|
|
|
REVIEWS
| Young Activists: American High School Students in the Age of Protest. By Gael Graham (DeKalb, Illinois: Northern Illinois University, 2006. ix plus 256 pp.).
|
| Through the 1960's and 1970's, tumultuous racial politics, the Vietnam War, and cultural challenges such as feminism fueled tens of thousands of student protests. But as Gael Graham argues in her book, Young Activists, scholars a poor understanding of how high school students responded to social upheaval. According to a contemporary study cited by the author, fifty nine percent of high schools reported unrest during 1969. In a valuable contribution to the fields of youth culture and education, Graham analyzes the major characteristics of juvenile rebellion and its connection to wider communities of color and political interest. She claims that high school activists found inspiration from the overall climate of protest but that their struggles signified the awakening of a generation determined to reform schools, American society, and the understanding of youth itself. |
1
|
|
The book's organization is thematic. The first chapter examines how the post- World War II high schools created an adolescent cohort segregated from adults.
High school faculty and administrators enjoyed wide authority to regulate student behavior, ostensibly to create a safe and controlled environment for adolescents to develop social identities free from outside interference. Segregation from neighbors, parents, and workers increased the tendencies of teenagers to identify themselves as a distinct population with its own rights and attitudes. |
. . . |
There are about 653 more words in this article.
Please log in (or, if you are not yet an
authorized user, please go to the
User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
|
