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mk · 3165 days ago · link · · parent · post: Emory University students terrified to see 'Trump' in sidewalk chalk
I don't envy these kids. The arc of adolescence continues to grow longer and longer. My father's adolescence was shorter than mine, and my grandfather's was shorter than his. Eventually, food insecurity, war, and disease will revisit, and adolescence will be a luxury again. Their pain and fear is real, but their circumstance is historically rare.
Tony Judt argued that "adolescence" is a modern invention that has existed since about 1952. Your grandfather's may have been short, but his father's was nonexistent. I would also argue that "adolescence" is largely a socioeconomic construct as well. You don't get one if you're poor. Debutante's balls and quinceaneras are for people who can afford to throw big parties.