There are more than 35 million Ameri-cans between the ages of 13 and 19.They are the nations teenagers.They express them-selves with their own music.clothes and lan-guage.They have the emotions of a child in the body of an adult.They want to be free and independent，Yet they also want to be taken care of.Many teenagers disagree with their parents about how much freedom they should have.Some disobey their parents.They say their parents do not understand them.
The NEW YORK TIMES newspaper says 1956 was the year of the teenager.That was when the world TEENAGE was first used to identify the culture of young Ameri-cans.In the 1950s，teenagers began rebelling against adults.Teenagers did not want to be
like their parents.They wanted to listen to their own music，rock-and-roll.They wanted to wear different kind of clothes.They wanted to use different expressions to com-municate with each other.
Many movies showed this rebelling by teenagers.One of the most famous was REB—EL WITHOUT A CAUSE.It stared James Dean as a trouble teenager.One popular play showed teenagers in a funny way.It was called BYE BYE BIRDlE.This music was produced on Broadway in New York in 1960.Later it was made into a movie.BYE BYE BIRDlE tells what happens to an American family when a famous rock-and-roll singer visits their town.The father of the family does not understand teenagers.
Today American teenagers spent a lot of money buying records，clothes and electronic devices.They also spend a lot on entertain-ment.Last year teenagers spent almost 100 thousand million dollars.The NEW YORK TIMES says that was more than their par-ents spent on those things.Where do Ameri-can teenagers get all this money?Many of them have part-time jobs.Some take care of children.Others work at fast food restau-rants.They earn about 4 dollars an hour.
