Otto Scott on a modern myth

I have been enjoying Otto Scotts abservations,his historical stuff just shines. Vision Forum used one of his articles to address the modern myth of adolescence. Unfortunately his writing wasnt preserved by his family and its been hard to find most of what he wrote. Here are a few tidbits from the article at Vision Forum with a link to the whole article.

The Invention of Adolescence
by Otto Scott, October 4, 2006

...It was a time, in other words, when — in the name of science — human beings were being redefined by various individuals who claimed to possess supernormal powers of observation and insight...

...Hall’s ideas fit the fashion: it would not be fair to say that they were deliberately conceived to do so; it would be accurate to say that Hall was a man of his time, more than a man of original insight. He codified ideas about children and youths that were then floating in the air. That was the reason his argument was so easily swallowed by educators and other professionals. True originality has a much harder time...

...We have, today, an entire hierarchy of social groups based on age: from Day School to Leisure Village. There are assumptions surrounding each age group: from expected tantrums by adolescents to PMS for women of a certain age — and an end to creativity from the old...