iSearch Final Reflection



Teenage Trials and Tribulations: From Rock and Roll to Hashtag


Was life easier for teenagers
in the 70s and 80s “then” or today, as in “now”?
                                           Dylan Ephron
Ms. Salem, Ms. Brodsky, Ms. Reyes
English 9D
January 11th, 2018






Dylan Ephron
Ms. Salem, Ms. Brodsky, Ms. Reyes
English 9D
January 11th, 2018
Teenage Trials and Tribulations: From Rock and Roll to Hashtag
In the film, “Back to the Future”, the main character, Marty Mcfly, is accidently brought back decades to the time of his parent’s teenhood. The movie depicts the extraordinary differences in education, home life and social interactions that occur in the short time gap between the generations. Although the movie is fictitious it highlights current scenarios and how times have changed for the typical American teenager.  Research done by Tracy Mcveigh, the COO of the British newspaper, The Observer, shows that there are numerous obvious facts and statistics with regards to the differences in teenagers’ lives now versus in the 70s and 80s. In 1976 televisions were owned by 93 percent of United Kingdom households; whereas today 84 percent of households own computers and at least three smartphones. Another interesting observation pertains to the percentage of youth who attended university. In 1976, approximately 14 percent of high school students attended college. The same number has increased trifold today, yet certain factors need to be addressed in order to understand the comparison, such as affordability, accessibility, and societal pressures in order to obtain a higher degree (McVeigh). Current research done by Kerry Sheridan, editor of the Middle East desk of Agence France Presse, indicates that teenagers now are roughly three years behind the teenagers of the 70s with respect to participation in taking drugs, drinking and sexual activity. "The developmental trajectory of adolescence has slowed, with teens growing up more slowly than they used to, in terms of adult activities, 18-year-olds now look like 15-year-olds once did" (Sheridan). Linked to this pressure on performance and success, is the increased number of teenagers who suffer from anxiety and depression in the last 30 years (Hagell). This research paper diverges into three main subtopics in order to best understand the challenges of each generation through the differences in education, home life and social interactions. Was life easier for teenagers in the 70s and 80s “then” or today, as in “now”?
The emphasis on education has changed dramatically over the years. Evidence shows that academic expectations and entry into colleges is increasingly more competitive. A prime example would be the world renowned Stanford University that only accepts the smartest, most gifted students.  According to George Anders, an American business journalist and author, 31 percent of its roughly 8000 applications in 1973 were admitted compared to a five percent of 42000 applications in 2015 (Anders).  High Schools in the 70s and 80s offered other opportunities outside of college both lessening the pressure, but perhaps also reducing the number of applicants.  Today getting outstanding grades has become the unequivocal focus that is driving teenagers to develop mental illnesses, anxiety attacks and depression (Steiner). Another significant difference in high school education included a significant drop in the engagement of sex and teen pregnancies due to a more educated society. Teenagers today are a lot more aware about the effects and possible consequences of sex due to the availability of information online and the sex education programs in schools (Dwyer) . With the advent of technology, students today have the advantage to a greater range of information both educational and in terms of public health. The “average tuition at private 4-year colleges nearly tripled in a generation, increasing from $9,500 in the 1980 academic year to $27,300 in 2010 (Garofalo), more students have the ability to gain financial aid. Based on the financial and academic pressures, evidence indicates significantly greater challenges in current day with regards to competition and financial responsibility.  
There is great contrast in home life with regards to quality time spent together and parental involvement today versus in the 70s and 80s. Research conducted in a national sample of US teenagers between the ages of eight and eighteen, suggests that teens today spend roughly six hours a day being consumed by technology and media (Wallace). Compared to research indicating that roughly two hours was used for entertainment amongst families during the 80s (“Findings”). This directly relates to the amount of quality time spent amongst families and how it has declined over the years due to teenagers’ consumption of digital time. Not only does this lead us to believe that family time now is individuals on their phones versus family time in the 80s being spent watching television together but how family dynamics has changed over time. The presence of technology is affecting the quality time teenagers spend with their families whereas teenagers of the 70s and 80s did not spend the same amount of time on devices, as they did not exist, and rather had more time for family.
Parental involvement plays a significant role in the lives of teenagers and has developed in the past generation. Research done by Tracy Mcveigh shows that fathers are spending seven times the amount of time with their children as they did forty years ago. In the 70s on average fathers spent five minutes a day with their children compared to about thirty five minutes nowadays. Mothers’ amount of time spent with their children has also increased from roughly fifteen minutes to about an hour today (Mcveigh). According to this evidence, it can be inferred that parents in the 70s and 80s were less involved in their children’s lives compared to more involved parents today. Although parents are more involved nowadays, research shows that today, forty six percent of families in the US have both parents working compared to only thirty one percent in the 70s (Campbell). This research suggests that even though more parents are working nowadays, they are more involved in teenagers’ lives. Family life plays a huge role in social interactions and how one interacts with others, and is crucial in healthy relationships.
In the 80s, parents supported the teachers no matter, parents did not fight grades or decisions even if the teacher or the school was wrong. Today, the teacher is always "wrong" and the student can do no wrong such as that of a student at a high school in West Virginia whose parents sued the teacher as well as the school board because their daughter received an ‘F’ on her biology project (“Parent sues”). This evidence indicates as to how overly involved parents are today compared to 40 years ago and how parents today do not always allow their children to navigate for themselves.
There is nothing more valuable than being able to understand fellow humans beings more fully. Social interactions are a crucial part of teenagers’ everyday lives. Many aspects of their lives such as communication and peer pressure, all of which have their differences in teenagers’ lives now versus in the 70s and 80s. Research done by Amanda Lenhart, senior research specialist at the Pew Internet & American Life Project, shows that roughly 75 percent of teenagers aged twelve through seventeen own cell phones. Boys typically send and receive 30 texts a day; girls typically send and receive 80 messages per day (Lenhart). Comparatively in the 70s and 80s roughly 90 percent of households owned a phone but teenagers did not have access to texting, only calling or writing letters (Fischer). According to this evidence, communication amongst teens has changed over the years with easier access to technology and new and improved ways of communicating. Although teenagers in present times have easier access to different means of communication, they lack the skill of face to face communication. As Dr. Weitzman, WBAIS high school counselor with degrees in clinical child psychology and education said, “teenagers are spending so much time behind computers and screens, sometimes they don’t have the skills as to how to deal with face to face communication and somehow we have to teach them.” This suggests that teenagers nowadays are lacking an invaluable skill as they are often occupied by their devices.
With the rise of the digital age and the increased access to technology, peer pressure and bullying has emerged. With unlimited access to technology it is extremely easy to hide behind a screen and humiliate, embarrass and verbally abuse someone. Bullying in the 70s and 80s happened at school, someone was called an inappropriate name or their lunch money was stolen (Kesses). With peer pressure and bullying being a part of teenagers’ everyday lives, unfortunately resulting suicide has increased. Simultaneously as the internet and social media has risen through the decades, so has the teen suicide rate per 100 000 individuals from 12.0 in 1975 to 14.2 in 2015 (“Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report”). Today it is the second leading cause of death amongst teenagers across the globe according to the National Center for Health Statistics. “Bullying victims were two to nine times more likely to report suicidal thoughts than other children,” according to studies done by Yale University. Evidence and research suggests greater challenges in present times with regards to all forms of bullying and peer pressure.
It is evident that teenage life now is very different from teenage life in the 70s and 80s. Education, home life and social interactions all play a huge role in teenagers’ lives and have all had significant changes in the last 40 years. Education has faced many significant changes such as the emphasis on education, the competitiveness as well as the affordability. Education as a whole bares greater challenges in present times than it did in the 70s and 80s. Home life, in terms of quality time spent together as well as parental involvement has undergone great change over the years. According to the research and evidence, there was more quality time spent with families in the 70’s and 80’s compared to today as many people are often occupied by their devices, although parents today are more involved in teenagers’ lives as they were 40 years ago with regards to schooling and day to day activities. Parental involvement does not necessarily mean quality time spent together.
Social interactions are a huge part of teenagers’ lives, teens today have much easier access to communication, but unfortunately social interactions are heavily reliant on social media and face to face communication with peers and family is a dying art. The rise of technological devices has unfortunately resulted in increased bullying and peer pressure. In terms of peer pressure and bullying, teenagers today face greater difficulties. Based on the evidence obtained, it is fair to say that overall life is harder for teenagers now than it was in the 70s and 80s. Throughout the research presented, the scale is tipping under the weight of  teens today when it comes to education, home life and social interactions. Although pressures, hurdles and challenges are universal, the complexity of the world today along with technology and social media has made being a teen much more challenging. However with the right family foundation, parenting and guidance it can be navigated successfully and productively.


Works Cited

Anders, George. “What If Stanford Admitted 31%? A Journey Back To The 1970s.” Forbes, Forbes
Magazine, 17 Nov. 2016,

Campbell, Alexia Fernández. “How Working Moms Are Changing American Households.” The
Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 4 Nov. 2015,

Dwyer, Kate. “New Study Proves That This Generation of Teenagers Is the GOAT.” Teen Vogue,
TeenVogue.com, 11 Feb. 2016, www.teenvogue.com/story/teens-drinking-drugs-sex-cdc-survey.

Ephron, Dylan, and Edie Weitzman. “Teenage Life Today versus Teenage Life in the 70s and 80s.”
10 Jan. 2018.

“Findings.” Health Reports: Screen Time among Canadian Adults: A Profile, Findings, 7 July 2015,
www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/82-003-x/2008002/article/10600/5202425-eng.htm.

Fischer, Claude S. America Calling: a Social History of the Telephone to 1940. Univ. of California Pr.,
2006.

Garofalo, Pat. “In The Last 30 Years, College Tuition Tripled.” ThinkProgress, 2 Nov. 2011,
thinkprogress.org/in-the-last-30-years-college-tuition-tripled-8561bd86077b/.

Hagell, Dr Ann. “Changing Adolescence - Social Trends and Mental Health Edited by Ann Hagell.”
Policy Press,15 Mar. 2012,
policypress.co.uk/changing-adolescence#book-detail-tabs-stison-block-content-1-0-tab1.

Kesses, Elizabeth. “Why It's Harder Than Ever for Teens Today: Is Self-Esteem at an All Time Low?”
The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 12 Aug. 2013, www.huffingtonpost.com/britchick-paris/the-ugly-little-girl_b_3743195.html.

Lenhart, Amanda, et al. “Teens and Mobile Phones.” Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech,
19 Apr. 2010, www.pewinternet.org/2010/04/20/teens-and-mobile-phones/.
McVeigh, Tracy. “It's Never Been Easy Being a Teenager. But Is This Now a Generation in Crisis?”
The Observer, Guardian News and Media, 24 Sept. 2016, www.theguardian.com/society/2016/sep/24/teenagers-generation-in-crisis.

McVeigh, Tracy. “Fathers Spend Seven Times More with Their Children than in the 1970s.”

“Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3 Aug. 2017,

“National Center for Health Statistics.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, 3 May 2017, www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/adolescent-health.htm.

“Parent Sues School over Students Poor Grade.” TALK OF THE NATION, performance by Neal Conan,
13 Mar. 2007.

Researchers, at Yale. “Bullying-Suicide Link Explored in New Study by Researchers at Yale.”
YaleNews, 21 Dec. 2017,
news.yale.edu/2008/07/16/bullying-suicide-link-explored-new-study-researchers-yale.

Sheridan, Kerry. “Today's US Teens about Three Years behind '70s Generation.” Medical Xpress -
Medical  Research Advances and Health News, Medical Xpress, 19 Sept. 2017,
medicalxpress.com/news/2017-09-teens-slowly-today-decades.html.

Steiner, Leslie Morgan, and About Leslie Morgan SteinerLeslie Morgan Steiner shares her thoughts
each week in her column, Two Cents on Working Motherhood. She is the editor of the best-selling anthology Mommy Wars: Stay-at-Home and Career Moms Face Off on Their Choices, Their Lives. “70s Childhoods Vs Now - What's Been Lost.” ModernMom, 12 Jan. 2016, www.modernmom.com/70s-childhoods-vs-now-whats-been-lost-116859.html.

Wallace, Kelly. “Teens Spend 9 Hours a Day Using Media, Report Says.” CNN, Cable News Network,
3 Nov. 2015,
edition.cnn.com/2015/11/03/health/teens-tweens-media-screen-use-report/index.html.





Dylan Ephron
Ms. Salem, Ms. Brodsky, Ms. Reyes
English 9D
January 11th, 2018

Artist Statement

A life size cardboard cutout of a teenager, that is a dual representation, symbolizing the differences between being a teenager in the 70s and 80s comparatively to present day. One half of  the cardboard cutout is dressed in clothing representative of the 70s and 80s as well as various objects that hold symbolic value of the time and the other half will be a modern representation. The symbolic objects include the graduation hat, with statistics as to the acceptance rate into Stanford University as well as the difference in affordability today compared to in the 70s and 80s. The telephone, which has speech bubbles coming out of it, one representing the amount of time teenagers today spend on their phones showing how teenagers spend less quality time with their families nowadays, one representing the amount of texts teenagers send on average per day symbolising how teenagers communicate nowadays and the last one symbolises the type of bullying many teenagers nowadays are subjected to due to the rise of technology. The television remote represents the amount of time that was used for entertainment in the 70s and 80s, and how there was more quality time spent with families. The landline phone and the note and pen represents the means of communication back then compared to today. The black eye symbolizes the typical bullying in the 70s and 80s. The notes from parents on failed tests nowadays compared to the 70s and 80s represents how overly involved parents are today compared to 40 years ago. The outcome of my research is represented by the color of the clothing, the black and white clothing of present day represents harder times whereas the colored clothing of the 70s and 80s symbolizes easier times.



Dylan Ephron
Ms. Salem, Ms. Brodsky, Ms. Reyes
English 9D
January 11th, 2018
My Story: Final Reflection
My topic and research question are as follows; Teenage life now vs teenage life in the 70’s and 80’s (Me vs My parents) and whether life was easier for teenagers then or now? There is often a healthy debate in my house as to whether life was simpler or more complicated today or when my parents were growing up. I was curious to examine what the differences are and whether there are more challenges now or back then. This is connected to me as I am often working late or thinking about colleges and if my parents had the same problems with school etc. and if they worried about the same things as I do now. At the start of this project I knew that there were definitely different challenges, stresses and problems that teenagers faced 50 years ago. Teenagers face completely different things now as to what they did back then. Prior to conducting my research I was curious as to whether they had the same stresses and anxieties, as well as barriers to entry into colleges and the workplace. In addition to which on the social and peer pressure front, did they face the same challenges as we do today with respect to drugs, alcohol, gender identity, relationships etc ?  I had numerous challenges and concerns with regards to coming up with my topic.
Through comprehensive research and speaking to numerous people I was able to narrow down my ideas and finally choose a topic. Some of my challenges and concerns included; thinking that my topic was too broad and that it was not scientific enough, as well as going through a vast number of subtopics and narrowing in on the ones with gravitas or substance.  My topic prior to coming up with a research question was teenage life now versus teenage life in the 70s and 80s. There are many ways in which I can compare my life now to the life of my parents when they were my age, thus I had to come up with the major comparisons and therefore I was able to develop my subtopics which are: Education, Family Life and Relationships. Through countless hours of researching through different websites, articles, videos etc, I was able to find the most precise and important information needed in answering my research question.
The foundation of this research paper and project was the creation of Notecards as they entail the bulk of the paper and are extremely significant in creating the final paper. There were many challenges in researching and finding information as I had to look through and find credible and accurate sources that were not bias. As a researcher I grew in many ways, firstly, I learnt how to properly use in-text citations and how to cite using MLA format as well as how to how to finally and thoroughly conduct an interview. To a certain extent I was vague throughout my paper and I was able to overcome this challenge by editing and taking out inadequate sections as well as adding pure facts that would accommodate in making a final conclusion and coming up with an answer to my question. A challenge of mine was making sure that I looked at both sides of my topic and research question.
With the knowledge that I have acquired through this research paper, I know how to better approach research topics in the future and therefore avoid the challenges I encountered. If I were to do this project again, I would approach my research in a different manner, I now know how to better acquire my information and what I should be searching. With regards to the interview process, the most challenging part was identifying someone to interview but after that it was very straight forward such as creating suitable questions as well as follow up questions, and thereafter I took the contents and applied them to my paper.
I came up with my idea by brainstorming with various family members about creative ideas that might symbolize and depict the nature of my information. I wanted it to be innovative without being too obvious but also have a little bit of flare and insight. I was able to express my knowledge by visually relaying the differences between being a teenager then and now. I printed the articles, information and facts. I compared, interviewed and analyzed all my data in order to properly utilize the information, only using the most significant facts. Challenges definitely did occur such as finding suitable and adequate sources.  Writing my paper was exciting, interesting and compelling whilst stressful at the same time. The most challenging part of the whole process was definitely my rewrite process as I had to take the constructive feedback and apply it to my paper which resulted in numerous hours of work and several changes all of which assisted in being able to produce a research paper that I am truly proud of. 
The presentation was extremely exciting and a major part of the iSearch process, I loved being able to share the knowledge and information that I have gathered throughout the paper. I spent numerous hours designing, sketching and finally creating my final project which I am truly proud of. I came across numerous challenges whilst doing my creative component such as finding the right materials to develop a life size model as well as coming up with accurate and relevant symbols that would best represent the information I gathered. Investing time and effort into my presentation and creative component was an incredible experience!
















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