Youth curfews make adults feel better, but fix nothing – By Theresa Vargas (The Washington Post) / Aug 19, 2023
The notes I took in college now sit in a dust-covered box in my basement, but I can still remember where on the page my pen stopped moving in class one day.
A professor was delivering a lesson on the social comparison theory, a concept that essentially says people evaluate themselves based on how they stack up against others. We, as humans, the professor explained, constantly compare ourselves to people who are similar to us to determine where we stand and, by extension, in what ways we need to improve.
A 13-year-old tennis player would compare herself to other 13-year-old tennis players to assess her skills, the professor explained, just as a 17-year-old chess player would compare himself to other 17-year-old chess players.
That’s where my pen stopped. None of the teenagers I knew growing up played tennis or chess, at least not seriously enough to care about how they compared to others. I raised my hand.
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