This blog post examines whether youth culture is merely an expression of immaturity or the starting point for forming an independent identity and social order.
Many adults tend to view teen culture as exhibiting characteristics of a subculture and as immature compared to adult culture. While adult culture conforms to productive labor customs and embraces responsibility, teen culture is seen as fixated on consumption, pleasure-seeking, and displaying irresponsible tendencies that reject established values. This perspective is a common perception among adults, stemming from an attitude that views youth culture as merely an immature version of adult culture. They see teenagers as beings on the edge, subjects who must be guided toward normal culture.
Conversely, those who oppose this view argue that teenagers are independent beings living according to their own principles and order, and thus their culture should be seen as having potential. They take the position that teenage culture should be respected for its independent value in its own right, rather than being compared to adult culture. They emphasize that even if teenagers do not conform to the norms and standards of adult society, this can be a natural phenomenon at their stage of life. Teen culture is not merely rebellion or deviance, but part of the process of creating a new social order.
These differing perspectives surrounding teen culture stem from contrasting views on whether teenagers can truly possess a unique culture and whether they can form a valuable collective identity within it that society can accept. Adults tend to dismiss youth culture as temporary and fluid, yet the potential for their cultural experiments to drive future social change cannot be ignored.
On the surface, it may seem premature to speak of the distinctiveness of teenage youth culture. However, within the behavioral patterns of teenagers lie meaningful attempts to create their own culture. One such example is street culture. Street culture holds significant meaning as it provides teenagers with a space to freely express themselves, escaping their daily routines. They accumulate diverse experiences unavailable at school or home through street life, thereby forming their own unique culture.
Teenagers’ street culture is fundamentally rooted in the life they enjoy on the streets. While most teenagers spend much of their time at home and school, they spend their leisure time walking, meeting, playing, and consuming within the space of the street. Here, the street is not merely a path for people or a road for vehicles. The street is used as a spatial concept encompassing places like plazas or parks, places to eat, places to sing together or play games, and places where various performances or cultural and artistic activities take place. These places function for teenagers as more than just leisure spaces; they are crucial arenas for exploring their identity and confirming bonds with peers.
Though academic burdens mean they don’t have much free time, teenagers seize opportunities like after school, weekends, or days after exams to head out onto the streets with friends. However, it doesn’t seem like any single purpose dictates their actions. Even when they move between places like fast-food restaurants, PC rooms, karaoke bars, or performance venues, their actions seem devoid of any particular purpose. Teenagers meet friends, hang out idly, browse goods, laugh and talk, buy food at convenience stores or fast-food joints, and then head back out onto the streets.
Why do teenagers wander the streets without any particular purpose? Interpreting it more actively, could their taking to the streets be an act of escaping the confines of school or home? They are searching for something. Their street experiences may transcend mere time-killing or consumption, expressing an instinctive desire to find their own identity. On streets where many teenagers gather, as peers of similar age and similar attire come together and disperse, they experience a temporary sense of liberation and, further, develop their own sense of solidarity and belonging.
The question is whether these experiences can contribute to forming a desirable cultural identity. It is regrettable that the bonds formed within street culture remain, for now, temporary. Their culture remains intrinsically tied to the street environment. The longer this situation persists, the more likely teenagers will perceive street culture solely as a form of consumer culture. However, street culture can also serve as a vital channel for teenagers to create their own space and communicate with society. This is precisely why we must approach teenage street culture not through guidance or control, but through support and the creation of enabling conditions.
