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Better Together
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Why do teenagers so often seem like a different species? Journalist Patricia Hersch gives a troubling answer in her fascinating, up-close-and-personal look at what it means to be a teen in today's American high schools. Rather than interviewing "high-risk" teens (those already swept up in a cycle of drug use, gang violence, or unintended pregnancy, for example), Hersch focuses her attention on "regular kids"--adolescents who are average achievers on academic and social levels. In light of this, A Tribe Apart is all the more startling to read: Hersch's investigative approach makes it impossible for parents to shrug off their responsibilities by saying "That's not my kid." This is your kid.
Hersch offers readers a fly-on-the-wall perspective as she spends three years hanging out with eight youths, submerging herself in their environment. They struggle with all the things you might remember or expect from the teen years: figuring out relationships, establishing friendships, determining what's cool and uncool, experiencing sexual attraction. But these teens--and, as Hersch asserts, the majority of teens in America today--have much, much more piled on their plates. Having been left to their own devices by a preoccupied, self-involved, and "hands-off" generation of parents, adolescents have had to figure out their own system of ethics, morals, and values, and rely on each other for advice on such profound topics as abuse, dysfunctional parents, and sex (with all its accompanying ramifications). Adolescents are indeed "a tribe apart," but not by choice--adult society abandons them long before they ever get the chance to rebel against it.
A wake-up call for all parents and teenagers, this essential book is also hopeful. Hersch urges us not to be afraid of teenagers--even if they have piercings and tattoos and strange hair--because what they really, truly want is a little guidance, attention, and love. --Brangien Davis
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
The "generation gap" of the 1960s has widened into a much deeper chasm in the 1990s, according to Hersch, former contributing editor to Psychology Today and the mother of three adolescents. This reflects no simple youthful rebellion but an extreme estrangement between adults and teenagers owing to the rise of dual careers, divorce, and violent social change. Part anthology, part soap opera, this work by participant-observer Hersch provides case studies of eight teens from her own suburb near Washington, DC. The study covers events from the seventh through the 12th grades (1992-95). These are "regular" kids, a group balanced for race, gender, and ethnicity, yet their flirtations with promiscuity, drugs, and suicidal behavior could and did turn some lives tragic. Lots of details are reported, many ultimately unverifiable. However, the essence of the short descriptive chapters rings true. A powerful sense that issues are more complex for today's youth is well conveyed. Timely, well written, even enthralling though suggesting few solutions to the problems raised, this book is highly recommended for public libraries and education collections.
-?Antoinette Brinkman, SW Indiana Mental Health Ctr. Lib., Evansville
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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