The opening scene of The Awakening of Spring by Frank Wedekind is one that points out flaws in how society handles adolescence. Wendla argues with her Mother about wearing an old dress; it’s short since she had a growth spurt over the past year. This scene depicts that moment you’re growing too fast and nothing is right. It is clothes shopping when suddenly everything your size is in the adult sections and you have to ascertain your grown-up style. You should be wearing short dresses and no stockings – all those styles teenagers can get away with. Wendla’s mother is overwhelmed by this transition so she pushes Wendla to wear a long, modest dress that will cover up her development. This scene starts with a central idea that permeates the rest of the play: adults aren’t prepared to guide and support their children through adolescence. In this play, they avoid discussing it. This leaves children questioning among themselves and making grave mistakes trying to understand life and themselves.

Wendla dies from trying to abort her child. Moritz fails school and commits suicide. The teachers pin the blame for Moritz’s suicide on his best friend Melchior. These stories are familiar because we hear them every day. Abortion is still an issue with women using unsafe methods to abort their babies. There are over 1,000 suicides at colleges every year and 1/10 of college students have made a plan for suicide. With the increasing financial burden of a college education, I only expect the suicide rate to increase as well. We are still trying to handle these issues over a century after the play was written and we tend to turn to the wrong people as the cause (much like the teachers  blaming Melchior for the suicide instead of their callous, dismissive behavior and repressive society).
We have a market dedicated to teenagers but even that gap seems wide. When is it appropriate to get the short shorts? When is it appropriate to wear makeup regularly? When is it appropriate to start dating? Is there an age? Do you wait until your rapidly changing body slows down or jump right in?

Society as a whole doesn’t seem to have an answer as each parent handles adolescence differently. When we were little we thought the disney princesses were mature enough to run off with a prince. When we were 13, we thought we were so grown-up (“I’m a teenager!”). Looking back, the pictures show the baby faces and inexperience we had. Now, we judge the little girls who look 21 but are really 12.  As much as we try to be open about sexuality, are adolescents sexualized and prompted to act older than they are?