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The boys get it too, albeit in seemingly smaller numbers. You now read of steroid abuse reaching junior high school levels.

It strikes me that modern popular culture has put a premium on youth ever since motion pictures, and accelerated a good deal since the advent of television, possibly due to the dynamic nature of these media in emphasizing physical activity. Just a thought and I throw it out for comment - that's what FR's for, after all.

I think it is pernicious to be telling adolescents "this is the prime time of your lives, don't miss it - you'll be miserable when you're old." To be honest, I can't think of a single aspect of life that isn't better for me at 50 than at 16, whether it's disposable income, accumulated knowledge, even physical development, and the latter hasn't taken a huge amount of effort. Well, there is a certain reduction in the frantic nature of sexual excitement, but then that pre-gym-class boner dread isn't really high on my list of quality of life issues.

It may be that one cure for this is to let young people know that aging isn't really all that bad, in fact it's considerably preferable to the alternative of making a good-looking corpse, James Dean despite. He'd be 72 this year...

I think it is pernicious to be telling adolescents "this is the prime time of your lives, don't miss it - you'll be miserable when you're old." To be honest, I can't think of a single aspect of life that isn't better for me at 50 than at 16....

Yes, that is an outstanding point.

It's not true for everyone but I know it's true for me. I bet a lot of men would say the same.

Is this phenomenon common for women as well?

To be honest, I can't think of a single aspect of life that isn't better for me at 50 than at 16

"I could be happy my whole life, knowing I will never have to live through junior high school again." - Mavis Leno (roughly, I don't have the exact quote in front of me)

To be honest, I can't think of a single aspect of life that isn't better for me at 50 than at 16

Properly lived, life should be an improving, not a declining, thing. It's amazing how the things that seemed so important 20 years ago really don't matter. Each age has its satisfactions, and they get richer as one goes along.

Of course, many people don't equip themselves intellectually or spiritually to live life properly. Arrested adolescence must be a terrible way to spend the last 40-50 years of your life.

It strikes me that modern popular culture has put a premium on youth ever since motion pictures, and accelerated a good deal since the advent of television, possibly due to the dynamic nature of these media in emphasizing physical activity. Just a thought and I throw it out for comment - that's what FR's for, after all.

Visual images are more powerful than the written word. I agree with your point.

I think it is pernicious to be telling adolescents "this is the prime time of your lives, don't miss it - you'll be miserable when you're old." To be honest, I can't think of a single aspect of life that isn't better for me at 50 than at 16

I agree. I was depressed and confused at 16 and I thought, "these are the best years of my life?!" Life is immeasurably better at 40.