Growing Up As A Teenager In The 1950's

Improved Essays
A teenager, or teen, is any person whose age falls within the range from thirteen to nineteen years old. The term teenager derives from the fact that all of the numbers within this age range use the suffix -teen. It is a word that is used by various different people, and it is also prominent in many different cultures. Most cultures traditionally hold a formal celebration to mark the transition from childhood to adolescence, or, in other words the child’s ‘coming of age’. For example, people of South American descent often hold a party known as a quinceañera to celebrate a girl becoming a woman, and communities with Jewish backgrounds celebrate a child’s coming of age with a Bar Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah. Adolescence is another …show more content…
Teen-aged boys were likely to join the military or go out and find work to establish a source of income for future families, where as teen-aged girls were shown how to take care of the home by their mothers and were give a lot of time to practice and become compliant wives who looked after their children. 3 Life was not as enjoyable for teenagers before and during the Second World War, however these strict expectations finally began to change for teenagers at the beginning of the 1950s. More students were encouraged to find successful careers and continue onwards to post-secondary education, as parents during this time had experienced many setbacks for themselves when it came to starting a career. These drawbacks included the Great Depression and the First World War, so it would make sense that these parents would like to see their children succeed. 4 The result of the hope that parents had for their children meant that parents would often allow their teenaged children more responsibilities and independence, however many teenagers took advantage of this freedom and began to socialize with each other more by partying, listening to rock and roll, staying out late, and generally being rebellious. Teenagers also had more spending money because a larger amount of teens were getting part time jobs or using their parents’ money due to the economic prosperity in Canada at the time, which meant that teenagers now had financial influence-meaning they had the ability to buy things that were better suited to their tastes and not their parents’ tastes. Companies now had to attempt to gain the teenagers interest when marketing a product, and not solely the parents’ interest. 5 The newfound individuality of teenagers during the 1950s created some clashes between the teenager and their parents. The media often exaggerated the way that teenagers and

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    The teen culture that developed in the 1950s America was a deviation from the normative model accepted by the society. Teens were considered older children in the happy nuclear family. But the teen culture threatened adults and fragmented the family into teens and adults. Moving away from the family constraints the teens spend a lot of time with other teens than with their families and developed their own values, language, fashions, and music distinct from their parents. The teens questioned the authority of parents and clamoured for independence and autonomy which was easily accessible through their jobs.…

    • 115 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The 1950s was a time where people wish they could go back to. In the 1920s the Great Depression happened, in the 1930s there was an increase in domestic violence, and in the 1940s World War II came about. In Stephanie Coontz’s article What We Really Miss About the 1950s, she goes into detail how the 1950s were in social values and in the economy. In Gary Soto’s story Looking for Work, as a Mexican-American child he would go out and find work and he wanted his family to be like those he saw in television. People were ecstatic for the 1950s from having the ideal family to having a great economy.…

    • 746 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many people had to face a lot of difficulties during the Great Depression. The many problems Americans had face was the struggling of trying to find and keep a paying job. They were also having troubles trying to pay for a house and food. American teens had struggled a lot during the Great Depression due to trying to get an education and support their families; however African and Mexican Americans also struggled a lot during the Great Depression.…

    • 659 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Living, or even growing up during the 1930’s wasn’t exactly considered the best of all the times. Americans all throughout the country had to deal with the Great Depression, an economic disaster caused by multiple things like the crash of the stock market. Although the children of this economic disaster shouldn’t have been affected by this, this crash was so horrible that it did get them involved with this “mumbo jumbo.” Along with the kids being involved, family roles had been massively altered, and the depression mostly weakened family bonds.…

    • 903 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In many Hispanic cultures when a girl turns fifteen it is seen as her becoming a young lady. My parents were excited about me turning fifteen and giving me a quinceanera. I actually didn't want to have one, I wasn't interested in celebrations but it was important to them to show that they cared about me, so I agreed. We started planning in late 2012, we were looking at churches for the blessing, restaurants for the dinner, we were also looking for a dress. During a quinceanera, the girl wears a white dress to symbolize staying pure and being a virgin.…

    • 625 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The American teenager is an individual created by growing multiple cultural changes in our society. In his book The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager, author Thomas Hine describes this stage of life as energetic and exciting, adding that teenagers carry qualities our culture simultaneously loves and fears, such as boldness, greed and being idealistic (Hine, p. 10-11). The behavior of teenagers is influenced by a multitude of factors. One of those factors includes social class, which can influence how teenagers socialize, as well as how they are treated in their education endeavors.…

    • 1299 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Family Values In The 1950s

    • 1500 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Family Values Nostalgia for the 1950s is real and deserves to be taken seriously, but it usually shouldn 't be taken literally. (pg.33 of What we really miss about the 1950’s) Growing up in a two parent household who base their parenting abilities on what the Bible has to say, can relate a lot to being in the 1950s. It has a lot of the same values work hard, love unconditionally, and don 't sin. Today’s society with all the electronics that we have makes it very difficult to get tasks accomplished. My parents have stressed in all of us kids to work hard for what we want.…

    • 1500 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    However, it is safe to say that children cannot grow up alone; they need some form of guidance, whether that is the form of a parent or guardian. Overall, the movie “Rebel Without a Cause” gives insight to the the culture and society of the 1950s. By providing context of security and family life during the Cold War era, historians are able to use this film as a primary source for research. The lack of rules lead to teenagers being able to get away with much more than teens today shows differences in society between the mid 20th century and the beginning of the 21th century. Lastly, the ties with parents and their kids tells the story of relationships.…

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Teenagers of this generation were not required or expected to turn over anything they might earn to their parents to help with household expenses. They also had more leisure time to spend doing things they considered fun. The attitudes about education also changed in that teenagers were now expected to graduate from high school, and some parents even had the means to send their children to college. Given the lifestyle these indulges provided the teenagers of the 1950s, their experiences in no way mirrored the much more…

    • 452 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Socially acceptable behaviors are what we call societal norms. A few examples of these are things like saying please and thank you, stopping at a red light, and brushing your teeth before bed. So essentially socially acceptable behaviors are something our society has deemed “appropriate” over time. Now, today things are different than they were back then, some leniency has been shown, but quite a few of societal norms are exactly the norms back then as well. In this essay, I will be talking about showing sexual content on TV and public display of affection.…

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Society During The 1970's

    • 938 Words
    • 4 Pages

    During the 1960’s, society lived in a fake utopia that made them feel that war never happened and all the bad things never really happen around them. As the 1970’s hit and the youthful rebellion came to an end, reality started to see more of the horrific and terrible occurrences around the world because of technology and the younger society's want for the truth to be set free. As the dark, morbid side of society was revealed to the world, there also appeared more dominance/ abusive relationships, PTSD from events such as rape or drugs, and just flat out insane people in society. Over time, instead of fearing the negative side of the world, people wanted to know more and became curious about it.…

    • 938 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Imagine yourself living in the Roaring Twenties. It was considered the golden decade during 1920’s. During this time, America was full of growth, prosperity, and was considered a new step into the future. Cars were built to go faster, women wore less, and almost everyone was wealthy. It was time full of exciting parties with the flapper girls, and a careless fun times.…

    • 1590 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1960's Social Changes

    • 663 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Introduction Beginning in the early 1960’s, American politicians began to pay closer attention to the social issue of teen pregnancy. Teen pregnancy refers to women between 13 and 19 years of age, who have not yet reached childbearing age and are still physically and mentally undeveloped to have children. A number of significant social changes during the late 50s and early 60s shifted American culture and brought along, long-lasting effects that still affect our society today. The sexual revolution of the 1960’s shaped America by altering the sexual behaviors and societal norms of young Americans. (Boonstra, 2004).…

    • 663 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Brilliant Essays

    The Breakdown of Family Being a teenager is hard. There is school, and most people do not understand how much work that teenagers do. Teenagers balance sports and homework and church. With school, due dates are all on the same day, and it feels like everything is crammed together.…

    • 1470 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Brilliant Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The purpose of this research paper is to compare and evaluate youth subcultures between Britain and the United States in the 1950’s. At the time, a post-war economic shift resulted in the manifestation of many subcultures. Thanks to an expanding market of consumerism and a decline in post-war rationing after World War II, young people had the money to spend on fashion and entertainment. The two main subcultures we will analyze in this report are the Teddy boys of Britain, and the “punks” of American society. With the development of rock n roll music and a desire to rebel against the common order, both subcultures were characterized by anti-establishment views and a distinctive style that older generations found aggressive and threatening.…

    • 1498 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays