Search -
Coming of Age in America: Growth and Acquiescence
Coming of Age in America Growth and Acquiescence Author:Edgar Z. Friedenberg Coming of Age in America is about the experience of going to high school: its impact on the lives of high school students and on their later political outlooks. Theoretically, Friedenberg says, high school is intended to prepare its students to be citizens in a democratic society. But in practice, it trains them in submission to arbitrary author... more »ity. High school students have no inalienable rights; they have privileges, granted to them in exchange for submission and conformity, and taken away without reason or recourse. The degree to which this is so varies from school to school — students from upper-class families have more resources for resistance — but Friedenberg cites comments by teachers who disliked the idea of having to deal with such students for that very reason. Many teachers liked having their small measure of authority and resented any student who weighed it lightly.« less