Chapter 1 – Turning Points: A Decade Later

This chapter mainly focused on the comparison between the findings when the Task Force on Education of Young Adolescents first came together to research middle education in 1987, to the current edition of 2000. While the idea of middle education hasn’t really changed since the late 80’s, the stats about the nations early adolescents has changed from the 80’s to the 90’s. One thing that really stood out to me was the change in the percentage that 8th graders tried alcohol and tobacco products. It said that between the years 1991 and 1998 the percent moved from 29 to 38. While this isn’t really a great statistic to look at for middle school aged kids, there was an upside on their statistics. The percent of teen pregnancies in 1997 was at 48% while in 1991 it was reported to be at 58%. This may be linked to the change in the way that early adolescents are taught. I liked how this chapter talked about how educating the early adolescents needs to move from rigid structure to more of a comforting and safe environment for them. I agree with this, why must we have kids grow at the age of 10 or 11? There will be plenty of time in their future educational career where they will be faced with rigid structure that doesn’t allow them to have a comfortable learning community. Towards the end of the chapter it talks about how early adolescents are better equipped to make important decisions, but their lack of experience leaves them vulnerable. I believe that, as a future middle school educator, it is our job to provide them with the guidance they need to make the right decisions with their life.