Teen 2.0: Saving Our Children and Families from the Torment of Adolescence

by Robert Epstein

National Indie Excellence Awards, first prize in the Parenting and Family category.

Arguing that adolescence is an unnecessary period of life that people are better off without, this groundbreaking study shows that teen confusion and hardships are caused by outmoded systems that were designed to destroy the continuum between childhood and adulthood.

Documenting how teens are isolated from adults and are forced to look to their media-dominated peers for knowledge, this discussion contends that by infantilizing young people, society does irrevocable harm to their development and well-being.

Instead, parents, teachers, employers, and others must rediscover the adults in young people by giving them authority and responsibility as soon as they exhibit readiness. Teens are highly capable - in some ways more than adults - and this landmark discussion offers paths for reaching and enhancing the competence in America's youth.

Genres: Parenting, Education, Nonfiction, Psychology

535 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Robert Epstein is a senior research psychologist at the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology in California. He is the author of 15 books, and the former editor-in-chief of Psychology Today.

Reviews

[Paul, · Rating 3 out of 5]

The basic premise of this book is dead on. That is, "teenager" is an invention of the 20th century caused by our over-protection and infantilization of teenagers. Giving teenagers responsibility and enough freedom/authority to meet their responsibilities is dead on. His remark that "child-centered" homes are the opposite of what we want is also true. We want homes that focus on adults and helping children become adults. We also don't want teenagers to be hanging out with people their own age most of the time. How shallow of a grouping is that? What about grouping people of many ages based on interest or by job? I like Epstein's focus on responsibility and struggle as a part of growing up. I also like that he devotes a whole chapter to biblical adolescence (doesn't exist!) and also spends a lot of time detailing the achievements of a lot of teenagers in previous generations. Big shot teenagers these days? Sorry, not many of them. They are all sitting in school, playing video games, shopping, drinking, smoking, doing drugs, or talking on the phone. I appreciate Epstein's call for school reform. Lord only knows how much sooner I would have gotten through school if it was based on comprehension instead of age (my guess is 11 or 12). Epstein promotes competency exams as a replacement for age in just about every area of freedom/responsibility. Epstein also does a good job of listing the groups who are going to oppose this kind of reform (pharmaceutical companies, clothing companies, MTV, teachers' unions, etc.)

That being said, I wish I would have written this book because I like Dr. Epstein's main idea much more than I like his presentation of it. I hve many disagreements with Dr. Epstein. I don't think that work is what gives meaning to life, for one, though I approve of letting children work. Epstein needs to move his mindset into this millenium where jobs are scarce, many are unsatisfying, and it is only going to get worse when a couple hundred million subsistence farmers in India and China move into the modern workforce. Labor saving devices SAVE LABOR (I know, imagine that) and I have been pointing out for several years now that it is not to long before there just aren't enough jobs to go around. Volkswagen has a car running Pike's Peak, one of the most dangerous racetracks on earth, at an average speed of 95 miles per hour without a human driver this month. What do you think will happen to the 230,000 taxi/limo drivers and almost 3 million truck drivers in the U.S. when that technology hits the road in 10-15 years?

But my main disagreement with Dr. Epstein is in his overpresentation of the capabilities of teenagers. He is trying to reestablish a continuum between childhood and adulthood, but he tries to hard to make teenagers as capable as adults. He remarks, correctly, that teenagers process information faster and remember more than adults, especially older adults. But everyone who has watched sports knows that most of the Test Heroes ride the pine during the game. Wisdom, the crystallization of patterns and experience over time, allows older people to function at much higher levels than they "should be" according to the tests. Why aren't there many CEOs in their twenties, don't they test better than people in their 40s? Of course they test better. People in their twenties (as a group) are more intelligent, remember better, see and hear better, but they just don't have the experience and therefore they cannot perform as well. I guess that's just a detail.

So, yes to more responsibility. Yes! to public school reform and possibly abolishing mandatory education. Yes to teenage labor and teenage freedom to choose based on competency. YES!! to a society that does not idealize/romanticize the teenage years. Yes to challenging teens and giving them something worth trying to do. But I think the biggest problem with this idea is that most adults don't have a sense of purpose either, which explains why adults tend to romanticize the teenage experience.

[Jessica Zhang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book!

I am very pleased to have read this book, and even happier to write a review on it. Dr. Robert Epstein is one of the few who has taken a stand against the infantilization of young people, and in this book, he presents endless amounts of evidence against the popular myths and beliefs about teenage hormones and underdeveloped brains causing teenage turmoil.

I wish this book was much more well-known and widely read, because it deserves to be! Epstein presents loads of evidence proving that young people are inherently competent, against the popular beliefs of society that young people are incompetent, immature fools. The unfortunate thing is that far too many people are profiting from the legal extension of childhood.

Oftentimes, I've asked myself why Epstein's book is not more widely known and why many people are promoting the teen brain theory. The answer is simply because of money. Mental health professionals promote the idea that teen brains cause problematic behavior just to stay in business. After all, their livelihood revolves around treating troubled teens, and if they acknowledged the truth that teens are inherently competent, most of them would go out of business overnight.

By convincing parents that teens are inherently incompetent and irresponsible due to defective brains, mental health professionals are able to sell their services. After all, irresponsible behavior caused by defective brains naturally require treatment, correct? Therapy, reading parenting books, counseling, etc. The truth is that if teens were acknowledged for who they are, the mental health industry would collapse on its knees.

Epstein has himself admitted that his views on teens is not shared by most professionals, because of financial interests. But I hope more people would read this book!

[Andreas Berko · Rating 4 out of 5]

An eye opener about what teens are capable of and especially about what treating them like children could be doing to the relationship between you and your teen. There is a fair amount of anecdotal information in here and to many outlier case studies but I am still going to make significant changes to the way I talk to and deal with my teenage daughter.

[Lindsay Smith-Munoz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is strongest when he's presenting his evidence that teens, from about 14 up, have the enormous potential to be ambitious, creative, responsible and brave, and that teen behaviour is a cultural not a developmental phenomenon. Some other parts of the book, his hatred for high school and teen culture could use a bit more nuance. At time it seems he is arguing that adults let teens do the very things he hates about teen culture, and his recommendations to parents don't paint an entirely consistent picture with some of the other details in his book. The overall argument, that teens want and need responsibility and challenge, and are so often denied that, it certainly worth the time I spent reading.

[Michael Rodrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book! Truly fantastic! Epstein is one of the few who speaks out against the commonly pushes myths and lies about the teen brain and the false idea that teens are inherently tumultuous and incompetent. I only wish this book were more well-known, and unfortunately, we have far too many quacks such as Frances Jensen, Laurence Steinberg, and others who push the faulty myth of the defective/underdeveloped teen brain.

Epstein makes a convincing case that teen turmoil is artificial. Teen turmoil is created through a system that extends childhood and doesn't allow teens to work alongside their elders. This creates a natural peer culture and a youth culture which promotes rebellion, free sex, and other immorality which leads to more laws passed against teens. In hundreds of societies on Earth, there is no adolescent crisis unlike in the modernized world.

The reason why few people would follow Epstein's suggestions? He stands up against the system. Far too many people profit from the extension of childhood, including teachers, psychologists, and of course, mental health professionals who profit from treating troubled teens.

[Balint Erdi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adolescence is a modern, made-up term absent from most of the cultures today (and also historically)  – that's how Epstein begins the book. He then goes on to show that treating "young adults" as children not only frustrates them, it's also the source of much of the "stress and turmoil" that we , at least in the Western world, seem to associate of what we think about teens.

This would be completely avoidable, argues the author compellingly, in subsequent chapters if society's way of handling teens would change. Based on surveys, he concludes that (most) teens have all the competence that (most) adults do in all areas of life (work, love, endurance, etc.) It's unfortunate that teens spend most of their time with teens instead of adults (in the public education system). We, as parents, make this worse by accepting the "teen craziness" as a fact and spending a huge amount of money on what's considered suitable for teens – aka. teen culture.

Instead –and here's Epstein really has my attention– teens should be considered as adults (insofar as their competence shows) and given more authority as opposed to more freedom. Having meaningful responsibilities and the authority to carry them out – and bearing the consequences is direly needed.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Epstein, a professor and research psychologist who has written on various topics, challenges conventional wisdom in Teen 2.0. Of the book's three parts, I consider part one the most compelling. Epstein discusses the change of public opinion on teenagers in the context of the Progressive Era, and shows the positive effects of programs for youth in which infantilization is avoided. Those with too little time for the full book can read chapters two and four ("The Creation of Adolescence" and "Instant Adulthood"). Also important is Epstein's frequent reminder that large amounts of someone's potential can long be unrealized because of an entrenched societal belief in his/her incompetence, and that societies must be careful when assuming the anger of anyone in a certain group of people to always be trivial and biologically inherent.

Note firsthand that Epstein is an independent thinker, and that one is highly unlikely to agree with everything. His book is not perfect (his statements in chapter eight require more evidence), but the importance of its high points cannot be denied.

[Micah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The basic idea is that teens are capable of much more that what we in western societies allow them to do. As a result teenagers by-in-large are trained to underachieve and so the societal issues we see so often in media are perpetuated. A well referenced work, in which Epstein carefully walks through his reasoning with multiple stories and studies for each point.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some provocative theories here about the excessive control we impose on teenagers. I wasn't thoroughly persuaded, but some good food for thought.

[Devinne Mccarthy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was not for me probably because it was required reading for class however it brought up some debatable topics that could be evolutionary.

[Sheridan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, I didn't agree with everything, but I like the idea of allowing our teens to have more responsibilities and letting them be young adults instead of big kids.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a thick book, and there is plenty to think about, but it said in a LOT more words what I believe and tried to live for several years now with my own teens.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic, thought-provoking book.