As soon as I saw the title of Thomas Hine's introduction, "Are Teenagers Necessary?," I was intrigued. As we have discussed in class and as I have voiced, for some reason tennagers and the idea of being a teenager has been stigmatized. Why is this and why do adults seem to forget that they too were once teens? Hine says, "It is simply that we remember ourselves as ourselves. Being a teenager isn't an identity but a predicament most people live through." I never thought of it like that and I think that is the problem. People think of being a teenager as an identity rather than just an age of changes.
I found what he said about the rise of teens interesting. Teenagers are the "symbol of Americans' rising aspirations, the reprosityof hopes, the one who will realize the American dream. And inevitably, the teenager is a dissapointment, whose combinations of adult capacities and juvenile irresponsibility sows personal heartbreak and social chaos." I haven't thought about being a teenager in this way before. I agree with what he is saying here. Perhaps we as a society and as adults put too much pressure on our teenagers. The reality is that teenagers are classified as such from age 13-19. That is a lot of years and a lot of changing that is happening. At what point in those years do our standards for them change? In those years, they are finding themselves. They are trying to navigate and find who they are. At the beginning of their teen years, they are entering high school-- four years that will change them and throw them for a loop. Then, they are turning 18 and entering college, or the military, or the 'real world.' Suddenly when they turn that age, they have even more added responsibilities and expectations.
As I was reading on, in the first chapter, Hine tells the story of the 18-year-old girl who gave birth in the bathroom the night of her prom and put the baby in a plastic bag and threw him away. That story I vaguely remember hearing about when it happened and I was just as sick reading it now as I was then, if not more. I think it could potentially be a good example for talking about teenagers but I don't really know where he took it. I found that part of the article a little disjointed and I struggled to understand him bringing it all together.
Hine goes on to talk about a study done in a 1997 survey. It said that "90% of adults said that young people are failing to learn such values as honesty, responsibility, and respect, and two thirds agreed that the next generation will be worse than the last." I am not surprised by these resulty, unfortunately, but my question is "why?" Why specifically do adults think this and is anything being done to show adults, or rather remind them what teenage life is life?
One thing I did like about the article was his comparison of teenagers now to teenagers of the 1970s and 1980s. He says that contemporary teenagers are coping very well despite challenges. He gives examples, such as they are healthier than ever, the high levels of alcohol and drug use is still below the levels of 25 years ago, the drop-out rate is lower and more kids than ever are going to college and that they just express greater optimism about their lives. While there are still many problems out there, such as the drug and alcohol intake of teenagers, it was nice to hear someone giving teenagers some credit.
"It's good to feel hopeful about the prospects for the young and to feel confident that today's and tomorrow's teenagers will turn out all right."
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Media Literacy
Media Literacy
As I googled 'Media Literacy,' many websites and links came up.
Medialiteracy.com:
Brands R Us: How Advertising Works.
I found this article really interesting. Advertising/brands are so influencial on everyone in some way, but on teenagers especially. The article says, "The fact is, when all is said and done, most people don't believe, don't remember, don't even notice, most advertising." I think this is true but there is no doubt that it is still important on our society. Powerfully put, "...But pointing a finger at the advertising industry will change nothing. Wishing and hoping that the advertising industry will lose its innocence and suddenly leap into modern times in recognition of the situation we are all in is futile. And while the advertising industry is part and parcel of an industrial civilization now in decline, this doesn't mean we should expect the number of advertising messages and collective power of those messages to also decline in the very near future. If anything, it means we can expect an increase in the number of those messages. For the advertising industry, along with the main body of industrial society, is struggling for survival. It may be drowning, but it has not yet sunk. And in a last-ditch effort to save itself, it will flail about more wildly and make more noise than ever, as we might expect from any drowning individual." What we must change is us. We are the problem. We either help create this reality, or we help maintain it.
http://www.mediachannel.org/classroom/index.shtml"
It is estimated thatNorth American children spend twice as much time over the course of a year watching television as they do in school. A recent study found that U.S. children spend over four and a half hours a day using television, computers and video games." I had assumed that the percentage for this would be great, but I did not realize it would be quite this high. When a child watches twice as much time engaged in television as they do in school, how could they not be strongly impacted and unknowingly influenced? At some point, we need to challenge this and actively work on fighting it.
http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article408.html
John Culkin, SJ: The Man Who Invented Media Literacy. John Culkin (1928-1993) was one of the first educators in the U.S. to initiate explicit media education curriculum in schools. He wrote, ""The attainment of (media) literacy involves more that mere warnings about the effects of the mass media and more even than constant exposure to the better offerings of these media. This is an issue demanding more than good will alone; it requires understanding. And training in understanding is the task of the school!" He also stated, "Above all, Culkin wanted to teach teachers to think in new ways." While I think that he is right, and appreciate his dedication to this issue, we cannot disregard a parent's responsibility. While our teachers are in the schools, it is the parents that are educating at home. I believe this should be a shared responsibility. It is too important and too influencial to be taken lightly, or to be handled by only one adult figure in thier lives.
As I googled 'Media Literacy,' many websites and links came up.
Medialiteracy.com:
Brands R Us: How Advertising Works.
I found this article really interesting. Advertising/brands are so influencial on everyone in some way, but on teenagers especially. The article says, "The fact is, when all is said and done, most people don't believe, don't remember, don't even notice, most advertising." I think this is true but there is no doubt that it is still important on our society. Powerfully put, "...But pointing a finger at the advertising industry will change nothing. Wishing and hoping that the advertising industry will lose its innocence and suddenly leap into modern times in recognition of the situation we are all in is futile. And while the advertising industry is part and parcel of an industrial civilization now in decline, this doesn't mean we should expect the number of advertising messages and collective power of those messages to also decline in the very near future. If anything, it means we can expect an increase in the number of those messages. For the advertising industry, along with the main body of industrial society, is struggling for survival. It may be drowning, but it has not yet sunk. And in a last-ditch effort to save itself, it will flail about more wildly and make more noise than ever, as we might expect from any drowning individual." What we must change is us. We are the problem. We either help create this reality, or we help maintain it.
http://www.mediachannel.org/classroom/index.shtml"
It is estimated thatNorth American children spend twice as much time over the course of a year watching television as they do in school. A recent study found that U.S. children spend over four and a half hours a day using television, computers and video games." I had assumed that the percentage for this would be great, but I did not realize it would be quite this high. When a child watches twice as much time engaged in television as they do in school, how could they not be strongly impacted and unknowingly influenced? At some point, we need to challenge this and actively work on fighting it.
http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article408.html
John Culkin, SJ: The Man Who Invented Media Literacy. John Culkin (1928-1993) was one of the first educators in the U.S. to initiate explicit media education curriculum in schools. He wrote, ""The attainment of (media) literacy involves more that mere warnings about the effects of the mass media and more even than constant exposure to the better offerings of these media. This is an issue demanding more than good will alone; it requires understanding. And training in understanding is the task of the school!" He also stated, "Above all, Culkin wanted to teach teachers to think in new ways." While I think that he is right, and appreciate his dedication to this issue, we cannot disregard a parent's responsibility. While our teachers are in the schools, it is the parents that are educating at home. I believe this should be a shared responsibility. It is too important and too influencial to be taken lightly, or to be handled by only one adult figure in thier lives.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Thirteen
Thirteen. I have to admit that I don't have a great memory for details from that long ago because thirteen was some time ago.
I do know that I was awkward. I was insecure and self-conscious. I was also curious. I wanted to know about so many things and how they came to be and how they worked. What I do remember most about my mind-set was really coming to terms with my sexual orientation and finding the language for it, and being terrified of it.
Hobby-wise, I began playing the piano at age ten and by thirteen I was obsessed with music and anything that had to do with it. I wanted to learn to play as many instruments as I could. Other than that, I was a swimmer and was beginning to ponder taking karate classes. I thought it looked pretty cool and looked like fun.
In terms of school, I was finishing up eighth grade and was entering the big, scary world of high school-- and I was doing it at Bay View which for some reason made it a little less scary.
Looking back, that was all the root for a large portion of who I am. Now I certainly approach things very differently and more maturely and have a much different outlook on life. I have certainly discovered so much more. Thirteen seems like a lifetime ago, but I was curious then and I am more curious now as an adult. Oddly enough, music is still one of the most important things to me. I have since become a guitarist and a drummer and still want to learn as many instruments as I possibly can! Having been a swimmer, I now have a great respect and love for the ocean and anything water related. I did take martial arts and it was so much more than I could have imagined. It changed me in ways, for the better and I have since earned my black belt. Most importantly and most life changing, however, was my coming out. All of those things I found language for and realized at thirteen certainly never went away and a few years later I came out. It was the most difficult thing, yet the best thing that has ever happened to me. It changed my life completely.
I don't think we ever really lose who we were as teenagers. Rather, we grow and take those things on with a different, more mature POV. Our teenage years are really the root of who we will always truly be in some way.
I do know that I was awkward. I was insecure and self-conscious. I was also curious. I wanted to know about so many things and how they came to be and how they worked. What I do remember most about my mind-set was really coming to terms with my sexual orientation and finding the language for it, and being terrified of it.
Hobby-wise, I began playing the piano at age ten and by thirteen I was obsessed with music and anything that had to do with it. I wanted to learn to play as many instruments as I could. Other than that, I was a swimmer and was beginning to ponder taking karate classes. I thought it looked pretty cool and looked like fun.
In terms of school, I was finishing up eighth grade and was entering the big, scary world of high school-- and I was doing it at Bay View which for some reason made it a little less scary.
Looking back, that was all the root for a large portion of who I am. Now I certainly approach things very differently and more maturely and have a much different outlook on life. I have certainly discovered so much more. Thirteen seems like a lifetime ago, but I was curious then and I am more curious now as an adult. Oddly enough, music is still one of the most important things to me. I have since become a guitarist and a drummer and still want to learn as many instruments as I possibly can! Having been a swimmer, I now have a great respect and love for the ocean and anything water related. I did take martial arts and it was so much more than I could have imagined. It changed me in ways, for the better and I have since earned my black belt. Most importantly and most life changing, however, was my coming out. All of those things I found language for and realized at thirteen certainly never went away and a few years later I came out. It was the most difficult thing, yet the best thing that has ever happened to me. It changed my life completely.
I don't think we ever really lose who we were as teenagers. Rather, we grow and take those things on with a different, more mature POV. Our teenage years are really the root of who we will always truly be in some way.
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