The word “teenager” didn’t even exist until the early 1950’s. Before that, teen aged children had some pretty serious things on their minds. Their parents were just coming out of the depression and World War II. Many teens were lucky to have a roof over their head and 3 meals a day. They made their own entertainment, playing ball, and outdoor games like Kick The Can. They didn’t have cell phones or cars or laptops. And they didn’t take guns to school. Now, teenage angst and school shootings are on the rise.
Most teenagers in the early 50’s had after school or weekend jobs. We bought out own clothes ( or made them) and paid our own way to the movies. Since we hung out at the drug store when we weren’t working, we saved up for money to buy cokes and milkshakes. If someone borrowed their parent’s car, they were expected to pay for their own gas. Most moms didn’t work, so if Dad lost his job, the teen had to help out with food and other basics.
Some of our high school classmates were Jewish or Catholic World War II refugees, from places like Germany and Poland.
What kinds of job did kids have? For girls, mostly baby sitting until you were fifteen. After that, you could get a sales job at a department store. Guys mowed lawns and worked as stock boys. If the dad had his own business, a boy was expected to work there on weekends if he wanted extra money to take his girlfriend out on a date. Restaurants were mostly locally owned, and there were no fast food franchises like McDonald’s where teens could work.
My country cousins had guns. They hunted in the woods and shot rattlesnakes. A gun was a necessity for protection if you were isolated on a farm. Generally speaking, city boys did not have guns.
Fast forward to 1990, the year when the World Wide Internet was established. In a comparatively affluent society (compared to 1950) kids stayed home and played on the internet. They sent e mails. watched porn, and learned about guns. Instead of going to a movie once a week, they could watch TV every day, and see lots of violence in action . Then, in 2004, along came Facebook.
Beginning in 1998, school shootings began to increase. During the 20th century, mass school shootings killed 55 people and injured 260 others at schools, especially in America’s Western region. Most of the 25 shooters involved were white males who acted alone, and only nine were diagnosed as suffering from mental illnesses at the time. Sixty percent of shooters were between 11 and 18 years old.
It’s getting worse in the 21st century. According to a recent study, more people have died or been injured in mass school shootings in the US in the past 18 years than in the entire 20th century.
Here’s how it looks from here. Teenagers today have too much of everything, including leisure time to bully each other on Facebook, have sex, play violent video games, and yes, think about taking a gun to school and shooting someone because they’re suffering from “teenage angst.”