Teenage Wasteland by Anne Taylor

Adrian Says: 


Teenage Wasteland was an interesting story. It’s not your average story where there’s a happy ending. Donny was a troubled child that had more connection with his counselor than his mom. I think that every parent should try to have a healthy relationship with their child and if their child has problems then the parent should deal with that and help their child themselves. Donny was different than others, but that doesn’t mean that you should let someone else deal with him and then become an important figure in his life. I learned that your relationship with your parents is something special and you should always take time to spend time with them because they are the ones that really care about us. If I had a really strong problem with my parent I wouldn’t deal with it like Donny did. I would try to sort things out with my parents and try to fix what’s wrong. A lot of us have problems growing up and that’ just the way of life. We need to confront our problems and not run away from them.

Teenage Wasteland by Anne Taylor

Christian Says:  On this story, we are able to see how far a son can drift without the parental aid and guidance. Daisy (mother)was so worried about what they'd think about her that she allowed her son's life to be driven by another person. Donny wasn't used to liberty because her mother was often overprotective and  he wasn't able to enjoy his adolescence as much as his friends. He also missed a father figure in his life. Even though nobody could see it, it was evident that the father not participating in his life was a factor in the road to his downfall. Donny was failing in class and the director recomended a tutor. The mother belived it was a good idea, therefore she took him to the tutor and trusted his son to him. She belived in his judgement, rather than on her own and blinded herself from being able to watch how his son was not progressing. By the time she decided to take matter in to her own hands it was too late. Donny had left the house. By not knowing how to resolve her distrust in herself, she made her son miserable in an indirect way. Obviously not in purpose.

I think that Daisy did everything in the best interest of Donny. She admited that her childhood was quite lousy and thought by giving him all those things she couldn't have she was going to make his life better. At the end, he didn't know how to handle it and lost his way.

Teenage Wasteland by Anne Taylor

Jose Says: This story was an interesting adventure in child psychology and the burden a mother feels in dealing with troubled youth. It is interesting to see how families in general will try and shape their children to the contours of society, forgetting the well-being of a child. Children have extremely sensitive minds and it is crucial to bring them up in comforting environments, or else they might grow up to have certain societal problems in the future. Daisy found something that made Donny happy, he was a happy go lucky kid as soon as he was able to start his tutoring. The inflexibility of the mother to help her child essentially cost her a son. Is she to blame? No. She was doing what she was taught to do with her child, trying to be a responsable parent. However, society has a tendency to be rather static in its memes. Hence, those who do not comform risk being left out of the loop. This is what ended up happening to Donny, sadly, he didnt have the personality to comform.

Teenage Wasteland by Anne Taylor

Beatriz Says:


This is a short story about a teenager and his relationship with his family. Donny has some problems at school and his mother is really worried about him. They decide to take him to a tutor, and they let the tutor take full responsibility, but then his mother realizes that she has done many things wrong. This story is a good example of a dysfunctional family. It is not entirely the son’s fault or the parent’s fault, it is both. His parents should have paid more attention to him and he should not have acted that way. When his mother was trying to help him, she did not pay any attention to her daughter, which at the end of the story starts distancing from her family. Clearly, their mother doesn’t know what to do, how to look out after her kids. She is too worried about her son to pay attention to her daughter. The mother should have believed more in her son, and have been there for him through that difficult time. Donny should have been more thoughtful, because his parents suffered a lot because of him all that time, and when he left.

Teenage Wasteland by Anne Taylor

Luis Says:

I think teenage wasteland is the perfect story of failed parenthood and failed self-discipline. I sort of see it as something both parents and us teenagers should read. The teenager should read it and reflect upon it and realize that he or she should never behave this way. Look upon the character of Donny and feel pity towards his situation and how he does not have his parents to help him out.  Imagine arriving at your house and not having your parents with you anymore, not dead, but they dont care anymore.  Imagine never again hearing your mother saying I love you.  Donny leaves his home and ends up living god knows where which if you think about it is the sadest thing that could happen to anyone.  On the other hand Daisy fails at disciplining his child which creates the problems which lead to the loss of her son.  Her lack of trying to care for her child and thinking time fixes everything slowly loosens the boy's connection to the family and the social standards of being the regular child who studies and grows up under a roof.  

In my opinion I would never go that far as for being a rebel.  I have sometimes thought of doing such a thing but minutes later have come to forget about it not because I need food and a bed, but because i feel guilty for my mom and because I would never ruin my life like that.  I plan on seeing my mother and family every possible day till the day I die.

Teenage Wasteland by Anne Taylor

Liane Says:


Teenage Wasteland was a very psychological story. I liked it a lot even though it was quite tragic. I understood Donny and his attitude towards his parents because I sometimes feel like I want to be apart from them and not have to listen to what they say and be able to do things I want to do. I like to do things on my own and be independent, so I can see where he is coming from but he is young and I am a little older so I have learned to gain privileges and obey my parents unlike Donny. It is disappointing the fact that his mother, an adult who is suppose to have sufficient maturity and should not be affected by society, is immensely affected by what people think of her and instead of making choices on her own, lets others influence on them and take over. When you grow you are suppose to make these changes. She should have followed her motherly instincts and not led Cal take care of Donny. There were so many signs that he was not the right person to be taking care of Donny. At the end of the day the child is living under your roof, under your conditions and you as a parent is responsible for his actions. What you say goes. This is discipline and without it we would all live in a wasteland. Every child, especially in the stage of adolescence needs a guide for his future and he must accept that not everything is going to be his way. Adolescents go through changes and we have to see beyond what attitudes that they portray because in the future they will be grateful to be a mature person.

Teenage Wasteland by Anne Taylor

Mariola Says:


I think this is a short story that represents the relationship that some mothers can have with their child. In this story, Donny is a problem child and Daisy, her mother, cannot seem to figure out what his problem is. The story takes us through all the things that Daisy tries to do to help her child. The main ideas that you see in the story are lack of communication and lack of parental control. You see how Daisy at the end lets all the responsibilities of her child go to his tutor and how she does not get involve with her son’s life. After some time, she really does not know anything about her son and she got the surprise that Donny was expel from his school. When this problem came, she realized that her boy was never really doing better in school. But at the same time, she felt that she had to believe in her son and she really didn’t do anything about her son attitudes and problems. Here you can se the lack of parental control. Sometimes parental control is very important because it helps you nurture your child and help you get in control with your son’s life. Daisy let her son do whatever he wanted and most importantly she let him manipulate her as the time went on. At the end of the story, Donny disappeared from his house and never came back. I think he did this because he felt that he didn’t have the control of things now. When her mother got him to a public school and didn’t let him go to the tutor’s house, this made him mad and felt that he could not control his mother anymore. He felt that the resolution for the problem was to go away. 

    In my opinion I think that in this story we can see how the son and the mother both fail to do their job as a family. We see these kinds of problems every day and you see how families can suffer a lot. For me being a parent has many responsibilities, and Daisy didn’t do her best on it. When you have a child who has a lot of problem you have to stick to him until you can help him go through all the things he is dealing with. I like the story because it made me realize that in real life there are a lot of families that deal with that kind of situations and it helps you see another perspective of life.