Lewis Kelley
SOC 101
9/11/2010
Summary 2
In Reading 2, “Teenage Wasteland” Donna Gaines discusses the issue of teenage
suicide and why this has become such a growing problem in society. The focus of Gaines
study on teenage suicide is on suburban youth. These kids that are leading down the road
toward suicide and bodily harm have been labeled as “burnouts, druggies, and losers”.
These kids are near the bottom academically, economically, and socially. As Gaines puts
it, “”these groups have signified young people’s refusal to cooperate” (10). They just
don’t really fit into any really niche in there schools such as the preps, jocks or brains.
Therefore they feel like they have nowhere to turn and no one that understands them.
Gaines explains through this article how she is trying to figure out there mindset and she
wants to understand the reasons for why teens are turning to suicide and whether “this is
a cult, a fad, a hobby, or something else” (11). One of the major reasons many believe
teens are resorting to suicide is because of boredom. They feel isolated and have nothing
to do. However I don’t agree that boredom should be consider a reason for turning to
suicide. You need to make an effort to find something you enjoy. You can’t be expected
to have everything given to you. Suicide should never be the answer for boredom.
Although I do see some truth to this, because boredom can lead to depression if you cant
find happiness. When these so-called “burnouts” are bored that’s when they turn to doing
bad things, whether it is drugs, drinking and other bad activities. They are basically just
trying to have enough fun just to get threw the day and “their way of fighting back is to
have enough fun to kill themselves before everything else does” (14). Gaines concludes
her article by giving her explanation for why she believes so many teens have been
committing suicide. She believes that teenage suicide will not go away until kids’ bad
lives go away (19).
Donna Gaines excerpts from Teenage Wasteland: Suburbia’s Dead-End Kids. Copyright
1990, 1991 by Donna Gaines.