Paul Kivel

Adultism

To download this article as a pdf, click here.   WHY DO YOUNG PEOPLE do poorly in school? Why do young people use drugs, or hang out on street corners, or get pregnant? A common answer to these questions is that many teens have low self-esteem, generally defined as a poor sense of one's worth or ability: a lack of confidence. Professional literature about adolescents, social service priorit...