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If you’ve read any youth ministry or adolescent development books from the past several decades, you’re probably familiar with the idea that adolescence is a recent social and cultural construct. In the words of the experts:

‘Adolescence emerged as a distinct period in the lifespan under a number of unique social conditions at the advent of industrialism.’

‘Before the 20th Century, adolescence was rarely included as a stage in the life cycle.’

‘The notion of adolescence as a distinct stage of life was introduced by social scientists at the turn of the century to name what was defined as a “problem  created by young people.’

Similar statements crop up in almost every book, whether written for academics, practitioners, parents, educators, counsellors, or pastors.

Some people aren’t affected by the notion of adolescence being a new social construct. For them, life goes on just as it always has. But for other people, the implications are significant. One author connects the following dots:

1. Socially constructed adolescence leads to false infantilisation of teens.

2. False infantilisation of teens leads to teen anger and depression.

3. Teen anger and depression carries over into families and causes stress.

4. Family stress leads to increased divorce rates. 

Conclusion: higher divorce rates are in part a direct result of adolescence. Using similar logic, we could blame all kinds of societal ills and cultural worries on adolescence (the concept) and adolescents (the people). And we often do.

But there’s a problem with this kind of thinking. It’s not only based on faulty logic, but also on faulty history. Contrary to what the textbooks, websites, articles, studies, and experts say, adolescence is not a recent cultural and social construct. Not by a long shot. For thousands of years, thinkers, creators and preachers have had ideas, opinions, complaints, commentary, worries, and advice about this stage of life.

The Thinkers

Today, we rely on developmental psychologists, social scientists and neurologists for most of our updated information on adolescence. But in the past, it was often philosophers, astronomers and mathematicians who passed on important knowledge about human development.

The common framework for this was something called ‘The Ages of Man’ and, depending on the context, there were anywhere from three to 12 distinct stages of development. All of the different theories included a stage between childhood and adulthood called adolescence. The thinkers believed that the typical characteristics, attitudes, and behaviours of this life stage were caused by the planets, the months, the seasons, the natural elements, and the bodily humours (blood, bile and phlegm). In other words, this age was a natural stage of life that was directly influenced by nature.

In the Fourth Century BC, Aristotle described youth – those who have passed childhood and reached the age of discretion but aren’t yet full adults, in other words adolescents – as lacking self-control, hating to be mocked or slighted, having strong sensual passions, hoping and expecting to do great things, wanting to spend as much time as possible with friends, doing things to excess, and thinking they know everything (from The Art of Rhetoric).

In the Second Century, the astronomer Claudius Ptolemy assigned a different planet to each of the different ages of life. Youth – which he defined as ages 14 to 21 – is ruled by Venus, who, besides being a planet, is also the goddess of love. He wrote that during this stage of life, Venus begins to inspire: ‘An activity of the seminal passages and to implant an impulse toward the embrace of love… a kind of frenzy enters the soul… desire for any chance sexual gratification, burning passion, guile, and the blindness of the impetuous lover’ (Tetrabiblios).

Second-Century descriptions and stereotypes about adolescents weren’t very different from 21st Century descriptions and stereotypes. Nor were those of subsequent centuries. A 1380 manuscript called Omne Bonum (or All Good Things) includes an alphabetised collection of all the important information a person might want to know; a sort of medieval Wikipedia. Along with numerous religious, legal, and scientific entries, there is a full page-and-a-half entry for adolescens that discusses the legal status of adolescents, some biblical commentary and a marginal note that says adolescents are prone to evil and are in need of firm control, saying: ‘It is better to restrain hot youths so that those given over to cupidity may not make a sad end.’

Even the most basic of books – a Latin grammar school textbook from 1659 and numerous dictionaries going back to the 15th Century – include definitions of adolescence. A 1538 dictionary defines adolescence: ‘The age between childhood and man’s age, which is between 14 and 21.’ A 1721 dictionary even makes a distinction between the sexes. saying that adolescence is ‘the flower of youth’, which lasts from 14 to 25 in men and from 12 to 21 in women. So it turns out extended adolescence isn’t quite as new as we thought, either.

The Creators

While the thinkers were busy defining adolescence, the creators were busy writing, rhyming, painting and singing about adolescents. Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales feature adolescents in many of the stories. Some are idealised to a saintly degree. Others are stereotyped to the Nth degree: they flirt, drink, carouse, waste time, gamble, avoid responsibility, play fraternity-ish pranks and hook up at every opportunity.

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At the same time that Chaucer was writing his tales, Omne Bonum mentioned above was being illustrated. The entry for adolescens starts with an oversized historiated capital ‘A’, inside which are an adolescent male and female.

Take a close look : do you see what is so obviously going on here? On the left side, an adolescent female stares into a mirror; a traditional medieval icon for both vanity and self-awareness. She hitches up her skirt, a traditional medieval (and modern) symbol of sensuality and flirtation. She is equally interested in how she looks to herself and how she looks to others, most especially ‘That Guy’.

On the right we have That Guy: a beardless adolescent. Regardless of how tall, virile or manly he may appear, being beardless in medieval and early modern art was a sure sign of not yet being a full adult. He holds his right hand to his heart and his left on his stomach, an indication that he is suffering from cardiaco passio, or heart pains. In other words, he’s whipped? Most important of all, his left hand is placed so that he can quickly unsheathe his sword — and by sword I do not mean sword. I have little patience for people who see phallic symbols lurking around every corner, but this young man is obviously not headed onto the traditional battlefield. Best of all, he is wearing medieval jeggings, TOMs, and a Katniss cowl.

They are both so entirely contemporary even while they are thoroughly medieval. The underlying message of the image is obvious: adolescents are vain; adolescents are overly concerned with fashion; adolescents have only one thing on their minds. Turns out adult opinions about adolescents haven’t changed much over the centuries.

In the early 1500s, you could find adolescence in the morality play The World and the Child. As the main character progresses through different life stages, he gets a new name. He’s called Infans up to age seven, Wanton to 14 and then as he enters adolescence his name is changed to Love, Lust and Liking, a name he keeps until age 21 when he becomes Manhood. Turning 21 isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, though, and it takes him a number of years before he finally settles down into full adulthood with a job, home, family and other responsibilities.

Just like extended adolescence, emerging adulthood isn’t quite as new as we thought, either.

The Preachers

While the thinkers were busy defining adolescence and the creators were busy describing adolescents, many preachers were busy denouncing – sometimes even damning – both adolescence (it) and adolescents (them). In most cases, they used the more common word ‘youth’ (much like we do in the Church today), but it was clear who they were referring to: those past childhood who had reached or passed the age of discretion (about 14) but were still under the supervision of parents, educators, and other authority figures.

Adult opinions about adolescents haven’t changed much over the centuries 

Our 21st Century eyes and ears can have a hard time with sermons from previous eras. Satan shows up a lot. Devils abound. Hell is, quite literally, a hot topic. The rhetoric can sound harsh, judgmental, narrow-minded and ungracious, especially if read in snippets. But if a person listens to, and reads carefully an entire sermon, even those that are harshest-sounding on the surface have an underlying tone of love, grace, redemption, and hope; even when the subject is the stereotyped vanity, laziness, rebellion, lewdness, lustfulness and pride of youth.

The sermon titles often exposed the underlying fears, worries, and judgments:

‘War with the Devil: or the young man’s conflict with the powers of darkness: in a dialogue, discovering the corruption and vanity of youth, the horrible nature of sin, and deplorable condition of fallenman. Worthy the perusal of all; but chiefly intended for the instruction of the younger sort.’ (1675)

‘The vanity of childhood and youth, wherein the depraved nature of young people is represented and means for their reformation is proposed.’ (1691)

‘A friendly admonition to youth to avoid bad company.’ (1784)

Preachers had a standard list of worries and fears about adolescents, including: staying out late, skipping church, wearing outlandish fashions, hanging with the wrong crowd, defying parents and other authorities, drinking, dancing, swearing, gambling and other lewd behaviour.

They didn’t step lightly around the topic. They straight up told adolescents that such behaviour would put them on the side of evil rather than good. But behaviour was not their primary or ultimate concern: conversion was. Preachers felt strongly – and often stated boldly – that one of their primary responsibilities was to train the youth (in distinction from the ‘lambs’ which were the children) in the ways of God such that their hearts and not just their actions were transformed.

In 1700, preacher Thomas Bray said that children should be taught the basics of Christianity by learning the Catechism by heart. But the youth that had arrived at the age of discretion, who were ‘more capable to receive a more thorough knowledge in the doctrines of the Christian religion and of their covenant within it’ should be taught differently; through more familiar conversations that would be both pleasing and profitable.

In 1716, preacher William Bartlet was deeply concerned about the problems clergy had drawing their youth into the saving truth of the gospel. He wrote that one of the main failures of preachers was: ‘A want of taking a due care of the youth of our congregations…if we have any prospect of success at all, it lies chiefly among the young generation... ‘Tis not the teaching of children that is here principally intended but the instructing the grown and more advanced youth: and here again, not so much the teaching them a set of phrases as the making them understand the true grounds of religion.’

So for all of their doom and gloom – and there was plenty of that – preachers of previous centuries believed many of the things youth pastors and preachers believe today: adolescence is a prime time for someone to internalise gospel truth and make it their own faith rather than just their parents’ faith; that adolescents are entirely capable of learning and understanding deep doctrinal truths; that adolescent lives can be transformed in powerful and amazing ways and that without wise counsel and loving guidance, adolescents may choose to walk away from their faith in pursuit of all the world has to offer them.

And so...

Adolescence is not new. There is plenty of historical evidence still to be uncovered that shows us how adults have understood (or misunderstood) this natural life stage. For our part, let’s set aside the ages-old stereotypes and instead of seeing primarily adolescence (it), let’s see primarily adolescents (them). After all, we are all created in the image of God – which means if we fail to see, know and spend time with the adolescents in our world, we will fail to see, know, and understand the fully reflected image of our Lord himself.

Crystal Kirgiss is the author of In search of Adolescence: a New Look at an Old Idea