“Risky behavior, Bad rewards”: Debating Teenage Rebellion in an Urban Legend

Gisela Mendez Language and written expression IV

“Risky behavior, Bad rewards”: Debating Teenage Rebellion in an Urban Legend

Breaking the law and arguing. Why do teenagers act the way they do? If at least they would know!

All teens go through similar phases: the need for independence, a separate identity and testing authority. In consequence, there are very few perfectly behaved teenagers.

Many of them take part in some kind of dangerous, unhealthy or antisocial pursuit.

Rebelling in teenagers is often symbolic. They want to look grown up and impress their friends. When parents disapprove their actions, teenagers’ behaviour tends to be worse and arguments are common. They defy adult restrictions deliberately as a way of asserting their independence.

Teenage rebellion is portrayed in the urban legend “Dancing with the Devil” by S. E. Schlosser. This ghost story tells about a teenage girl who decides to go to the high school dance against her mother´s warning about the presence of the devil at that dance. She puts on a wonderful red dress and when she arrives everybody turns around to look at her. A handsome man asks her to dance. At the end, he takes her to hell.

Young readers may enjoy reading if the material chosen reflects the interests and problems they might have. “Dancing with the Devil” may be appealing to adolescents since it might make them feel identified with its character and her behaviour towards seeking their own personal identity when thinking about their actions and feelings. With this in mind, it might be said that the urban legend “Dancing with the devil” can be a useful tool for debating in classrooms due to the fact that it reflects how adolescents disobey their parents and what consequences they may suffer.

To start discussing about teenager’s misbehaviour, one of the most important points is that it has a scientific explanation. David Elkind (cited in Jeanie Lerche Davis, 2003) explains that during the teenage years, the area of the brain called the prefrontal cortex is developing. This is the part of the brain that is behind the forehead. As a child evolves into a teenager, the brain becomes able to synthesize information into ideas. People may

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believe that teenagers argue for the sake of arguing. But really, they are practicing their new abilities.

As it has been explained, the teenage brain development may influence on adolescents’ behaviour. A clear example of adolescents’ rebellion is portrayed in Dancing with the Devil, when the main character disobeys her mother: "You are not going to that dance," her mother said.

"But why?" the girl asked her mother.

"I've just been talking to the preacher. He says the dance is going to be for the devil. You are absolutely forbidden to go," her mother said.

The girl nodded as if she accepted her mother's words. But she was determined to go to the dance.�

It is worth noticing at this point what Laurence Steinberg (cited in David Dobbs, 2011) suggests: "Teens actually overestimate risk." He explains that teens take more risks not because they don't understand the dangers but because they weigh risk versus reward differently: in situations where risk can get them something they want, they value the reward more. Steinberg believes this risk-friendly weighing of cost versus reward is due to the fact that over the course of human evolution, the willingness to take risks during this period of life has granted an adaptive edge.

Overestimation of risk is what makes the adolescent character of Dancing with the Devil going to the dance, even though her mother warns her that the Devil will be there.

As Steinberg supports, teens respond strongly to social rewards. The teenage brain is attuned to oxytocin, a neural hormone, which makes social connections in particular more rewarding. The neural networks and dynamics associated with general reward and social interactions overlap heavily. This helps explain another trait that marks adolescence: Teens prefer the company of those their own age more than ever before or after.

This sensibility to oxytocin makes social connections in particular more rewarding.

At a neural level, adolescents perceive social rejection as a threat to existence. This is reflected in Dancing with the Devil when the girl arrives at the dance:

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“As soon as she walked into the room, all the guys turned to look at her. She was startled by all the attention. Normally, no one noticed her”.

As it has been shown, during the adolescent stage there is a powerful search for personal identity and peers´ acceptance .This search is portrayed in “Dancing with the Devil” through its main character’s actions and decisions. Therefore, young adult readers may feel identified with the main character. This identification will probably engage students to read.

Urban legends can be labeled as Young Adult Literature (YAL). Robert Small (cited in Herz & Gallo, Donald, 1996) sustains that the most important characteristics of Young Adult Literature are: - The main character is a teenager.

- Events and problems in the plot are related to teenagers.

- The main character is the center of the plot.

- The point of view presents an adolescent’s interpretation of events and people.

- The teenage main character is usually perceptive, sensitive, intelligent, mature and independent.

- The novel is short, rarely more than 200 pages.

- The actions and decisions of the main characters are major factors in the outcome of the conflict.

- universal topics: alienation from one’s society or group; survival or meeting a challenge; social and/or political concerns about racial or ethnic discrimination; social concerns about AIDS, teenage pregnancy, divorce, substance abuse, family conflicts, dealing with death and political injustice.

As it can be noticed “Dancing with the Devil” contains many of the characteristics of Young Adult Literature which enables young adult readers to enjoy the reading of the story meanwhile they are feeling characterized with the characters described in it.

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As it has been argued all along this paper, it is possible to suggest that “Dancing with the Devil” is an interesting story to deal within the classroom especially with young adult students because teenagers may feel identified with the feelings and actions of the main character and this can lead to discuss about their own feelings and acts.

References  David Dobbs(2011) Beautiful Brains http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/10/teenage-brains/dobbs-text. Accessed 10/10/12  Jeanie Lerche Davis (2003) Teenagers: Why Do They Rebel? http://children.webmd.com/features/teenagers-why-do-they-rebel? Accessed 10/10/12  S. E. Schlosser. (2010). Dancing with the Devil. http://a8mericanfolklore.net/folklore/2010/07/dancing_with_the_devil.html Accessed 05/10/12  Sarah Herz & Gallo, Donald (1996) From Hinton to Hamlet: Building Bridges between Ypung Adult Literature and the classics. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.