This list appears at the end of the interview mentioned below. I guess it’s safe to say from the title — Psychology Today: Trashing Teens — that there’s a POV expressed here. But look at these draconian prohibitions: are the folks at PsychToday they want a return to the halcyon days of child labor, unrestricted drinking and driving, and child prostitution? And some of these items — “Tracking devices routinely installed in cell phones and cars of teens” — are dubious. I confess I don’t know how many people are doing this, but routinely can’t be accurate. Some phones have GPS (for 911/emergency purposes, if for no other reason). For non-emergency use, you can buy a special phone and accompanying service. Just leave it at a friend’s house or, in these days of hacking the iPhone, plug in a set of waypoints that tell a better story.
1800s
1836 Massachusetts passes first law requiring minimal schooling for people under 15 working in factories
1848 Pennsylvania sets 12 as minimum work age for some jobs
1852 Massachusetts passes first universal compulsory education law in U.S., requires three months of schooling for all young people ages 8-14
1880s Some states pass laws restricting various behaviors by young people: smoking, singing on the streets, prostitution, “incorrigible” behavior
1881 American Federation of Labor calls on states to ban people under 14 from working
1898 World’s first juvenile court established in Illinois—constitutional rights of minors effectively taken away1900s
1903 Illinois requires school attendance and restricts youth labor
1918 All states have compulsory education laws in place
1933 First federal law restricting drinking by young people
1936 & 1938 First successful federal laws restricting labor by young people, establishing 16 and 18 as minimum ages for work; still in effect
1940 Most states have laws in place restricting driving by people under 16
1968 Supreme Court upholds states’ right to prohibit sale of obscene materials to minors
1968 Movie rating system established to restrict young people from certain films
1970s Supreme Court upholds laws restricting young women’s right to abortion
1970s Dramatic increase in involuntary electroshock therapy (ECT) of teens
1980s Many cities and states pass laws restricting teens’ access to arcades and other places of amusement; Supreme Court upholds such laws in 1989
1980s Courts uphold states’ right to prohibit sale of lottery tickets to minors
1980 to 1998 Rate of involuntary commitment of minors to mental institutions increases 300-400 percent
1984 First national law effectively raising drinking age to 21
1988 Supreme Court denies freedom of press to school newspapers
1989 Missouri court upholds schools’ right to prohibit dancing
1989 Court rules school in Florida can ban salacious works by Chaucer and Aristophanes
1990s Curfew laws for young people sweep cities and states
1990s Dramatic increase in use of security systems in schools
1992 Federal law prohibits sale of tobacco products to minors
1997 New federal law makes easier involuntary commitment of teens2000s
2000+ New laws restricting minors’ rights to get tattoos, piercings, and to enter tanning salons spread through U.S.
2000+ Tougher driving laws sweeping through states: full driving rights obtained gradually over a period of years
2000+ Dramatic increase in zero-tolerance laws in schools, resulting in suspensions or dismissals for throwing spitballs, making gun gestures with hand, etc.
2000+ New procedures and laws making it easier to prosecute minors as adults
Currently spreading nationwide:
New rules prohibiting cell phones in schools or use of cell phones by minors while driving
Libraries and schools block access to Internet material by minors
New dress code rules in schools
New rules restricting wearing of potentially offensive clothing or accessories in schools
New laws prohibiting teens from attending parties where alcohol is served (even if they’re not drinking)
New laws restricting teens’ access to shopping malls
Tracking devices routinely installed in cell phones and cars of teens
New availability of home drug tests for teens
New laws prohibiting minors from driving with any alcohol in bloodstream (zero-tolerance)
Proposals for longer school days, longer school year, and addition of grades 13 and 14 to school curriculum under discussion
I must be old. I don’t think all teens need all these “freedoms” as presented here: some exposure to a diverse community makes you aware of the variety of parenting styles and relative maturity of the other kids and their parents. What one kid can handle might get another one in serious trouble.
Some of these items are undeniably bad but I don’t equate the loss of a school newspaper’s first amendment rights with a ban on cell phone use in the classroom.
Really weak stuff, this.