Hunger Games Hurt!

I love working with teenagers!  I don't always do a good job of getting right down inside of their world or staying on top of all the latest fads, but once in a while I try to read the books or watch shows they are into. Last year one of the hot book series that my high school group was tearing into and talking about was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. My own daughter devoured the series and so I decided to pick it up as well.

I was fascinated with why teens loved this series so much.  I admit, I think it was well written.  Every chapter ended with some sort of cliff hanger which drove me to keep reading, but I was really disturbed by the premise and the story line.  If you've not read it, I don't want to be a spoiler, but I think it is safe to say that the premise for the book is horrific. What follows is the main idea for the series. It is set in the future where society is run by an overbearing Capital. After a war - which the Capital decisively won - the country presented is divided into 12 districts.  Every year, in order to remind the districts that the Capital is in control, and to provide entertainment for the Capital residents, each district must send two "tributes," randomly selected, to take place in "the Hunger Games."   These tributes - between the age of 12 and 20 - are then brought to the Capital where they take part in a battle to the death which is televised and "celebrated" throughout the entire country. The books follow the story of two kids from the poorest district.  How they cope with having to fight others to the death and deal with the drama surrounding their programmed lives make up the central story line of the series.  

As I read the series, I enjoyed the twists and turns of the plot but I didn't really like the content.  What fascinated me the most was that when I asked teens why they liked the series; they simply said "It's just sooooo good!"  When I pressed them about what they liked most they said that the whole idea just fascinated them.  It is not that they would ever want to be in that situation or wanted to kill anybody but that they somehow related to the main characters.  

The more I thought about this series and my kids, the more I was reminded of two books by Chap Clark: Hurt and Hurt 2.0.   In these works, Clark has done a great deal of research trying to understand the inside world of today's teenagers.  He describes today's teens as abandoned by the adult world.  I won't get into great detail here because there is not enough room.  Suffice it to say that Clark has done an excellent job of describing much of the pain and confusion of today's adolescents.  When I first read his work, I thought he had overstated his case to make a point.  The more time I have spent thinking through his words and research and talking to teens, the more I believe Chap is accurate in his ideas and conclusions.  

Put these two together, and I think some great connections can be made between what Clark defines as adolescent abandonment and why teens relate to The Hunger Games and seem to love it so much. My point here is simple.  Could it be that our society, including the school system, varsity and club sports, high demand choir and band programs and high academic expectations, make our teens feel like their entire lives are pushed to perform for adults?  Could it be that the high levels of achievement that we drive them toward feel a lot like unwanted expectations that adults force upon them like the tributes are forced to battle each other in the Hunger Games?  Could it be that the competition they feel for spots on the team or top of the class or college admission and scholarships feel slightly akin to the battle the tributes are thrown into against each other?

At the very least, this gives me pause to think about how I value and love the teens around me.  Do my actions as an adult cause them to compete for value or recognition?  Do I love and support them regardless of their performance or talents?  Do the teens I know realize that  - to the best of my ability -  my love and support for them are unconditional, or do they think I only care about what they do?  I don't want any of the kids I care about to be in any form of the Hunger Games, whether real or metaphorical.  I want to do my best to live my life and shape my relationships with them in such a way that they will know that.