History Main / TeenageWasteland

* ''Literature/ShadesChildren'': Only children are left, except for Shade himself, and he's... well, [[BrainInAJar unusual]]. All other adults have disappeared. Shade treats the children in his care like soldiers, but they all trust him because he's older than them. In a world where most people don't survive beyond the age of 14, it is shown that people generally sort themselves into a hierarchy based on age, with the main character practically falling down to worship Shade when he first sees him.

* Literature/TheFireUsTrilogy has a [[spoiler:(subverted)]] example, by due to a virus that killed off all the adults. Nearly all of the children also died without the care of their parents, but the survivors are all children or young teenagers.

* The Georg Kaiser play ''The Raft of The Medusa'' [[note]]not to be confused with the Joe Pintaura play of the same name about the AIDS crisis[[/note]] centers around a group of British children on a lifeboat after their ship is destroyed by a German submarine during World War II. At first they attempt to avert this trope, as they've seen the destruction that conflict can cause, and they want to do better, to model the behavior they would like to see in the world at large, but eventually, fear and superstition win out over their better instincts, leading them to commit a horrendous -- and largely needless (as it's based in superstition rather than actual, tangible need) -- act in the name of survival. The trope is also {{Deconstructed|Trope}}, however, as it's made clear that the kids learned most of this ''from adults''; this breakdown isn't because they're young and don't know what they're doing, but rather that they've already internalized ''too much'' of the adults' mentality, including the violent, superstitious, and paranoid elements.

Somehow, the social order has gone all topsy-turvy. Instead of the old having power over the young, the young are free to do as they will, and may even have power over the old. This is pretty much inevitably portrayed as a bad thing, [[MostWritersAreAdults regardless of the state of the world today with the old having power]] (which of course is exactly the way it was when those who are now old were young). The young in question might attempt to [[PromotionToParent build some sort of new society]], or they might [[KidsAreCruel degenerate into]] [[TeensAreMonsters complete barbarism]], or there might be a [[OrderVersusChaos conflict between the former and the latter]]. The most famous example is ''Literature/LordOfTheFlies'', but it's not too uncommon, since it's a useful device to explain why teenagers are going on whirlwind adventures. Teenage Wasteland settings tend to be rather dark, since they often involve [[ChildSoldiers children and teenagers fighting for their lives]], and quite possibly doing horrible things to each other. ChildrenAreInnocent has no place in a Teenage Wasteland -- not all TeensAreMonsters, but in a Teenage Wasteland, you're likely to find at least some that are. In extreme cases, TheApunkalypse may be nigh if the youths run amok or the youths are the only ones left AfterTheEnd.

* The Georg Kaiser play ''The Raft of The Medusa'' [[note]]not to be confused with the Joe Pintaura play of the same name about the AIDS crisis[[/note]] centers around a group of British children on a lifeboat after their ship is destroyed by a German submarine during World War II. At first they attempt to avert this trope, as they've seen the destruction that conflict can cause, and they want to do better, to model the behavior they would like to see in the world at large; eventually, however, fear and superstition win out over their better instincts, leading them to commit a horrendous -- and largely needless (as it's based in superstition rather than actual, tangible need) -- act in the name of survival. The trope is also {{Deconstructed|Trope}}, however, as it's made clear that much of the kids' behavior is directly based on the things they've learned from the adults in their lives; this breakdown isn't because they're young and don't know what they're doing, but rather that they've already internalized ''too much'' of the adults' mentality, including the darker sides.

* The Georg Kaiser play ''The Raft of The Medusa'' [[note]]not to be confused with the Joe Pintaura play of the same name about the AIDS crisis[[/note]] centers around a group of British children on a lifeboat after their ship is destroyed by a German submarine during World War II. At first they attempt to avert this trope, as they've seen the destruction that conflict can cause, and they want to do better, to model the behavior they would like to see in the world at large; eventually, however, fear and superstition win out over their better instincts, leading them to commit a horrendous -- and largely needless (as it's based in superstition rather than actual, tangible need) -- act in the name of survival. In this case, at least one character is adamant that this breakdown isn't because they're young and don't know what they're doing, but rather that they've already learned and internalized ''too much'' of the adults' mentality.

* The game ''VideoGame/RuleOfRose'' features a society run by little girls in a Depression-era English orphanage. Drawing parallels to ''Lord of the Flies'', the girls succumb to their worst natures, including the head girl [[spoiler: ordering the killing a of puppy]]. This is played with in that there ''are'' adults but, for all intents and purposes, they're nonexistent and the girls are younger than the usual (at least, one of them is nine).

* Adults simply do not exist any more. They are gone, either because the children have instigated a [[KidsVersusAdults teenage revolution]] and [[MadeASlave enslaved]]/[[SelfMadeOrphan killed]] all the adults (e.g. ''Literature/ChildrenOfTheCorn''), or because of something that was OnlyFatalToAdults (''Literature/ShadesChildren'').

->''"All the greatest wishes are granted, let us sing, let innocence reign''\\
''All the prayers are finally answered, blessed and free of all pain''\\
''Towers of fire rise ever higher, magical flags will be unfurled''\\
''The power of song, the young are the strong''\\
''The night that children rule the world."''

* One of these is encountered by Fry and his ex-girlfriend in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' when they believe they're stuck in an AfterTheEnd scenario. [[spoiler: Later on they learn that LA in the future is just a hellhole...or [[TakeThat more of one, anyway]].]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' episode "Kid Stuff", Mordred uses the Amulet of First Magicks to create a world with no adults in it, which meant that the Justice League and Morgaine le Fey are both banished to the same other dimension as the other adults. At first the world seems like fun for the children, but Mordred soon realizes how he now had to deal with children who missed their parents. Since no adults could exist in that world, Morgaine allows four of the Justice League members to enter it as children so they could restore things to normal. Eventually the junior Justice Leaguers trick Mordred into becoming an adult through his magic, which then causes him to be banished into the other dimension with his mother, thus breaking the no-adults spell altogether.

* The Seijin Orphanage from the ''WesternAnimation/{{Skyland}}'' episode "Island of the Child King." All of the adults left to fight in the war against the Sphere and never returned, so the secluded sector is now run by children led by a teenage ManChild.

* ''WesternAnimation/JimmyNeutron'': When the adults have been abducted by the Yolkians in the movie. Unlike most exemples, however, it only takes them a day or two of partying before they [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome decide they]] ''[[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome do]]'' [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome want their parents back]], and set out on a [[TheQuest quest]] to save them.

Named for a line from a song by Music/TheWho, [[RefrainFromAssuming actually called]] "Baba O'Riley". Not to be confused with the ''Franchise/TeenageWastelands'' book series, although it does make heavy use of this trope.

* Music/TheWho's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqeYrNYGzJc/ "Baba O'Riley"]], sometimes even called ''Teenage Wasteland'' [[note]]It recycles lyrics from a different song existing as a demo that ''was'' titled "Teenage Wasteland", but that's not the one everyone knows.[[/note]]:

** ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': In "Collective", ''Voyager'' encounters a Borg cube where all the drones are dead except for the child drones. The kids think they can function just fine as a collective without any adult drones around, but they lack the cohesion or mental discipline necessary to function as a unit, Borg or not. In practice, it just boils down to First bullying the others into submission.

* The ''[[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Star Trek]]'' episode "[[{{Recap/StarTrekS1E8Miri}} Miri]]" featured a planet where a virus had killed off all the adults, leaving the children to look after themselves.
* ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' had an episode dealing with the aftermath of a group of kids being left without adults; unusually, this took place some time ''after'' the kids had grown up, and they eventually they had to be left where they were because reintegration would have been nigh-impossible.

* ''Film/NightoftheComet'': The earth passes though the tail of a comet, showering it with a dust that dissolves everyone outside into orange dust. Those partially affected turn into rage zombies to varying degrees. The only known survivors are some teenagers that were in a hermetically sealed room.