CRAZY HORMONAL TEENS ON THE RAMPAGE!!!

“Bashing Youth” and “Wild in Deceit” by Mike Males
This article reminded me of reading the book Culture of Fear in which the author made the same point that the media is constantly trying to put the blame on some powerless group. Every group of people must have their scapegoat to blame the problems of society on when they are the ones who are building it up themselves through the use of scare tactics, a lack of faith and respect towards these groups, and general ignorance.
The inflated rates of youth commiting suicide, having babies, committing crimes, etc is astonishing! Organizations should be penalized for these fraud numbers and it should be made known to the public. But of course because it doesn’t attract media attention and isn’t controversial enough no one really cares. Isn’t that the fault of the purposefully ignorant Americans though? The media is just feeding us with these lies because we have allowed them to all this time and take their information as face value truth without doing our own research. Males states that “in the last five to 10 years, intense media and government attack on various behaviors-chiefly drug abuse, violence, and pregnancy-have been followed by rapidly rising problems among teenagers.” How can teenagers have hope if the majority of society continues to believe that they are a joke and a waste of space? This is what educators have to undue in the classrooms. I remember many of my teachers who would constantly harass students who weren’t “behaving” and would say things like “you don’t belong in school” or “you’re wasting my time here.” I still hear similar phrases being shouted, mostly by administrators, at the MPS school that I’m tutoring at.
The mode at which we strive to “fix” this problem of “youth gone wild” is, as Males states, “more preaching, programming and punishment.” This creates a vicious cycle that will not be broken until we have reforms that aim at looking at why these numbers in pregnancy, suicide, and drug use are much more prevalent among our youth. We cannot deny that much of it has to do with SES and race. Unfortunately, because there are not enough programs aimed at giving minority youth second chances and because family structures have fallen apart in these communities, these disparities between whites and blacks have to exist. For example, our current criminal justice system has limited resources for delinquents when they get out of jail, not equipping them with job skills or an education that could lead them on the road to success. Instead, we throw them out there into a “jungle” and expect them to survive on the little that they have left. No wonder they continue to commit the same crimes-not only is it frustrating but it is sometimes the only way they see out. I like how Males brings up the fact that “during the Great Depression murder spiraled upward-peaking in 1933 with a rate of 9.7 murders per 100,000, higher than 1993’s 9.5 per 100,000 rate” (129). And now that we are going into a recession we have to be supportive of certain welfare programs that will help to bring families together, provide health care, financial literacy, and economic education.

Puberty...a blessing or a curse?

I didn’t find this article interesting because it was a review of my psychology of health class but I think it’s important to know the processes behind puberty and what issues middle school students are facing. It’s also important to educate these individuals to increase their self-esteem and ease the transition into high school. As they are more educated about puberty they begin to realize and understand that their experiences are “normal,” especially when dealing with issues of crisis.
I remember when I was in middle school just feeling like I was going crazy or like there was something psychologically wrong with me and it was really hard to cope when I didn’t know what was happening to me. Not only should students learn of the biological processes of puberty they also need to be informed of its psychological importance. Puberty wasn’t something that was brought up in my house, along with drugs and sex. I really think our society needs to be more open about these issues otherwise we are going to continue to remain awkwardly silent when this comes up.
Puberty is not treated as a rite of passage in this country, instead it’s seen as more of a burden on the adolescent. Because puberty is socially constructed this way we minimize the struggles of youth or blame them for all their troubles. I like reading how differently cultures respond to puberty as a rite of passage. Perhaps our society should have a more positive view of it and consider it a stepping stone to adulthood, maturity, a positive body image, more responsibility in society, formation of identity, etc. Perhaps if we would allow our youth to be more involved politically, socially, academically etc they would confront this part of life with more ease. I think early maturing girls, especially, need to hear this message since they have a harder time with self-image, friends, sex, and identity than late maturers. They can also be more susceptible to early pregnancy and doing drugs than their peers especially when experiencing “depressive and aggressive affects in girls” (p.42).
Also the lack of intimacy in boys is another issue that should be addressed and it often ignored. I didn’t even think about that until after I read this and then I thought how much more beneficial would it be if they had close friendships in which they could disclose their information…then again should we just let boys be boys? These are all issues that I will have to deal with if I become a middle school teacher! Yikes!

Kumashiro Anti-Oppressive Ed

There is so much that educators have to do to be inclusive of all students and at first it was really overwhelming to read through each approach, its strengths and its weaknesses. I was really please to see Kumashiro use the work of Ladson-Billings and Freire because those are two educators whose work really aligns best with my teaching philosophy. Critical pedagogy is something that I have been looking into for a while ever since I worked with popular educators in El Salvador. I found that they used their own civil war experiences to educate and enable their students to take action for issues that were happening around their community. I agree that the weakness to this approach is that it just replaces another socially hegemonic framework but it helps students analyze the problems we face in society and challenges them to do something about it. I think it can instill empathy, which will and will not lead to action but at least teachers can plant a seed. This approach along with integrating a consisten curriculum of the "other" and providing persoanl support and resources for students is key.
I think it all depends on what school we will be working at. For example, if I'm teaching at South Division i know that my demographics are primarily hispanic, black, and asian students so I know I must make sure to be include a culturally integrated curriculum along with a current issues that directly face these communities so that they may be educated and challenged. We cannot remain complacent as teachers and i'm really happy to see that teachers of this era are becoming more knowleageable about anti-oppressive education and getting to know the rapidly changing demographics of the schools they will be teaching at.
We want to be able to instill our students with their own critical lenses all the while educating them on what the experiences of the "Other" are and what they can do with this information, especially when it comes to their actions. It is difficult for teachers to come in and unteach students what homophobic views the media or their own families might have taught them. Homosexuality has to be one of the most difficult issues to have students relate to and dealing with this issue inside the classroom can be difficult. How can we do this without unsettling parents or overstepping our boundaries?