Finding your space in MySpace

Two teenagers are walking to school. Their baggy, low-slung jeans are miraculously hanging to their hips, which leads one to believe that there must be a belt somewhere under the untucked shirt and undone jacket. A steady pulse of music comes from the earphones that one assumes are pushed in deep under their black hats. Somehow, through the vibration, a conversation begins.
‘‘Dude, you should have, like, seen the book my dad was reading last night. He was all excited ‘cause he thinks it going to help him understand me.”
‘‘Tell him good luck. No one can understand you – you traded an Ipod last week for 20 rings on Runescape.”
‘‘That Ipod was broken. Besides, he meant, like, help parents understand teenagers. You know, when our parents grew up they didn’t have cel phones or MP3 players. They didn’t even have, like, computers. My dad got all uptight and told me that even though we can text and instant message, like, all the time, we’re way more alone than he was growing up. They used to all get together in someone’s basement and listen to records. ”
‘‘Records?”
‘‘Yeah, those big black round things made of vinyl, or something. There was a needle that went over it.”
“Actually, my dad was telling me the other day that he still remembers watching the first day that Much Music aired. How lame is that? So, what was this book called?”
‘‘Disconnected.”
‘‘What, your music stopped?”
‘‘No, that’s the name of the book. Disconnected. Then there was, you know, some other long title after it: Parenting Teens in a MySpace World. I had to tell my dad what MySpace was.”
‘‘Tell him what MySpace is? Where’s he been for, like, the last six months? So is the book any good? Who, like, wrote it?”
‘‘Some religious couple named Chap and Dee Clark. The guy did all kinds of research in high schools in California.”
‘‘Chap and Dee?”
‘‘Oh, it got even better. My dad kept going on about how this book was going to help him “launch me into adulthood” – they had these five steps. Things, like, understanding and showing compassion and boundarying.”
‘‘He should have said protecting. The only thing that’s going to launch you is Bronko the football player when he finds out that Ipod is broken. So, I bet he also, like, went on about how adolescence is where we realize our own uniqueness.”
‘‘Your parents have read it, too?”
‘‘No, but I could tell it was, like, coming. So, do you have to read this book?”
‘‘Nah, my dad said it’s definitely geared for parents. Besides, he kind of felt there were too many references to the bible around all the interesting stuff about us teenagers. I think he wants to read more, though, and, like, keep asking me about stuff.”
‘‘Ah, burn. You’ve got to hang with your dad.”
‘‘Actually, it wasn’t so bad. We talked about stuff for a bit. He at least knew what to ask about.”
‘‘So, did he ask about Sue?”
‘‘Nah, he’s not that smart.”

Clark, Chap and Dee. Disconnected: Parenting Teens in a MySpace World, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2007