“Bashing Youth”
and “Wild in Deceit” (Mike Males)
Mike Males
emphasized two major points concerning his view of unjust media coverage of
American youth. First, he believes that what
the media often quotes as “both sides” actually portrays adult biases against
teenagers (Brown & Saltman, 2005, p. 124).
Second, Males believes that “teenage” behavior such as pregnancy,
suicide, and violence is not separate from “adult” behavior (p. 125). I agree with Males that the media disseminates
unfair coverage of American youth.
The bias
presented in the media concerning youth usually consists of stereotypes and
negative coverage. The media often feeds
upon the stereotypes that already exist within the minds of the American
people. For example, there are certain youth
such as African-American teenagers who are portrayed as violent and uneducated
as oppose to others. The images and
names of these individuals are usually presented to the public immediately as
oppose to a more dominate group whose faces and names are often hidden from the
public. It is no wonder that there are
some people who fear a culture or group of people that they are poorly informed
about. The media, especially television
news, can instill fear in uninformed adults when they cover stereotypical
stories involving teenagers.
Furthermore,
the media often shows coverage of the negative behaviors of youth as oppose to
the positive behaviors of youth as a form of entertainment. The American culture is full of entertainment
including television shows and newspapers. These stories usually involve
teenagers committing crimes and bullying.
Popular television shows and “reality” shows often depict teenagers as
promiscuous and alcohol and drug users. It
is rare to see a story covered of a teenager who does not engage in these types
of behaviors although it is a known fact that this kind of teenager
exists.
Further, I
also agree with Males that teen behavior is not separate from adult
behavior. I am a firm believer that the
most significant influence in the life of a child is his or her parents or
guardians. Due to unfortunate
circumstances, there are children who are exposed to things that they should
have never been exposed to such as abuse (physical, sexual, mental), alcohol,
drugs, etc. Children are impressionable
and they should not be blamed. It is
very likely that there was an adult involved who influenced this child or
teenager to partake in a wrong behavior or situation. Moreover, when these children become
teenagers they are likely to be affected by these negative experiences and may
respond by participating in destructive behaviors.
From the Emergent
Middle School (William M. Alexander)
I agree
with William Alexander that middle school should be a planned program of
schooling with consideration of the growth and development of students in that
particular age group. In addition, I
agree with Alexander that the transitional period from childhood to adolescence
involves physical maturity and intellectual development. Adolescents reach a point in their lives when
they gain a better understanding of the difference between right and
wrong. Furthermore, they now have the ability to discover their educational and extra-curricular strengths and
weaknesses.
Middle
school students experience a totally different social environment in middle
school than their elementary school. In
middle school, students are likely to discover cliques and peer-pressure. Educators must consider the uniqueness of the
middle school aged level when preparing and teaching curriculum and
instruction. It is essential for educators
to consider the changes that will take place within the minds and bodies of
middle school students as they transition from childhood to adolescence.
Turning Points:
Preparing American Youth for the 21st Century (Carnegie Council on
Adolescent Development)
The
recommendations given by the Task Force for transforming middle schools are
good ideas. In addition, the Task Force declares
that teachers and principals are at the center of this process. However, the Task Force fails to recognize
that the expectations that they have set forth are very unrealistic in
communities and schools that lack parental involvement. My argument is that teachers and principals
are not at the center of this process of transformation and that parents
are. One of the biggest complaints that
I have heard from teachers who teach at underserved schools including middle
schools concerns the school’s lack of parental involvement.
Choice and
Accountability (Barbara A. Lewis)
Middle
school is a critical time for students to be faced with choices and
accountability. They are no longer
innocent elementary school students but they are now adolescents who have a
better understanding of the meaning of right and wrong. I have never heard of an elementary school
having a demerit system or after-school detentions. However, I recall my first hand experience of
serving an after-school detention for chewing gum in class. It was a valid detention because I already knew
that I was not allowed to chew gum in class.
Similarly, authority figures expect adolescents to make better decisions
since they are becoming more informed.
They also expect adolescents to suffer the consequences of the wrong
decisions that they make. I believe that
Barbara Lewis’ emphasis on conscious choice, informed choice, and
accountability are practical ways of explaining to middle school students the
significance of the choices that they make and the actions that result from
those choices.
Citizenship
(Barbara A. Lewis)
Every
student including middle school students should understand the importance of
becoming an active learner and participator within society. I believe that Lewis gives a good explanation
to students on why they should not only become responsible citizens but also
why they should become involved citizens whether it is government or community
service. Parents and educators play an
important role in preparing and informing students about the opportunities
available for them to become involved in something that they are passionate
about. The youth cannot become
passionate about something that they are unaware of.
Sources:
http://www.bbcfamily.com/452673.ihtml
Hi Shaunta,
ReplyDeleteI like your summary and points regarding "Bashing Youth" and "Wild in Deceit". I agree that the media sheds negative attention on youth and makes them appear out of control, into drugs, and over-sexed. I thought it was interesting how Mike Males discussed teenage pregnancy. Shows on MTV and even news reports usually only depict a teenage high school couple having an unplanned pregnancy. He had some interesting statistics regarding the age of the baby's father, which is on average quite older than the media would portray.
I think all of these stereotypes give teenagers bad examples. We should be encouraging them to be themselves and be positive, productive citizens. Society should not "label" teenagers as they do and hope that they somehow "turn out" successful after their teenage years.
In regards to "Turning Points", I liked how the authors created a concise list of ways to structure and improve middle schools. As a middle school teacher, I agree with the authors that a middle school should eliminate tracking by achievement level. I see so many students become disappointed and discouraged when they find out their "ability level" when they receive their track. It was reassuring to see the authors disagreeing with this ever-so-common practice.
Kohl Trimbell's Response
ReplyDeleteI agree when you write that the media presents an unfair bias towards certain races and not towards others, which allows for unfair and racist judgments to be made toward that race. I also agree with and like that you say the media more often shows negative youth coverage rather than positive youth coverage. These ideas are both concerned with the media. It shows that the media in our society can be harmful instead of insightful and educational. How can we work to change this, as both educators and citizens? At a local level, one idea is to send in press releases to local papers to highlight students who are doing something news-worthy and beneficial to the community. This would create a positive view of youth in the eyes of all the paper’s readers.
I think Lewis’ chapter on citizenship is interesting and important. It brings about a topic that I find most students are not concerned with, because they are still so young and want to have fun. I think, however, if acts of citizenship were demonstrated in school projects or clubs, it could be not only made aware of to the students which would become aware of the the importance of it, but also it would get them involved in something that they may have prematurely judged as not fun or not “cool” to do. I have a friend who told me that her school required every student to do twenty hours of community service every year. I had never heard of a school doing this before, and I thought it was an extremely good idea to teach respect and responsibility, while helping out the community at the same time. It also leaves it up to each individual to decide what they do, so they can choose to commit their time to something they find interesting.
I agree with you Shaunta. The media is more exploitative than informative. It seems to be positioned, as Males pointed out, to give a point of view that is unjust and driven more by sensationalism and fear mongering. I also agree with Khol that because we understand the angle in which the mainstream media approach teen-age behavior, we need to be more active in setting up independent news sources that reflects an authentic and progressive point of view of teen-age life. I think that a good example of how taking control of information and delivering an authentic point of view to the people would be the Occupy Movement. This movement received no coverage from major news stations. It was not until local and independent news begin to cover this story, and present it through sources like youtube, twitter, and facebook, that the dominant media picked it up, and reported on it. In short, we have to prepare teens to take control of their own images through media.
DeleteI had a very strong reaction to "Bashing Youth" and "Wild in Deceit." I've known for a long time that popular media depicts teenagers in an excessively negative light, particularly if they are poor or belong to a minority. However, I had no idea that teens are disproportionately victims of adults. Check out this teen-created blog which attempts to fight against negative media narratives through student reporting: http://chicagoreporter.typepad.com/the_teen_reporter/
ReplyDeleteAlso, Males's main conclusion, that blaming teens distracts the public from real public policy issues seems particularly timely. I feel that the media is taking the same approach to the teacher strike. I recently listened to a radio program which questioned whether teachers were to blame for the dismal state of Chicago Public Schools. The segment was titled, "Bad Teachers, Bad Students, or Bad Parents?" At no point was poverty or public policies brought into the equation. Because those issues would require reallocation of funds rather than finger pointing. This mentality is not isolated to teens. The media will blame anyone who is in a position to be blamed without looking at larger public policy issues.
I agree, to a certain extent, with many of the comments presented thus far. However,when I think about the influences, inputs, and outputs that affect adolescent development, I think we must be careful not to make unjust misconceptions about our adolescent youth.I agree with my peers, the adolescent period is a unique period of time in persons life that can prove to cause pivotal change in an individual for years to come.
ReplyDeleteI can think back on my studies of Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory in which he describes the adolescent as one that has acquired the capability to reason. By reasoning, the adolescent has developed the primary skills to consider abstract/hypothetical situations and consider probable outcomes (formal operation). Finally, Piaget also concluded that adolescent youth are able to utilize scientific-like reasoning to problem solve while identifying internal and external variables that may affect the outcome of that problem (hypothetico-deductive reasoning and propositional thought). Because of this heightened intellectual awareness, we as educators, society, and parents often forget that this population is still a developing one in which guidance is greatly needed. This population requires more strategic and unique guidance because they are faced with adult-like decisions to very adult problems without the experience in life that most adults have to adequately fully understand their place in society, navigate the issues in their totality, and truly understand the full spectrum of outcomes to the choices they have made--we as adults assume they do! Which is why I disagree with the statement that adolescent and adult behavior are not separate. Though the issues faced are similar in nature,their reaction to life (behavior) are very different because an adult has most likely had the experience of life to make a concrete decision to react in specific way. An adolescent, on the other hand, has only what has been taught to them with little experience to support their decisions. We have to consider that adolescent youth, along with this newly acquired intellectual responsibility, are wrestling with "their insecurities about their changing appearance, changing identity, and changing life experiences" (www.sevencounties.org). All of these driving forces often cause adolescents to react to their own, many times false, observation and interpretations of the world around them. Whereas adults most likely act from the "I have had therefore I do" attitude, I would like to think adolescents react more from the attitude "I think or it looks like therefore I do" attitude.
So, does the media influence adolescents ability to effectively learn these advance intellectual skills which ultimately help them transcend into adulthood and come to appreciate the tasks of becoming productive citizens--absolutely. However, I differ on the reasons why this exploitation is detrimental to our youth. I do not believe in totality that the way the media portrays or volume in which the media portrays our youth in a negative is what causes this crisis of disconnect we currently have with our youth. I think it is within the perception, in which we either remain silent or glamorize such negative behavior, that we continue to instill this negative stereotypes in our children in which they attempt to live up to. What is the answer? Maybe it does lie within the teachers and principles because that is, in most cases, the most consistent institution in a youth's life. As much as we understand how important the family structure is, the reality is many parents are a part of the culture themselves unable to understand their role because their life experiences are too limited. How else would you explain the killing of 16 year-old rapper Lil JoJo over tweets and song lyrics? There are parents/guardians somewhere but how did society fail this youth or did we? It's amaazing how CPS teachers are on strike and our students STAY out of school but the more affluent lake forest county teachers are on strike and they order thier children back to class. What are we teaching our CPS children? Perceptions of the realities of life is what drive adolescent youth not simply the realities of life.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Mike Males’ articles on the unfair portrayal of youth in the media, it reminded me of how adult generations frequently seem to fear and condemn the future population. Whether its the notion that the waltz is too scandalous since the partners hold each other close or that rap music inspires violence, there always seems to have been this unfounded propensity to blame the young. I definitely agree that the media aids this portrayal while failing to address the true underlying issues. I still remember reading an article in the New York Times about a teenage girl that was raped in Texas by a group of several 12-21 year old males. The journalist portrayed the survivor as the perpetrator, asking where her mother was in this situation, without even once calling into question how these relationships between the adolescent boys and adult males were forming or their role in the incident. All too often it seems that the media fails to ask the right questions. It saddens me to think that we continue to take this band-aid approach to the situation and blame a certain group of people for all our shortcomings, when really we fail to address the correct problem. While everything is interconnected and a single issue is caused by a web of elements, it still remains that poverty and child abuse need to be addressed and until this veil of misinformation can be lifted, these disproportionate findings will continue at the expense of our future generations.
ReplyDeleteI also have to admit that I was a bit astounded to discover that “40% of all violent crimes result from offenders being abused as children” and that these facts are the ones that continue to be unpublicized (124). There is something so inherently wrong and unjust about this notion of blaming those who do not have a voice. This is one of the reasons that I personally feel Lewis’ chapter on citizenship is so important. By engaging students in democratic dialogues, they can call into question the messages they receive from the media, determine the underlying issues, and brainstorm methods to alleviate them. Not only will this help them better understand their pivotal role in bringing change but it will also aid them in making well informed decisions once they have the ability to vote. Nowadays with the world as interconnected as it is, through social media and the internet, students have even more opportunities to ensure their voice is heard. By teaching citizenship in the classroom, students can become activists and spread the words of truth that will dismantle the deception running wild. They can become the seeds of change and the bearers of light. Citizenship is more than simply filling in a ballot, it’s a way to transform being helpless into helpful.
It's really unfortunate how the media often influences our youth. We discussed it in another one of my classes, it's called cognitive dissonance. When we are told one thing but when we believe another. An example my professor gave us was a child who sees models in magazines and knows that they're photoshopped, but still tried to diet and look just like them. The image of "teenage" sex really resonated with me, as I thought of shows like "Teen Mom" and "16 and Pregnant." These girls may be doing what they feel is the responsible thing by raising their child, and that's completely fine. However, to publicize the teen's life on MTV, a "cool" TV station, and to display these teens in such a positive light creates a strong misnomer amongst teen girls. There are no images of the mothers struggling with real child issues, and the girls always have the support of their families. This portrayal of teen mothers in the media is something I consider inappropriate.
ReplyDeleteI was also interested in the idea that 40% of all violent crimes result form offenders being abused as children. I feel like this study and statement are not accurate. The way it is worded suggests that the only reason these people committed a crime is because they were abused. I'm not suggesting that childhood abuse doesn't affect adults, but the study doesn't seem to incorporate other factors, such as social and economic environment, personal relationships, and previous crime history. Just throwing that out there.
I was also pretty fascinated by the statistics of violent crimes in other countries and the age of the offenders. The idea that media violence is the cause for U.S. violence is rightly shot down. I personally feel like this is such a scapegoat for politicians, and as the author points out, if video games and tv were the culprit, "we would expect affluent white families to have the most murderous kids..." As someone who loves video games and plays regularly (as I write this, my fiance is playing Borderlands 2, a new game that involves the player to hunt for treasure and shoot mutants as they go along), I feel like the violence portrayed in fictitious media is not the problem: the problem seems to be much more related to family supervision and social environment. As the author explains, the issues of "poverty and racism" are in the forefront of the violence debate. Why are we allowing our youth to become susceptible to these pitfalls?
With regards to this issue, I highly suggest everyone watch a documentary called "The Interrupters." It's about the struggles a community-based organization faces in the poverty-stricken neighborhoods of Chicago. Very much worth the watch.
Although mass media offers a seemingly endless stream of negative hype surrounding teens outlined in the article by Males, it is interesting that its target is a section of society which is overpowered by negative adult stereotyping and ill-equipped to launch any form of counter-attack in its defense. In short, teens tend to be victimized by a media so readily willing to take aim at an easy target in the name of increased ratings and sensationalism. Educators can help battle this form of false journalism by promoting the positive accomplishments of teens and keeping local media informed of activities both in school and extracurricular which highlight the positive contributions youths make to the community and to society.
ReplyDeleteThe article “Turning Points” by the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, for example, focuses on the positive potential of youths of early adolescence have to offer our society. I most certainly agree that parents should be at the center of determining the future success of American youth; however, I believe educators can play a vital role helping develop the talent of all the people in this country. This is a vital concern if our nation is to be economically competitive and socially cohesive in the challenging years ahead of us. Through our efforts as educators, we can build a strong, cohesive learning community where all students are welcome, and all students are provided the support and means to succeed.
To this aim, Alexander’s article on the emergent middle school outlines deficiencies in the 6-3-3 system which can help educators critically examine alternatives in order to better serve students of the adolescent years. Although the present system may be doing a disservice to the “in-between-ager,” the teacher can take an even more important and influential role in providing a nurturing, safe, learning environment which meets the needs of students during a physically, intellectually and socially challenging transitional period.
Chapter 7 – “Bashing Youth” and “Wild in Deceit”
ReplyDeleteI agree with the author and with Shaunta that teenagers typically are unfairly portrayed by adults. As I mentioned in my first post this week, I recognize that any negative biases I met have toward teenagers very well could be a result of not being in touch with young people today and/or not remembering what it was like for myself at that age. As with all age groups, genders, races, nationalities, political affiliations, etc., there are all types of people within that group with different personalities, motives, etc. Society tends to focus on the negative aspects of teenagers and doesn’t give fair time to the positive qualities of youth. I was glad to see, as Professor Raven pointed out during class, that this group seemed to give equal weight to the positive outputs of teenagers rather than focusing on the negative.
Chapter 9 – The Emergent Middle School
I have to admit my ignorance at the fact that I was not aware that there was such a strong movement to reorganize the levels of schooling to a 6-3-3 format. I had always thought that the four year high school was the way it was always going to be. After reading about the thought process behind the three year middle school philosophy, I think it is a great idea. Grades 7 through 9 really are a unique stage in life that would benefit from separation from their younger and older counterparts. The 9 points describing the characteristics of young people during this transition on Pgs. 164-165 do a good job of explaining this. I also like the ideas related to revamping all levels of education through this process so that 6th graders are not treated in the same manner as 1st graders or vice versa. The 5 aims of the emergent middle school program on Pg. 161 are relevant and realistic.
Chapter 10 – Turning Points: Preparing American Youth for the 21st Century
There is a lot of content in this chapter and it makes a host of good points related to the challenges 10 to 15 year olds face during these transitional years from child to young adult. I agree with all of the recommendations for transforming middle schools listed on pgs. 170-171. Particularly, selecting and preparing teachers specifically to teach this age group is extremely important. I also think it is important to “demand the very best for and from young adolescents” as described in the last section of the chapter. Keeping these qualities in mind (i.e. intellectually reflective, meaningful future work, a good citizen, caring and ethical, and healthy) as we communicate with young people as educators would go a long way to positively influencing them during these years.
I believe that the youth who are following the negative examples portrayed in mass media are uplifted in today's society, and the youth who are leading and promoting positivity within their communities are not acknowledged enough. It is important to acknowledge that there are adolescents who are living productive lives and are not leaded to the road of destruction. It is almost as if the parents are ignoring their children, and then subsequently allowing the mass media to raise their children, and if the children do not become productive citizens, the teachers are blamed. In today's society, there is not enough concern from the children, and this is what they are left to turn to besides school. It is not fair for the parents to blame everyone else because the reality is, raising productive citizens begin at home, and the educators, community leaders, etc. should be there as a help to make sure that children and adolescents become productive citizens. In other words, the parents are the primary teacher, and the educators, community leaders, etc. are the enforcers or "the village," as we would say. Parents are consumed with work and providing for their children, and they are not paying attention to their children because of the "other demands of life." I believe some of this behavior can be intentional or sometimes maybe unintentional, but the reality is, if you have children, you should want to be there for them,pay attention to them, and know what's going on at their schools instead of blaming the teachers or other authority figures if their children display unfavorable behaviors.
ReplyDeleteI believe that middle school should be taught in such a way that it distinguishes the difference from the transition from elementary school. Students should be treated more mature in a sense, because of the physical changes they are experiencing and the knowledge (or in some cases the presumed knowledge) they have of right and wrong. They should be treated as adolescents who are growing into productive citizens, and they should not be ignored if they are displaying unfavorable behavior. Educators of middle-school children can allow their children to work more independently, but they still need the teachers to guide them through their studies.
In preparing students for the 21st century, it is important that as an educator, we provide them with much educational knowledge, and now, knowledge of what to be watchful of on the Internet, and in social media in general. It is important to make the connections between what's happening in the world (which the students view as interesting) to what's happening in the classroom. In today's society, I believe, there is a greater need to integrate these two things to not only make them aware, but to promote positivity within their lives so that they can become productive citizens in our society.
I agree with your criticism regarding the “recommendations for transforming middle school grades.” They won’t be possible without parental involvement. No educational model, new or old, can be sustained without the support of parents. However, we as educators should not sit on our hands waiting for parents to get on top of things – we all know, unfortunately, that this simply can’t always happen. Despite this, some of the recommendations given are not completely out of our reach. For example, “connecting schools with communities” is something that schools already do – somewhat haphazardly – but still the foundations are there. This involves giving students volunteer opportunities and using resources within the community to enhance and enrich the educational experience. Our students need real world exposure to working with people and doing things with their hands. It is a disservice to prepare our students for the real world in a building (the school) that is so far removed from the real world.
ReplyDeleteAnother transformation that is within our grasp is to “create small communities for learning.” This means having far smaller classes and small “teams” of teachers and students along with an increase in advisors to help deal with the issues students deal with that are not academic – which are many. For a long time teachers have been asking for smaller classes without much success, but I think these recommendations call for classes even smaller than what we’ve been thinking. Can you imagine a small group of learners, maybe five to ten students, with one teacher and an advisor that grow together and are involved in their communities? This can happen, and I argue that it NEEDS to happen.
It may sound like a dramatic change in how we set up our school, but this is what middle school students need. We know that they are in a special time in their lives – full of mental, emotional, physical, ideological change. Why then to we teach them the same way we teach high school students or even college students? I love how the article lays out the plan of action to achieve these changes; it really runs the gamut of those involved in educational decision making. It calls upon teachers, parents, administration, school boards, health care professionals, community organizations, state governments, and the president to make these changes. The onus is on the entire society to enact these changes – not just teachers.
Citizenship (Barbara A. Lewis)
ReplyDeleteA civics course should be a requirement for all students as they enter middle school. This gives them a sense of placement and inclusion (as you pointed out Shaunta) in society. It is my belief that a great majority of young people (ages 18-25), are not registered voters because they have are not convinced that they fit in with the larger part of the country. Middle School is the perfect age for students to begin to understand not only how they “fit in,” but how their ancestors have been major contributors of this country. As Lewis pointed out, “In a democracy, "freedom' doesn't mean "freedom from responsibility." It means BE the responsibility, and hold others responsible for their civic duties.
Language and context are so central to getting someone's real points...here I am speaking of the Task Force's recommendations. At first look they seem on-point and insightful. it is the research informing these suggestions and the actual details for actualizing their suggestions that makes us question the validity of the arguments presented. taken out of context, NLCB (for example) seemed to make sense, but the actual policies that went along with it oversimplified many of the problems facing public education, students, and families, and dehumanized teachers, students, and parents facing struggling school systems.
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned in the above post, transforming middle school grades can mean different things to different people. A suggestion that has been put out is to intergenerationalize schools more. This is a way to transform all grades in a school--the idea is to have students of different grades working together, occupying the same larger learning environment, and increasing parent presence in a school. So there could be sixth grade classroom, that goes and tutors third graders twice a week, has 10th grade mentors come and work with them twice a week, and then attends a class where there is one student from all grades represented, to demonstrate how children can work together. This suggestion arises from the criticism that we have silo-d grades too much, and in doing so have taken away interactions where student learn greater accountability, enjoy the presence of other aged youth, and gain wisdom from others besides adults in a schooling environment.
As was also mentioned above, suggestions arise about hitting the big transition ages/grades with a different focus, in order to assist youth in transitioning into societal expectations, but more importantly to meet their needs more effectively than in a large group age-spread setting.
To me, much comes down to re-thinking the entire goal of public education. Is it really a success to go into a forty child charter school classroom where everyone is obedient, but learning is based on a deposit method and extreme disciplinary measures? Is it a success to go into a free-thinking Montessori classroom where the fees for families are so high that the learning model there is only accessible to a select few who can afford it? We have to find a balance, and particularly ways to serve at-need youth (the poor, minorities, the marginalized, differently ables, etc) and privileged youth. The answer is NOT ONE ANSWER but a variety of approaches. This requires a different investment model, and a historical analysis of the purposes of K-8 schools in our society.
I also had a very strong reaction to "Bashing Youth" and "Wild in Deceit." For a long time now, the media has depicted African American teens/young adult in a poor light. Often times, the media releases these off base statistic about the poor Africa American youth without questioning the source. For example, how many times have you heard that there are more African American teens in jail than are in college? Unfortunate, no one has ever question the source of the data or validity of the research. Science teaches us that there is always some degree of error when it comes to research there no absolute truths. I wonder did this researcher actually search every African American youth within the United States or just in one particular area. Furthermore, this type propaganda creates negative stereotypes about African American youth which in turn adds to the racial discrimination bucket that already exist throughout the world. Consequently, I agree with the author that teenagers typically are unfairly portrayed by adults.
ReplyDeleteBrian Webb
I think the media will always misconstrue and over exaggerate things which fit their agenda and prove economic game. Whatever sells is what you will see. From claiming that teenagers are hold the crown of American violence, to teen sex, to idealized body image, to political misinformation. I think the most important thing here is to remember how to unravel these hidden messages to the kids in the classroom so that they can question the information that they receive ... and there is SO MUCH information. In addition, people often play into the ways in which they are stereotyped. Teenagers are especially susceptible to this because they are growing, changing, and determining their style. As humans, we want and need to feel accepted, and teenagers are at a point when they independently decide by whom and how they want to be accepted. If violence and sex is normalized for teenagers in the media, they may feel ostracized - or they may feel that that is how they are supposed to be or how they are allowed to be. The fact that teenagers (and especially already socially and econmically marginalized groups) are not often enough hailed for their creativity, intelligence, and energy is unfortunate.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up, I was always told "don't believe everything you see" and "don't believe everything you hear." But that was in reference to outlandish claims and facts. What about things that seemed normal? Was I questioning those? Not until college, for sure. As educators, we need to help our students question who they are and how they are seen in the eyes of others. Question why they make the decisions they make and provide them valid RESOURCES. Maybe part of our agenda should be to show them that everyone else has an agenda.
First I wanted to comment on the discussion of the differentiation between adult and adolescent behavior. I agree that there is little difference between the actual behaviors but I would also argue that it is demonstrated to different degrees and for different reasons in adolescence. Adolescents may engage in many of the same behaviors as adults for the same reasons that adults do, but they may also engage in those behaviors for reasons that adults would not. As we learn more as we develop, we are still vulnerable to the negative aspects of human nature, but hopefully we are also manage ourselves more adroitly.
ReplyDeleteWhile I am suspicious of the statistic that 40% of violent crimes are committed by those abused as children, I think that this number still indicates an important need in our society. Those who grow up in adverse environments, no matter what form they take, are more susceptible to perpetuating those environments. Those who are identified as abused are especially in need of environments that will help them flourish in spite of their abuse. This is related closely with the final topic that I would like to discuss.
I believe that citizenship is a necessary for the United States to prosper. As such, I believe that it should be a concept that is taught in school. This is also the way in for a connection with the wider community including parents. What are the responsibilities of an citizen? How are these responsibilities being actualized in the community? These are questions that adults as well as adolescents should be asking. I agree strongly that there is no one solution to the educational system and why I am dubious of national efforts to find the "way" to educate students best. There is no one way to educate all students.