Freaks, geeks, and cool kids : teenagers in an era of consumerism, standardized tests, and social media

In Freaks, Geeks, and Cool Kids: Teenagers in an Era of Consumerism, Standardized Tests, and Social Media, Second Edition, award-winning sociologist Murray Milner tries to understand why teenagers behave the way they do. The first edition drew upon two years of intensive fieldwork in one high school and 300 written interviews about high schools across the country, where he argued that consumer culture greatly impacts the way our youth relate to one another and understand themselves and society. Milner now expands on that concept with a new year of fieldwork fifteen years after he began. He has uncovered in teens a move away from consumerism and towards the cultural capital of information in a time of social media and standardized tests. What people said about the first edition: Milner has done more than perhaps any other American sociologist to remind us that ‘status’ remains a primary mode of stratification, one that is dependent upon cultural, material power. Freaks, Geeks and Cool Kids is exemplary sociological research and theory; it is wise, witty, and often touching as well. --Jeffrey C. Alexander, author of The Dark Side of Modernity, Professor of Sociology, Yale University A rare book! Social science at its best, yet full of messages for parents, educators, and anybody who cares about the next generation. ---Amitai Etzioni, author of My Brother’s Keeper: A Memoir and a Message, University Professor, The George Washington University, and Past-President of the American Sociological Association Milner explains why high school cliques have so much power and can inflict so much pain. Anyone who cares about adolescents—parents, teachers, principals, and teenagers themselves—should definitely read this book. I couldn’t stop reading it, and can’t wait to discuss it with my students. It is sociological analysis at its best! --Caroline Hodges Persell, co-author of Preparing for Power: America’s Elite Boarding Schools, and Professor of Sociology, New York University. Pre-publication responses to the revised edition: This is the best book ever written on American schools and teenagers. With thorough research across many kinds of schools, Milner spells out a general theory that explains why high school kids create their own caste system. --Randall Collins, author of Violence: A Micro-sociological Theory, Professor of Sociology, University of Pennsylvania, and Past-President of the American Sociological Association Milner's work takes teenagers seriously as social actors. Rather than hand-wringing about 'what's wrong with kids today,' Freaks, Geeks, and Cool Kids offers discerning, theoretical analysis that reveals the broader social processes that animate contemporary teen culture. With the second edition, Milner brings his keen insight to understanding the new status pressures faced by teens growing up in an era of ubiquitous social media and high stakes testing. --Markella Rutherford, Associate Professor of Sociology, Wellesley College, author of Adult Supervision Required: Private Freedom and Public Constraints for Parents and Children. Freaks, Geeks and Cool Kids is as fresh and informative today as it was when it was first published. Murray Milner’s incisive analysis of American teen culture and practices remains an indispensable reference point for anyone seeking to take the study of status, hierarchy and exchange in contemporary life forward into new directions. --Daniel Thomas Cook, author of The Commodification of Childhood, Professor of Childhood Studies Department of Childhood Studies Rutgers University-Camden One of the rare academic books that is both theoretically rich and easily readable for both academics and students, this detailed study of high school culture shows that for youth who have little individual economic or political power, cultural tastes and experiences become the basis for status distinctions.' --Paul Kooistra, Furman University, author of Criminals as Heroes: Structure, Power, and Identity Through up-close observations of the day to day lives of high school students, Milner deftly demonstrates how complex and persistent systems of status buttress a culture of consumerism, both consistent with and at odds with the broader society. The book joins a distinguished set of sociological studies of teenage culture, while being accessible to a broader readership. --Dr. David Bills, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, University of Iowa, Past-editor of Sociology of Education. Freaks, Geeks, and Cool Kids provides a rare glimpse into the world of high school students. Understanding their behaviors as resulting from a near-constant pursuit of status, Milner not only explains teens’ obsession with peer relations and being 'cool,' he also describes their role in the development and maintenance of consumer capitalism. Methodologically rigorous and theoretically elegant, Freaks, Geeks, and Cool Kids is a modern sociological masterpiece. --Professor James Hawdon, Professor and Director, Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention, Virginia Tech, co-author of The Causes and Consequences of Group Violence: From Bullies to Terrorists. Freaks, Geeks, and Cool Kids is an insightful analysis into the lives of American teenagers and why they behave the way they do. Murray Milner uses engaging narratives to skillfully bring into focus how teenagers, with no real economic or political power, carefully cultivate status systems to maintain their position amongst peers, in school, and consumer capitalism. It should be required reading for anyone who wants to understand youth culture in the 21st century. --Bhavani Arabandi, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Ithaca College Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Preface: Fifteen Years Later Preface Acknowledgments Introduction: Fifteen Years Later What’s Old What’s New Part I: The Puzzle and the Tools Introduction The Questions Some Headlines What’s New? Warning Labels Chapter One: Why Do They Behave Like That? Are Parents Important? Are Brains Important? Is Social Class Important? Are Schools Important? Are Peers Important? Status Groups: Adolescence as a Caste System Why is Status so Important to Teenagers? Chapter Two: The Tools for Understanding Social Formations: Combination, Separation, and Linking The Theory of Status Relations Hierarchy and Pluralism: Ideal-Types Data and Methods Part II: Explaining Teens’ Behavior Chapter Three: Fitting In, Standing Out, and Keeping Up Some Crowds and their Rankings Aspects of Conformity and Elaboration The Flexibility of Norms and Status Symbols Coolness and Boredom Chapter Four: Steering Clear, Hanging Out, and Hooking Up Instrumental and Expressive Relationships Types of Associations and Relationships The Effect of Time and Place on Associations Chapter Five: Exchanges, Labels, and Put-Downs Inalienability Inexpansibility Part III: Why Schools Vary Chapter Six: The Pluralistic High School Pluralism The Research Setting Racial Pluralism Lifestyle Pluralism Why is Conflict Rare and Segregation Prevalent? How Common is Pluralism? Explaining Pluralism Chapter Seven: Other Kinds of Schools The “Military” Academy The Upper-Class “Total Institution” The Small-Town School Schools on Military Bases Church Schools and The Effect of Ideology Schools in Other Countries: A Brief Note Part IV: Teen Status Systems and Consumerism Chapter Eight: Creating Consumers The Economy and the Status System Businesses: Profiting From Teenagers Teachers, Officials, and Parents: Profiting in Other Ways Chapter Nine: Consuming Life From Abstract Labor to Abstract Desire From Abstract Desire to Patriotic Consumption The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism The Future: Who Do We Want to Be? Chapter Ten: Conclusions and Implications The Theory of Status Relations Some Policy Implications Conformity, Norms, and Inexpansibility Associations and Inalienability Reducing the Significance of Peer Status Some Speculations and Opinions Part V: Fifteen Years Later Chapter Eleven: Fifteen Years Later Academic Pressure, Polarization, and an Instrumental Peer Culture The Impact of New Technologies Schools, Consumerism, and Consumer Capitalism Appendices Appendix I: The Theory of Status Relations: Elaborations Boundaries of The Theory Visibility, Popularity, and Status Conformity-Deviance, Innovation, Eccentricity, and Status Status and Status-Markers Status, Honor, Violence, and Female Purity Relationships of The Theory To Previous Theoretical Work Appendix II: Data and Methods Retrospective Accounts Case Study: WWHS Focusing On Status Appendix III: Sample Research Materials Instructions For Term Paper on High School Status Structures Sample Paper Summary Appendix IV: Data and Method 2013–14 Notes Bibliography Index "Freaks, Geeks, and Cool Kids argues that the teenage behaviors that annoy adults do not arise from 'hormones, ' bad parenting, poor teaching, or 'the media, ' but from adolescents' lack of power over the central features of their lives: they must attend school; they have no control over the curriculum; they can't choose who their classmates are. What teenagers do have is the power to create status systems and symbols that not only exasperate adults, but also impede learning and maturing. Ironically, parents, educators, and businesses are inadvertently major contributors to these outcomes"--Provided by publisher Argues that the teenage behaviors that annoy adults do not arise from "hormones," bad parenting, poor teaching, or "the media," but from adolescents' lack of power over the central features of their lives: they must attend school; they have no control over the curriculum; and, they can't choose who their classmates are.