Teens, TEENS, TeEnS...
Article 1: "Confronting Dating Violence by Telling Teens That More Abuse Is Not the Solution"
New York Times, 29 March 2009
This article was both a positive and negative one. It was about teen violence, but it was someone that was explaining it to a group of teenagers; informing them about it. The students seemed as if they were engaged in the speakers (Mrs. Garcia) assembly. She works for Day One, a nonprofit organization that supports those who suffer from teen violence. The speakers goes out to schools and such educating them on what goes one with teen violence, how to get help, and get yourself out of the situation. I enjoyed reading the article. It was nice to see that someone is educating teens about teen violence. Recently I did a project on teen violence and was shocked at the statistics. Hopefully people like Mrs. Garcia and the Day One organization can help teens and stop or at least lower the numbers of teen violence.
Article 2: "Sexting May Place Teens at Legal Risk"
New York Times, 26 March 2009
"One in five teens may be a child pornographer risking life in prison — for the crime of taking and distributing naked pictures of themselves." What is that all about!? This article was discussed a new thing that teens do called, sexting. In other words, the teens take pictures of themselves (naked or semi-naked) and electronically send them to others. Sometimes it gets out of hand, such as s boy that sent a picture to a girl and she sent it to others who sent it to others. In the end the picture reached 300 teens! This like this can get the teens into trouble. "It’s illegal under federal and state child-porn laws to create explicit images of a minor, posses them or distribute them." If caught, the teen could be sentenced and have to register as a sex offender. I did not know about this law until I read the article. Also, I did not know that teens were into this thing of sexting or sending these types of photos to others. Do they seriously think that they will not get sent and sent and sent? The article was shocking, but interesting. If you have a chance, take a look. http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/sexting-may-place-teens-at-legal-risk/?scp=2&sq=article%20on%20teenagers&st=cse
Article 3: "Depression Tests Urged for Teenagers"
New York Times. 29 March 2009
Yet another shocking article... "An influential government-appointed medical panel is urging doctors to perform routine screening on all American teenagers for depression, a step that acknowledges that nearly two million teenagers are affected by this debilitating condition." I never really thought about teens being depressed. But, the more that I think about it I think it's very, very possible. Teens have a tough time living during these years; finding out who and what they are, accepting or rejecting stereotypes, gaining responsibility, facing peer pressure, etc. With all of this and more going on, it is easy to slip into a depression. I think that parents may let it go by simply thinking that their son or daughter "is just being a teen and they will get over it"
"An estimated 6 percent of American teenagers are clinically depressed. Evidence shows that detailed but simple questionnaires can accurately diagnose depression in primary-care settings like a pediatrician’s office." This made me think about a recent situation, a boy I know just committed suicide at age 15. Are teens sometimes crying out for help and we just do not see it or we choose to ignore it? I have heard about teens committing suicide in the past and many say that they never saw it coming, but do we see it? I think that the screenings should be done. Although I do not think I necessarily agree with medicating the teens for pretty much the rest of their lives with medication, I do think that they need help. Hopefully they would be able to function in later years without the medication and not come dependent on it.
All of these articles were about teens, but they were very different from one another. One about educating teens, teens and technology, and teens health. I enjoyed reading the articles and was glad to have learned new things and become more aware.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
L. Greenfield--FAST FORWARD
Some things I understand...
I totally understand where Greenfield is coming from. "Girls look up to Britney and Christina and wear highly sexualized adult clothing in middle school and below. Taking advantage of this point, clothing companies market thong underwear and make-up to pre-teenagers." This is so true! When I substitute teach and see the middle schoolers I am shocked by how they act, what they are wearing, and the words that I can hear them say (the ones they think you don't hear but you really do... teachers hear everything!)
Greenfield brings up the point about name brands. She says that teen don't necessarily have to like in Beverly Hills to want or know what expensive name brands are. People in the media wear them and they can be found all over. I can relate to this...When I was in high school it was the cool thing to wear the expensive Abercrombie cloths, Coach bags, and Tiffany jewelry. These were the "in" things then and you had to have it or you just didn't fit in. These things were marketed in the media and spread to the teens.
No matter how much I read about teens I always learn new things. Some of it is fascinating, shocking, and unbelievable. I can also relate to some of it because I was a teen not too long ago. As much as I want to say that I didn't follow the media, I did. I don't think that I was as "bad" as the teen today, but I was influenced, everyone is! I see the teens of today wearing make-up much earlier than I was, wear very revealing clothing, and acting like pop stars.
Some things I don't understand...
I cannot get why these teens want to grow up so quickly and be someone who they truly are not. I feel like teenagers are losing the concept of being an individual because they only want to look the who they see in the media. If they teens go out looking and acting like this then where are the parents? Some things can be hidden and not so out in the open, but the parents have to understand and see some of the things that their teens are saying and doing.
Connections...
~Media Matters- Greenfield speaks about how teens take into consideration what they see in the media. They want to be and look just like "those" people.
~Some of the pictures that I was able to look at of hers looks similar to pictures that I have seen before (prom, children/teen looking older than they really are, "high class teens")
~Stereotypes can me made and seen about teens from these pictures. Things that we have discussed in class is talked about by Greenfield. Teens (and children) want to be like what they see. They want to be cool and look fashionable, rich, and older.
Questions/Comments/Points to Share...
~How similar would the pictures have looked if they were taken in other states and not the big state of Cali?
~Why is it that even if the young generation is not exposed to things like the radio and television, they still know songs and t.v shows?
~How do the parents take and interpret their teens when they look older than a teen and want the expensive stuff like Prada, Gucci, and Coach?
~I enjoyed viewing the pictures by Greenfield. Some of them were shocking and surprising to me...the teens look like adults!
I totally understand where Greenfield is coming from. "Girls look up to Britney and Christina and wear highly sexualized adult clothing in middle school and below. Taking advantage of this point, clothing companies market thong underwear and make-up to pre-teenagers." This is so true! When I substitute teach and see the middle schoolers I am shocked by how they act, what they are wearing, and the words that I can hear them say (the ones they think you don't hear but you really do... teachers hear everything!)
Greenfield brings up the point about name brands. She says that teen don't necessarily have to like in Beverly Hills to want or know what expensive name brands are. People in the media wear them and they can be found all over. I can relate to this...When I was in high school it was the cool thing to wear the expensive Abercrombie cloths, Coach bags, and Tiffany jewelry. These were the "in" things then and you had to have it or you just didn't fit in. These things were marketed in the media and spread to the teens.
No matter how much I read about teens I always learn new things. Some of it is fascinating, shocking, and unbelievable. I can also relate to some of it because I was a teen not too long ago. As much as I want to say that I didn't follow the media, I did. I don't think that I was as "bad" as the teen today, but I was influenced, everyone is! I see the teens of today wearing make-up much earlier than I was, wear very revealing clothing, and acting like pop stars.
Some things I don't understand...
I cannot get why these teens want to grow up so quickly and be someone who they truly are not. I feel like teenagers are losing the concept of being an individual because they only want to look the who they see in the media. If they teens go out looking and acting like this then where are the parents? Some things can be hidden and not so out in the open, but the parents have to understand and see some of the things that their teens are saying and doing.
Connections...
~Media Matters- Greenfield speaks about how teens take into consideration what they see in the media. They want to be and look just like "those" people.
~Some of the pictures that I was able to look at of hers looks similar to pictures that I have seen before (prom, children/teen looking older than they really are, "high class teens")
~Stereotypes can me made and seen about teens from these pictures. Things that we have discussed in class is talked about by Greenfield. Teens (and children) want to be like what they see. They want to be cool and look fashionable, rich, and older.
Questions/Comments/Points to Share...
~How similar would the pictures have looked if they were taken in other states and not the big state of Cali?
~Why is it that even if the young generation is not exposed to things like the radio and television, they still know songs and t.v shows?
~How do the parents take and interpret their teens when they look older than a teen and want the expensive stuff like Prada, Gucci, and Coach?
~I enjoyed viewing the pictures by Greenfield. Some of them were shocking and surprising to me...the teens look like adults!
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Sittenfeld Novel
Author and Title:
Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld
Some things I understand...
I enjoyed reading the book and I was able to see the points that the author was making. Even though the story is fiction it felt a little real. The story is about his girl, Lee who is learning about herself. She is learning things like her gender, how to "fit in", and about other stereotypical ideas of things (gender, race, class, etc). The novel shows how hard it can be to be a teenager. Having to grow up and try to find out what is wrong or right, good or bad, and having to face many new obstacles and experiences. I could feel for Lee when I was reading the story... She was being blamed for something that she did not do and had to face her classmates. If I was Lee I would want to crawl under a rock due to all of the things that come up in the novel. Curtis Sittenfeld uses some real life stereotypes and actions in his novel. If it was on the television it would be a "perfect show" just like all of the other media things that are out there.
Some things I don't understand...
-I thought the parts of the novel were a good read, I was not confused by it at all (well at least I think, but I'll find out during class discussion!)
--I had to get used to reading with lots of dialogue, its been a while and sometimes I get side tracked with who is saying what.
---I went online to view the entire book and i viewed the chapter titles. As I looked at the titles I wondered, "what could that be about?" The wondering makes me want to read more because I have some questions that need to be answered.
Connections to other texts or course themes...
- The story relates to the course itself... TEENAGERS. I liked how it was a different way to view and "get a hold" on teenagers.
--I think that it had a relationship with the course them of Teenagers are not some alien life form. Teenagers are people just like children and adults and they deserve respect and should not be so stereotyped.
Questions/Comments/Points to share...
-How do younger generations (teens) feel when they read this novel?
--I enjoyed reading parts of the novel and think that I might read the entire book :)
---I think the story made some good points and it made me think about teenagers and how they are treated or mistreated.
Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld
Some things I understand...
I enjoyed reading the book and I was able to see the points that the author was making. Even though the story is fiction it felt a little real. The story is about his girl, Lee who is learning about herself. She is learning things like her gender, how to "fit in", and about other stereotypical ideas of things (gender, race, class, etc). The novel shows how hard it can be to be a teenager. Having to grow up and try to find out what is wrong or right, good or bad, and having to face many new obstacles and experiences. I could feel for Lee when I was reading the story... She was being blamed for something that she did not do and had to face her classmates. If I was Lee I would want to crawl under a rock due to all of the things that come up in the novel. Curtis Sittenfeld uses some real life stereotypes and actions in his novel. If it was on the television it would be a "perfect show" just like all of the other media things that are out there.
Some things I don't understand...
-I thought the parts of the novel were a good read, I was not confused by it at all (well at least I think, but I'll find out during class discussion!)
--I had to get used to reading with lots of dialogue, its been a while and sometimes I get side tracked with who is saying what.
---I went online to view the entire book and i viewed the chapter titles. As I looked at the titles I wondered, "what could that be about?" The wondering makes me want to read more because I have some questions that need to be answered.
Connections to other texts or course themes...
- The story relates to the course itself... TEENAGERS. I liked how it was a different way to view and "get a hold" on teenagers.
--I think that it had a relationship with the course them of Teenagers are not some alien life form. Teenagers are people just like children and adults and they deserve respect and should not be so stereotyped.
Questions/Comments/Points to share...
-How do younger generations (teens) feel when they read this novel?
--I enjoyed reading parts of the novel and think that I might read the entire book :)
---I think the story made some good points and it made me think about teenagers and how they are treated or mistreated.
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