Life for a Teenager in the 1940's
By: Patrick Gridley
Conformity
This represents conformity because all the students are dressed the same way and appear to be acting the same way as well.
Success
This represents success because it shows that successful people smoke cigarettes, so if you want to become successful, you should smoke cigarettes.
Family
This represents family because each family member in this picture is representing what a good family should look like; the mother is cooking with a smile, and the father is dressed to go to work.
Many teens could not fit these specific standards. There were many reasons, such as they were homosexual, they had learning problems such as ADHD, or if they were physically or mentally handicapped. If I were a teen mentioned above in the 1940's, I would live every day in constant fear and depression. I would be scared of what my future would hold for me because I wouldn't fit into society, and depressed because I'd know that I'd never fit into society. I would act very shy, be very quiet and obedient, and try to fit in as best as I could, even though I never would. I would also try to avoid my inability to fit in as much as possible. I couldn't ask anyone for help really, unless there were therapists which were extremely rare back then. Overall, I would just try to act as normal as I could even though deep down I'd know that I'd never change, and try as hard as I could to fit in.