to refresh their memories with interviews of high school students, and were given a number of common topics to discuss. Young himself has since patiently listened to and read all the material of 254 interviews, and without benefit of numbers, employing only a personal humanity exercised lifelong, reports the general impressions that come up: Adolescents are much like adults; perhaps they are adults indeed, subject as a group - under like conditions of relative isolation and comfort - to the same reactions of boredom and hedonistic thoughtlessness. RÉSUMÉ Pour bon nombre d'entre nous, l'adolescence est un âge de contrastes nouveaux entre les expériences de notre existence quotidienne et celles des autres à qui nous finirons par bientôt ressembler. A cet âge, il est difficile d'imaginer que la vivacité de ces contrastes finira par s'estomper; et pourtant, quelques années plus tard, il n'en reste pas grand-chose, le tout s'étant perdu dans un kaléidoscope d'images plus récentes. Les professeurs stagiaires de John Young, à peine sortis de l'adolescence bien souvent, ont été invités à se rafraîchir la mémoire en allant interviewer des élèves du secondaire sur un certain nombre de sujets. Young a lui-même patiemment écouté et lu quelque 254 entrevues. Evitant de les réduire à des statistiques anonymes, il en tire les impressions générales qui suivent: les adolescents ne sont pas très différents des adultes; peut-être sont-ils même des adultes, sujets au même ennui et à la même inconséquence hédoniste dans des conditions d'isolement et de confort relatifs.Downloads
Published
1980-04-01
How to Cite
Young, J. E. M. (1980). A STUDY OF ADOLESCENT ATTITUDES. McGill Journal of Education / Revue Des Sciences De l’éducation De McGill, 15(002). Retrieved from https://mje.mcgill.ca/article/view/7329
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