When Adolescents Control the Culture: It's Not a Pretty Picture

Editor's note: The latest issue of the Les Femmes newsletter is in mailboxes around the country. It's not posted on line yet, but here's the lead article. How do you like living in a culture where people in grown up bodies, but with the minds of juveniles, are running the show? It may look good in Home Alone, but how does it work in the real world?

The adolescent years represent a real challenge. If any stage of development can be described as “the best of times and the worst of times” it’s that confusing period between childhood and adulthood. Filled with noble ideals, youth often rebel against the people who can help achieve them. Normally, it’s just a stage, with its major characteristic being uncertainty. As Catholic psychiatrist Rudolf Allers says: