Teenagers In The 1940s Essay

In the past seven decades teens have evolved drastically; from medical to technological advancement, their lives are very different to those of teenagers today. All throughout Catcher in the Rye, and experiences in my personal life, there have been a number of things that prove how much we as teenagers have evolved since the 1940s. For example, although it is widely frowned upon and prohibited for children and teenagers to drink alcohol in todays world, teens do it as much if not more than they did in the 1940’s. On page 149, Holden “Kept sitting there getting drunk”, something that is not ok in todays world. Back in the 1940s, it was widely more acceptable to let teenagers drink excessive amounts of alcohol. It was a normal thing for younger

However, that is looked upon as a good thing, as it has been proven that alcohol damages the undeveloped mind. Another case proving that teens have evolved since the 1940s is social life, and how we spend our time. Since teenagers in the 1940s were experiencing their teen years during the middle of World War 2 and were born around the great depression, it was widely expected that they do whats best for the country. Now, teenagers are generally more priviledged, and have more access to doing what they want to do. According to the Digital Public Library of America, “young Americans were expected to put aside any frivolous activities or unnecessary spending for the sake of the nation’s well-being.” This further establishes the point that back then it was encouraged to do what one could to help the country, and to disregard extra activities and such. In todays world, people of all ages are pushed to do what they want to do and make the best life for themselves by doing what makes them happy. Finally, teenagers today have significantly more productive ways they spend time from teens in the 1940s. Based on personal experience from my life, teenagers that I interact with and talk to on a daily basis

Because of the increasing privileges that teenagers in the 2020s are presented with, they can often be used in a negative way. For instance, today teens are given an abundance of technology, such as tv’s and phones. And due to the technological advancements of the 21st century, teens today have significantly more access to technology that can be used for good or bad. ABC News reports that “Teens spend more than 7 hours a day on screens for entertainment”. This is obviously extremely harmful to any human’s mental health, but also affects physical health. Teens spend anywhere from 6-8 hours a day at school. Now, take 6 hours of school and 7 hours of online entertainment, and you are left with only 11 hours, about 8 of which most teenagers will be sleeping. This leaves vey little time for extra activities, and is an unhealthy lifestyle. Related to the heavy technology use, teens today have been significantly more subjected to influence than teens in the 1940s. Although there are plenty of positives to social media, it negatively impacts many of the decisions that teenagers make. Based on personal