A searchable, downloadable PDF of the original review appears below. Jim Walton is the Coordinator of Youth and Lay Ministries at St. Andrew’s Church, Parry Sound, Ontario.
Teen Trends: A Nation in Motion. Reginald W. Bibby and Donald C. Posterski. Stoddart Publishing Co. 1992.334 pp.
Some of you are probably saying to yourself, “Not another book review of Teen Trends.” If you are making this comment but have yet to read the book, then by all means skip this review and sink your teeth into the book! Teen Trends is an absolute must for anyone wishing to have a meaningful impact on the life of Canadian teens. I don’t think that there is another book on the market that accomplishes the goal of helping the reader come to grips with the Canadian youth culture of the ’90s in the same powerful way as Teen Trends.
Others of you, like myself, may have had all that you can take of the “polls” that appear all too frequently in our daily newspaper. I must admit that I did find it difficult to wade through some of the statistics in Teen Trends myself. But the blend of Bibby’s expertise in trend research and Posterski’s experience in working with teens make this book a minefield of useful information and not a graveyard of dry statistics.
Bibby, who writes the first half of the book, not only helps the reader to understand the extent of the change that has taken place in what was once familiar in our culture but he also helps the reader grapple with the issues that are new to today’s teen. I found his analysis of the American influence of the “3-T’s” of television, technology and travel, to be very helpful. He concludes the section with a cultural application of Psalm 139: 13,14 (“Search me, O God and know my thoughts…”), with a balanced critique of the way in which adults have both succeeded and failed in their attempts to influence teens. Once again we hear the all-too-familiar call for adults to deal with their alienation from adolescents by taking the steps necessary for building better relationships.
In the second half of the book, Posterski gives parents, educators, pastors, people in the media and other significant adults practical advice as to which steps to take in responding to the trends outlined by Bibby. His advice to church workers and community workers is the same: direct (he holds back no punches), compassionate (he not only understands teens but he values the role of adults), and biblical (that’s what makes it practical). Because his advice comes from a biblical worldview without actually quoting Scripture verses, Teen Trends is an excellent resource for Christians to donate to schools, libraries, social workers, etc., in their community. Perhaps its greatest contribution to the secular community is Teen Trends’ rational and practical critique of our culture’s relativistic worldview.