Suicide, a hot topic among teens, is not glossed over. One of the main characters had often considered suicide, and not until he is dying from other injuries does he regret considering that action. Hinton tries to impress upon readers that teenagers may not have the perspective to understand that life is short enough already and they have so much to see and do in the future.
Teen pregnancy receives attention in the book. The way Hinton handles teen pregnancy may seem outdated. When the girlfriend of one of Ponyboy's brothers becomes pregnant, she is immediately shipped off to live with family in Texas. This consequence undoubtedly still happens today, but it is not the norm. With child-care centers in most large high schools, the social stigma attached to teen motherhood no longer exists as it did in the l960s.
Underage drinking is common throughout the book. An author writing today might treat the issue of drinking and driving differently than Hinton did in the 1960s. In this book, the teens who are drinking are often driving. One character, Cherry Valance, condemns adults and questions their motives when they sell alcohol to minors, but teen drinking isn't meant to be the focus of the book.
