The Case Against Adolescence

This work presents a revolutionary proposal to raise responsible and happy teenagers. This groundbreaking book argues that adolescence is an unnecessary period of life that we're better off without. Epstein shows that teen turmoil is caused by outmoded systems put in place a century ago which destroyed the continuum between childhood and adulthood. Where this continuum still exists in other countries, there is no adolescence. Isolated from adults, American teens learn everything they know from their media-dominated peers "the last people on earth they should be learning from," says Epstein. He shows that our teens are highly capable in some ways than adults and argues strongly against "infantilizing" young people. We must rediscover "the adult in every teen," he says, by giving young people adult authority and responsibility as soon as they can demonstrate readiness. This landmark book will change our thinking about teens for decades to come. Robert Epstein, PhD (San Diego, CA) is the West Coast Editor and former editor in chief of "Psychology Today" and a Visiting Scholar at the University of California San Diego.
 
This work presents a revolutionary proposal to raise responsible and happy teenagers. This groundbreaking book argues that adolescence is an unnecessary period of life that we're better off without. Epstein shows that teen turmoil is caused by outmoded systems put in place a century ago which destroyed the continuum between childhood and adulthood. Where this continuum still exists in other countries, there is no adolescence. Isolated from adults, American teens learn everything they know from their media-dominated peers "the last people on earth they should be learning from," says Epstein. He shows that our teens are highly capable in some ways than adults and argues strongly against "infantilizing" young people. We must rediscover "the adult in every teen," he says, by giving young people adult authority and responsibility as soon as they can demonstrate readiness. This landmark book will change our thinking about teens for decades to come. Robert Epstein, PhD (San Diego, CA) is the West Coast Editor and former editor in chief of "Psychology Today" and a Visiting Scholar at the University of California San Diego.