module 4 - START midterm 2

Question 1

social construction of youth culture

Answer 1

• there was a distinctive youth culture emerging in the 1920s, that youth lifestyle however did not apply to most, only to a select urbanized part of the youth population
• following the second world war (1950) a distinct youth culture that applied to the lives of most emerged
• youth labour filled in gaps in the labour forced due to majority of adult men fighting in the war

Question 2

baby boomers

Answer 2

• numbers rapidly increased because of the 2 cohorts of women having babies at the same time; young women who normally would have had babies in the 1930s didn’t b/c of the great depression & the next generation had babies around the typical time
• baby boomers were considered the “first teenagers”
• differed from any other prior generation of young people in terms of sheer number, economic prosperity, and generational cohesion

Question 3

impact of the baby boomers

Answer 3

• mobilization of multiple social processes and institutions; manufacturing diapers, formula and training pediatricians had to increase immensely, and then when those children had to attend levels of school created the mass development of schools
• everything revolved around them and their needs because they were the largest group of babies ever seen; this created the most teenagers ever seen before
• teenagers were visible

Question 4

economic prosperity after WW2

Answer 4

• 2nd world war was economically very good for canada → economy mobilized to support the war effort
• largest proportion of middle class families which was the environment many teengers grew up in
• young peoples labour was no longer necessary to support the family; the economy was doing so well that in middle class they could survive on one income (mans)
• teenagers had a lot of time on their hands; tasks other then paid employment; older teenagers could attend highschool (1960)
• being in school meant creating groups and spending increased time together while in school and after during “leisure” time

Question 5

generational cohesion of the baby boomers

Answer 5

• collective identity was created because they were spending so much time together in school and since they didn’t have to work after school they were still together
• shared identity as “teenagers”

Question 6

youth culture industry

Answer 6

• generational cohesion was also facilitated by the youth culture or youth leisure industry
• teenagers had time and money on their hands
• businesses developed to appeal to “teenage” needs, emotions, experiences meaning a wide range of products, and distinct genres of media like teen magazines or rock & roll music were developed to specifically appeal to teenagers
• consumerism was youth centred → teens could spend their money and influence their parents spending
• marketing was directed at teenagers and sought to appeal to youth culture
• this reinforced the notion of a distinctive youth culture

Question 7

sources of teens money

Answer 7

• 34% was allowances from parents
• 66% money earned after school or during the holidays
• the average weekly income for students between 12 and 19 is, for boys, $6.61 and for girls, $5.24

Question 8

what did teens spend money on

Answer 8

• clothes and accessories are the biggest single item in budgets
• spend money on pop and candy bars
• purchasing a record or disc
• teenagers often included the price of at least one movie a week in their informal budgets

Question 9

role of mass media and celebrities in teen purchases

Answer 9

• fashion magazines emphasize what is popular currently and guide the purchases of teens
• watching clothing shows in television or fashion forward films
• media typically has the largest influence on females and teenage girls
• teenagers need the assurance that “everyone is wearing it” to secure something as a fad

Question 10

the impact of residential schooling on the experience of adolescence

Answer 10

• adolescents were assimilated into white, christian culture, that forcefully stripped them of their Indigenous beliefs, practices, dress, tradition, culture, families and language
• residential schools really embodied the idea that indigenous lives didn’t matter
• very minimal time was actually dedicated to academic learning, the days were mainly filled with physical labour and religious study
• emotional, physical and sexual abuse occurred over the history over residential schools
• the effects and burden of these experiences have followed survivors throughout generations; creating intergenerational trauma

Question 11

to what extent do you think First Nations youth were part of the “youth culture” of the 1950s

Answer 11

• the goal in the 1950s at residential schools was to “change the philosophy of the Indian child” and make them “think like whites” - Reverend Albert. E Sutherd principal at Gordon residential school
• culture as well as youth culture was primarily white, christian based while Indigenous cultures were being erased