POLITICS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS

Given my deep-seated antagonism to adolescent and developmental psychology [ about which I can bore you to tears!] the opening paragraph of Jon Savage’s Guardian article,

The betrayal of teenagers by this government is a disgrace

touched a raw nerve.

In 1904 an American psychologist called G Stanley Hall published a ground-breaking book called Adolescence. Previously youth had been an ill-defined state, but Hall conceptualised a new stage of life: an interregnum between childhood and adulthood that was to be sheltered, shaped and guided to avoid the stresses of puberty.

This is not to mention my irritation at the notion that the parlous predicament faced by young people today is just down to Cameron and the Burlington Bullies.  Leave aside my prejudices the piece needs to be read and is another reflection of a fast growing unease with the spectre of ‘a generation without a future’.

Savage’s article runs alongside the making of what sounds like a fascinating documentary, ‘Teenage’ to be released on January 24, 2014. Find below a video of Jon Savage and  Matt Wolf being interviewed about the film. Thanks to Patrick Ainley for the link.