In “Border Crossing in the USA,” Donna Gaines claims that “[t]he concept of adolescence, our assumptions about young people’s preparedness to handle life, and the laws we created to protect them, infantilize youth at a time when they are increasingly called upon to care for themselves” . Nancy Lesko moves Gaines’s quote one step further when she concludes that
“Gaines’s emphasis on how the lived realities of youth are in conflict with adult conceptions of them must be demonstrated through empirical studies”.
Lesko’s statement is an extension of her call for educators, scholars, and policy makers to replace their traditional views of adolescence with post-colonial views. What makes Lesko’s argument problematic is that empirical studies could
“Gaines’s emphasis on how the lived realities of youth are in conflict with adult conceptions of them must be demonstrated through empirical studies”.
Lesko’s statement is an extension of her call for educators, scholars, and policy makers to replace their traditional views of adolescence with post-colonial views. What makes Lesko’s argument problematic is that empirical studies could