Suburbia’s Dead-end Kids Donna Gaines Teenage wasteland: Suburbia’s Dead-end Kids Donna Gaines

Bergenfield, New Jersey

4 kids commit suicide Ages 16, 17, 19 and 19 Trends in America and other countries Personal Experiences

Individualistic Explanations

News Reports A few facts are recounted by everyone: The four were distressed over the death of a close friend, Joseph Major, who had fallen from the cliffs of the Palisades last September. They had all dropped out or been suspended from Bergenfield High School.

News Reports The two young men had recently begun to drink again, after going through alcohol rehabilitation programs last fall. The father of the Burresses had died of a drug overdose and the sisters had quarreled often with their stepfather. Mr. Olton's father had shot himself to death.

Seen by others as “Druggies” Dropouts Troubled losers Burnouts Punks Metalheads

Discussion What do labels mean? What sort of labels exist in Chinese culture? Teenage culture? What do you call someone who doesn’t look like they will be successful? What do they call themselves?

Clusters of suicides Sometimes pacts of two Sometimes multiple deaths Sometimes, Mass Suicide Recalls the “Jonestown Massacre”

Author contends This was a collective act Which warrants a social explanation

Discussion Does there need to be a social reason for why groups of kids kill themselves? Is this a personal trouble or public issue? What are the causes of suicide? Can they apply here?

What social patterns make this possible? In school – “jocks”, “preps”, “brains” at the top “Burnouts” at the bottom

After WWII, there have always been rebels Greasers Hoods Beats Freaks Hippies Punks

How did they become “burnouts”?

How did they become “burnouts”? Subculture of punk rock and heavy metal as opposed to white suburban America Gaines says they are historical actors, too Sense of pride

How did they become “burnouts”? Labeling process or self-selection? What resources, choices were available?

Discussion How does someone become a “burnout” in America, or in China, or anywhere else? Is this process inevitable? What separates American and Chinese culture in this manner? Is there any “proud” burnout teenage culture?

Response of community Lots of suicide prevention efforts Attempts to structure their afterschool lives

Kids’ perception Lack of “anything to do” No connection to sports or extracurricular activities “No place to go”

Discussion What defines your identity as a teenager… What happens in school? Or outside of school?

Experts say Higher suicide rates in suburbs and rural areas Boredom, isolation

Adult organization of young people’s reality Creates miserable situation Adults think these kids need to be busy So they fill their lives with meaningless activities that teenagers have no interest in

Unstructured hanging out Read by adults as dangerousness Even when it’s not Adults have a perception that teenagers are incapable of doing anything productive or worthwhile on their own

Discussion What do teenagers do on their own? Are activities provided by adults inherently better than activities by teenagers?

Author talks to kids “Cops are dicks” “School blows” “Jocks suck”

Town is Occupationally mixed So it is tough to use economic class as a marker to distinguish “who’s who” Sports plays an important part in fulfilling that role

Young people define themselves By participation in sports, clubs, academics, etc. But also by who they date, what they wear, where they were seen, etc.

The “burnouts” represent the “other” actually from several cliques Druggies Dirtbags Deadheads Metalheads Thrashers Punks

All united by a common enemy The jocks The “popular” kids who play sports and are seen as probably successful High status peers who look down on them

Drugs offer immediate comfort Focus of your life becomes getting high Partying becomes a ritual End up stranded in teenage wasteland

Teenage Drug Culture Drugs are, have been, and will continue to be something that defines American teenage culture Types of Drugs: Marijuana, cocaine, heroin, lsd, alcohol These provide some immediate comfort

Glorification of that ideal “Better to burn out than fade away” Kurt Cobain quotation Kurt Cobain was a famous singer of a rock band who killed himself

Unless something really bad happens, These kids aren’t usually on the radar screen No one pays attention to them But when they commit suicide, or do a ritual that worships devils, or engage in crazy sex acts Then everyone pays attention

Celebrities as role models Ozzy Osbourne or Keith Richards New Jersey heroes- Springsteen and Bon Jovi Sports heroes like Mike Tyson

Kids believe there is a Lack of social mobility They identify with burnout culture, hate people who are successful Better to not play the game at all How does someone ever believe they can be successful? Look at their role models and heroes, famous rock artists

For girls, Marrying someone famous might be the dream You might be able to imagine how someone who believes this will act in school

Half the kids in America Will never go to college High schools act as if they all will What kind of message does that send to the kids who are not going to college?

Service sector jobs Bad money, no challenge The only skill they develop is learning to cope with boredom

Shipping and manufacturing jobs Seen as desirable, But disappearing These are “decent pay low skill” jobs These jobs don’t really exist anymore in the USA

Kids don’t see where they fit in Broader social trends suggest We are headed to a two-class society Knowledge-producing professionals, and Service class These kids see those boring, low pay jobs as their likely future and do not know how to avoid it

Burden on the young Placed by older generation Hope for the future through the child American Dream You can be whatever you want when you grow up Every child is a winner

Why did they do it? So….why did they do it?

Why did they do it? Really simple answer: “They had bad lives”

Case history approach Self-destructive role models They see a value in taking suicide as a way out

Author suggests there’s more to it “Burnouts” are a social location with a collective identity and a role Has to do with the town’s order They are labeled something, come to identify with it, and that’s all they have

Geography No space to call own No place for them

Why not just leave? Few resources or options This is decidedly an upper class option They *CAN’T* leave Discussion: This is probably different in Chinese culture

Suicides won’t go away until bad lives do

Miscellaneous I think one thing that is crucial is to understand that these teenagers identified as “burnouts” and that this provided something – a community and an identity - to them In many areas of the country, having this identity is not a bad thing

Miscellaneous However, it’s when other people start calling the teenagers “burnouts”…that this becomes a problem When your friends, teachers, parents, police officers, counselors, relatives, local shops… Any opportunities that may have otherwise existed disappear

Discussion Any comments or questions? Is suicide a public issue or personal trouble? Is suicide ever JUST a personal trouble? Is there any solution for kids who find themselves in these situations? Is this an issue at all in China? Why or why not?

Discussion Is the teenage suicide described similar to adult suicide? Is it possible to reduce suicide to zero? Let’s take it from the opposite perspective: if a town wanted to maximize its suicide rate, how would it do so?

Discussion Phil Donahue said: "Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem." What do you think of this quote relative to the teenagers discussed in the article?