Talking Adolescence

Book excerpt: As a major economic, relational, and identity resource, communication is crucial to the well-being and success of young people. And yet adolescents are typically characterized in the media as inadequate communicators, whose language practices adults bemoan as unintelligible and deleterious. In looking to critique these pervasive stereotypes, the editors of Talking Adolescence have brought together some of the world's leading experts on youth and adolescence, whose interdisciplinary research demonstrates how communication powerfully structures and meaningfully facilitates the lives of young people. Adding to the growing literature on intergenerational and lifespan communication, Talking Adolescence is the first substantive volume devoted to young people.