How Can People Forget About Teenagers?

          Although we have been studying all these great poets, such as Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, Langston Hughes and Dorothy Parker, all of whom had all lived through the 1920s, how come none of them ever mentioned any poem about TEENAGERS? Its concept came out around the 1920s, and the word teenager was invented during that time.

          From the time the US government created the Juvenile Court, there have been numerous age restrictions for alcohol assumption, marriage, driving, voting, etc. By doing so, the government had begun to separate childhood and adulthood, and formed a new group in the middle. After World War I, the world economy was moving from an agricultural one to an industrialized one, thus making people recognize the importance of education. North Americans started to feel there was a need to teach young adults the basis of reading, writing, and mathematics. The enrollment in secondary schools increased by almost 400 percent between 1910 and 1930. The percent of students in high school and students who were able to graduate also rose up proportionately.

          Americans also realized the potential of a longer education period, and therefore many students of the same age were thrown into a single group. School sports and other extracurricular activities were generated, creating a clear distinction between childhood and adulthood experiences. American teenagers were born.