The Effects of a Teenage Wasteland

In Anne Tyler’s “Teenage Wasteland,” the reader is given insight into the difficulty of parenting through Daisy’s desperate attempt to stop her son from his seemingly uncontrollable downward spiral. The paranoia of her “perfect” parenting techniques leads to the tainting of Donny’s innocence over time and eventually his mysterious disappearance at the end of the story. Through symbols of innocence and corruption, Tyler demonstrates the importance of keeping one’s head clear and focused while parenting, and that using common sense and logic is far more effective than relying on idealism and hope.

Adolescence is popularly known to be a very tumultuous stage in a person’s life. In the adolescent stage (also coined the identity vs. role confusion stage by theorist Erik Erikson) bodies are changing rapidly, emotions are unfamiliar and unexplainable, and refraining from succumbing to peer pressure is more challenging than ever.

In the short story, “Teenage Wasteland”, there is a troubled boy named Donny. Donny has trouble with his attitude and his grades, so his family decides to get him help. They are suggested to go to “a tutor with considerable psychological training”(Tyler 3) in order to help Donny. As time goes on, his grades start to get worse; even though he seems to be happier and have a better attitude at times. His mother does not have a lot of trust, but is told to leave it to the tutor, Calvin. After Donny gets expelled and takes his final exams, Donny disappears. He does not come back by the end of the story. Many may believe that Donny’s mother, Daisy, is the most to blame for the outcome of Anne Tyler’s story “Teenage Wasteland,”

Sociology can be seen through three perspectives: functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. The three perspectives are similar; they all describe how society works. However, each perspective mentions a different mechanism of society evolves. An excerpt from the book Teenage Wasteland: Suburbia’s Dead-End Kids, written by Donna Gaines, and an article from the Sociological Inquiry called “Working at Bazooms: The Intersection of Power, Gender, and Sexuality”, written by Meika Loe, can be read with each perspective applied.

“Teenage Wasteland" is told from Daisy's perspective. By doing this, Anne Taylor only gives us Daisy’s point of view of Donny. This may paint a completely different picture of what others think of him. From the very beginning of the story you get a sense of how Donny’s character will continue to change. “He used to have very blonde hair, almost white, cut shorter than other children so that on his crown a little cowlick always stood up to catch the light.” Donny was depicted to be innocent. Tyler uses the words “light”and “white” and this makes me think of only pure and good things. Soon after we see how Tyler changes her tone with Donny. “As he grew older, his hair grew darker, and he wore it longer-past his collar even.” To me this changes our view on Donny without even

Techniques that should be used are Listening for Feelings and Praise Good Behavior, so that the teen doesn’t feel attacked by parents. I would use “I’ Statements and Reflective Listening when talking to them and finally we would Solve Problems Together and Follow Through With Decisions.

The building blocks that construct and support today’s society are mounted on the pillars of delicate norms and precise social standards. Occasionally, as a result of political or economic or social upheaval, anomie lashes out. Anomie often occurs when individuals take a disinterest in the social expectations of society and focus on their own personal gain and interests. This creates a disturbance in the classic order of societies. Communities ignore the colloquial goal of being a cohesive group and begin to rely on their own intuition. The book “Teenage Wasteland” by Donna Gaines classically defines the result that anomie has on societies and individuals.

As a future educator, I am mindful of the fact that it’s my job to find out why my student is struggling. Sitting down with the child may help me determine the problem. Parents are also one of our greatest resources at our disposal, and I plan to take advantage of that. Parents see different things at home than in the classroom. Conversing

"The best way to make children good is to make them happy." This popular quote said by Oscar Wilde should be something everyone lives by. People always say how children are the hope for the future; how they should be raised right in order for them to prosper in the future. While many adults do see the importance that kids hold in our generation, many do not. If you think about it, who will be going to be doing your job once you retire? Children need to be given the best resources for not only themselves, but for the benefit of the older generations. If children someday will become the future of this world, they should be treated as so. While most kids are treated fairly and given the rights they deserve, others suffer from abuse and neglect from a parent or guardian which can easily affect how they will prosper in the future.

Maybe you spoil them way too much? Are you failing as a parent? Well maybe you're not failing as a parent maybe your kid is failing at being respectful. You should teach your kids to be respectful not to be given everything to them. “Work teaches self-discipline.” ( Merrill, M. One day of their lives they are gonna have to work for something when they want it because their mommy and daddy is not gonna be there all the time to support them.

When working with a child, the first thing that the counsellor should remember is the child sees themselves as the center of the universe, abd frequently believes that anything that goes wrong is his ir her fault. Most children are familiar with the concept of blame long before they can possibly understand the concept of death and they acquire this concept of blame from their parents, who would be less than human if they had never, at least occasionally expressed disapproval. If either parent states or implies that the parent's problems are in anyway caused by the behaviour ofthe child, the child readily accepts

Letting children be themselves isn’t always a way to go, most children suffer from depression, anxiety, or stress.

2.PARENTS MUST BE PATIENT.example:there is a naughty child, but the parents did not scold her

We would like to start this speech off with a little comparison between what parents think and what we, being the teenagers, think. It is well known that parents and teenagers have not been always been known to agree on everything. Whether it was that haircut you got our that meal they tried to feed you. Sometimes we just don’t agree on everything. For instant, parenting in general, is often described differently depending on who you ask. According to some parents, “parenting is 50% love, 10% lies, 10% yelling and 30% unclogging toilets”. To them, “parenting is basically just listening to yourself talk because nobody else is.”. However, according to some, well most teenagers, “parenting is embarrassing us whenever, wherever 90% of the time”. To us, “parenting is having our own personalized cook, counsellor, chauffeur and bank”. So yeah, there's a little bit of controversy there. But parents, they’re great, I mean, it is an huge understatement to say that you guys are awesome! To

Nagging doesnt work. Yes they need your guidance but the best way to get them to respect and WANT to listen to what you have to say is by making them feel as if you care. You do this by pointing out the positive EVERY time before you point out the negative in a situation. You can change their actions using this "positive re-inforcement" approach. Once you do this long enough you’ll be amazed at how your child responds to you. Note: if this is something that you havent done yet don’t expect things to change over-night, it will take time for that child to be able to trust you again enough to except this new parenting behavior - just stay patient and continue using this approach. Minimize Pressure - Many parents suffer from the “living vicariously” syndrome. Wanting the best for your children is natural and understandable but putting too much pressure on them to be what you want them to be or simply to be what you wish you were is simply not fair and can be a huge reason for teen rebellion. This is something that my fathe did and is the main reason why we don't speak to this day. I love him but he fails to realize that I