Adolescent Influences

While doing a little reading for one of my classes, I came across this little tidbit in a book called "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell. When analyzing the Columbine shootings and those that followed, Mr. Gladwell came to the following conclusions concerning teens, peers and culture:

"My sense is that the way adolescent society has evolved in recent years has increased the potential for this kind of isolation. We have given teens more money, so they can construct their own social and material worlds more easily. We have given them more time to spend among themselves--and less time in the company of adults. We have given them e-mail and beepers and, most of all, cellular phones, so that they can fill in all the dad spots of their day--dead spots that might once have been filled in with the voices of adults--with the voices of their peers. That is a world ruled by the logic of word of mouth, by the contagious messages that teens pass among themselves. Columbine is now the most prominent epidemic of isolation among teenagers. It will not be the last."

Mr. Gladwell stresses the fact that in our time, teens are much more influenced by their peers than their parents. It may be time to update our terminology. We're no longer talking about peer pressure but peer control. Well, parent, do you know who or what is controlling your teenager?

Just a thought.

Bro. Tom