1929 study of a typical American community, Middletown, sociologist Robert Lynd
discovered that nearly half of “little boys” (meaning high schoolers) had attended pet-
ting parties (in those days “petting” meant kissing). This statistic was so contrary to
his conception of childhood innocence that he blamed it on imitating “sex movies”
and “sexually explicit songs,” certainly nothing that the teenagers would think of on
their own.
Today the “sex movies” and songs are even more explicit, and technological
advances make it even more difficult to keep awareness of death, violence, sex, and
kissing away from children and teenagers. However, people still react with shock and
dismay to the possibility that childhood may not be so innocent after all. They com-
plain that “children are growing up so fast these days,” with 14- and 15-year-olds
becoming sexually active, wearing makeup, and having body image problems. (It is
unclear whether children of earlier eras were really all that different, but we don’t
have good information about it because such knowledge would have certainly been
more hidden.)Adolescence
Before the eighteenth century, people were certainly aware of the physiological trans-
formation that children undergo as they become adults, and they even called it “ado-
lescence.” But, as with childhood, they did not recognize it as a distinct sociological
stage. Through the eighteenth century, teenagers were also considered “miniature
adults.” Then they were considered “big kids,” just as innocent and carefree. In fact,
through the early twentieth century, they were expected to have the same pastimes
and interests as younger children. But as labor became more specialized, children
required more specialized training, not only in the 3 Rs (readin’, writin’, and ’rith-
metic), but in Latin, algebra, bookkeeping, and world history: They had to go to high
school. Between 1880 and 1940, the high school graduation rate increased from
2 percent to 50 percent, and the college graduation rate from under 2 percent to
9 percent. Faced with a deferment of adulthood from the early teens to the late teens
or even later, adolescence became a new life stage between childhood and adulthood,
with its own norms, values, pastimes, and pursuits.Young Adulthood
Young adulthood is a transitional stage from adolescence, marking the beginning of
our lives as fully functioning members of society. As with other life stages, its lower
boundary has been gradually moving forward through the life span, from 18 to 25
to 30 and beyond. Many people still think of themselves (and are treated by others)
as “aging adolescents” well into their thirties (see Arnett, 2004). On the TV sitcom
Seinfeld, Jerry and George agree that it’s “time to grow up” and act like young adults
by getting married and having children (they already have jobs and their own apart-
ments). They are about 40 years old.
Age 40 might be a bit out of the ordinary, but the boundary is moving forward
because we’re postponing most of the milestones that separate young adulthood from
adolescence. Sociologists have identified five milestones that define adulthood: (1)
establishing a household separate from our parents; (2) getting a full-time job so we
are no longer financially dependent; (3) getting married; (4) completing our educa-
tion; and (5) having children. Major structural changes in the economy, as well as
media images that encourage us to stay young longer, have pushed the age at which
we complete these from about 22 to close to 30 (see Arnett, 2004).352 CHAPTER 11AGE: FROM YOUNG TO OLD