Teen Social Norms
Expectations
In the "USA Today" article, titled "Are Social Norms Steadily Unraveling?" U.S. teens are described as sloppy, self-obsessed and disrespectful compared to previous generations. The article relied on a study by associate professor Jean Twenge of San Diego State University, which compared surveys from 1958 to 2001 and concluded that modern teens were much less concerned with living up to society's expectations than previous generations. However, Michael Haines of the National Social Norms Research Center, did not agree with those conclusions. According to Haines, teens are very concerned with the expectations of other teens, and those expectations can differ considerably from those of adults.
Norms
According to the Resource Center for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, social norms in any population group can be defined as the regular behavior of the majority of that group. Based on this definition, teenage social norms are actually much less dysfunctional and self-destructive than many people believe. Most teens don't drink, do drugs, steal or join gangs. Most teens wait to have sex for the first time until they feel ready to handle it and most teens …show more content…
According to the Resource Center for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, most teens don't use drugs but think most other teens do. Most teens aren't sexually active but believe most of their peers are. Most teens who are sexually active practice safe sex but think most of their peers don't. The same is true of smoking, drinking and other social issues, according to a Wahoo Public Schools (Nebraska) 2012 newsletter article. Because so many teens have an inaccurate idea of what the social norms in their peer group actually are, they can be sometimes be tempted to make bad decisions under the false impression that they are just going along with the
In the "USA Today" article, titled "Are Social Norms Steadily Unraveling?" U.S. teens are described as sloppy, self-obsessed and disrespectful compared to previous generations. The article relied on a study by associate professor Jean Twenge of San Diego State University, which compared surveys from 1958 to 2001 and concluded that modern teens were much less concerned with living up to society's expectations than previous generations. However, Michael Haines of the National Social Norms Research Center, did not agree with those conclusions. According to Haines, teens are very concerned with the expectations of other teens, and those expectations can differ considerably from those of adults.
Norms
According to the Resource Center for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, social norms in any population group can be defined as the regular behavior of the majority of that group. Based on this definition, teenage social norms are actually much less dysfunctional and self-destructive than many people believe. Most teens don't drink, do drugs, steal or join gangs. Most teens wait to have sex for the first time until they feel ready to handle it and most teens …show more content…
According to the Resource Center for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, most teens don't use drugs but think most other teens do. Most teens aren't sexually active but believe most of their peers are. Most teens who are sexually active practice safe sex but think most of their peers don't. The same is true of smoking, drinking and other social issues, according to a Wahoo Public Schools (Nebraska) 2012 newsletter article. Because so many teens have an inaccurate idea of what the social norms in their peer group actually are, they can be sometimes be tempted to make bad decisions under the false impression that they are just going along with the