The stage of adolescence in one's life, which originated in the 1920s, has shaped the world in countless ways since this era. In the past, some children had a job and started a family by the age of 16. Schools were not influential or viewed as important past the age of about 12. Colleges, high schools, and even middle schools were not a focus before this idea of adolescence was created. This enabled complicated jobs that required a certain type of education for the person obtaining the position. There was no space between childhood and adulthood. Some people were able to have a childhood for a greater amount of time, depending on their family's income.
When the idea of adolescence began to play a role in society, many things began to change. Education and family began to become of more importance. The idea of “teenage years,” or adolescence being a specific stage in a person’s life caused higher level schools to be of more importance. Children began to stay in school for longer periods of time in order to obtain a higher education in order to get more advanced job positions, therefore providing a higher income. The expansion of specific training during adolescent years also began to play an important role. This helped a lot in the job industry by being able to have more advanced professions. In 1925, the government even began to pass laws on what could and could not be taught in schools. This shows how education took over the focus of this era and how we still go by some of the ideas of this time period.
Today, education is a major focus in our society. Most of this education occurs between the ages of about 5 to 22. During the first 10 of these years the main focus is gaining a basic knowledge. After these years you begin to approach high school, which is created to prepare you for college. During high school years you begin to think about the profession you would like to enter once you get a college education, because this affects what you “major in” in college.
The radios and telephones that were created during the 1920s also shaped the culture of adolescence as we know it today. Telephones led to the invention of cellphones, which has a huge hold over today’s teenagers. If the telephones/cellphone had not been created then the teenage culture that we live in today would be completely different. Social Media, late night texting and phone calls, facetiming, games, and mobile maps are key elements of daily life that most of us could not imagine life without. These things have become such a daily convenience that we forget that there wouldn’t even be this “teenage culture” we live in today if it weren’t of the adolescent stage that came about in the 1920s.
Imagine going straight from elementary school and automatically being an adult and getting a job within the next couple years. Having a child at our age is viewed as being a nightmare in today’s society, but back before the age of adolescence was created it would’ve been viewed as normal. So, think of these inventions/ideas that came from the 1920s that impact of daily “teenage lives” the next time you think of important things that came from this era we are studying.
