National Indie Excellence Awards, first prize in the Parenting and
Family category Arguing that adolescence is an unnecessary period of
life that people are better off without, this groundbreaking study shows
that teen confusion and hardships are caused by outmoded systems that
were designed to destroy the continuum between childhood and adulthood.
Documenting how teens are isolated from adults and are forced to look to
their media-dominated peers for knowledge, this discussion contends that
by infantilizing young people, society does irrevocable harm to their
development and well-being. Instead, parents, teachers, employers, and
others must rediscover the adults in young people by giving them
authority and responsibility as soon as they exhibit readiness. Teens
are highly capable--in some ways more than adults--and this landmark
discussion offers paths for reaching and enhancing the competence in
America's youth.