teen bashing and child beauty pageants

I’m not quite sure I follow the logic of Mike Males’ argument. I agree that the media has an overly-negative view of teenagers, and neglects to cover stories on good things that teenagers are doing. However, I do not necessarily think it is “teen bashing” when newspapers and magazine report on the number of teen pregnancies. Males is disturbed by the term “teen pregnancy” because he argues that most of the fathers are in fact not teenagers. I think this is a moot point; it doesn’t matter what you call it there are still teenage girls who are having babies regardless of how old the father is. I think that the media has a right to make a big deal about this because teenagers are not capable of financially supporting a child, let alone themselves. There are of course many adults who could barely support a child, but teenagers almost certainly could not. I think there needs to be more education about this topic, because it is often people of lower class that have teen pregnancies which further puts them into poverty because it disrupts their education. I will agree with Males’ argument that “teen problems” are often issues that are more accurately due to poverty than to age. I feel as though Males’ disagrees with the term “teen issues” because these same issues are prevalent among adults. I don’t see the problem of terming them as teen issues because there should be a distinction made because teens are less apt to deal with such issues, whether it be emotionally or financially.
The article about beauty pageants could have been written about kids in general not just girls when it comes to domineering parents. Many parents, fathers in particular, push their kids to be super athletes that it becomes stressful for kids. I believe that the point of youth activities, whether it be pageants or sports, is to be fun even if there is competition involved. There is nothing wrong with competition, but when adults are the ones pushing their kids past the limit the competition aspect becomes too stressful for kids. There are these unreal expectations that parents put on their kids. To me this is absolutely a form of child abuse. Again I have no problem with competition, to a limited extent, in youth activities but the focus should be on promoting healthy activities, fun activities, and something that is a stress reliever not a cause of stress for children

Adolescent Changes

I think most people could sum up their middle school experience as awkward. This sense of awkwardness is not only a result of changes and new experiences but also due to a lack of information regarding these events. Middle school aged children that go through these changes also are struggling with a sense of self. They are trying to figure out who they are as well also trying to figure out what they think their friends want them to be. Most kids just want to fit in, but trying to figure out how to do this well undergoing changes can be very stressful for children. The pressures from school and at home can be more than enough for many kids, but then to add on the pressures of trying to fit in during puberty can be overwhelming for all children.
There should be a more comprehensive ways in which children can find out about information regarding the changes they are going through during puberty. Many parents are hesitant to talk to their children about such issues with their children because it may be awkward or embarrassing for both the child and the parent. Another reasons parents may not be able to talk about these issues is because they are not informed and do not know how to answer their children’s questions. This raises the question of whether schools should be responsible for this kind of education. Should sexual education be included in the classroom along with reading and writing? Many parents may be opposed to this. Do parents have the right to control the curriculum of their children’s schools? I believe that it is important that children receive this information. The trouble is figuring out which age is the most appropriate for first teaching this information. It shouldn’t be at too young of an age in which children can not understand the topic but it shouldn’t be too late that children have already experienced changes in their body or possibly even had sexual experiences.

Questions to consider
Who is responsible for teaching sexual education to children. Parents? Schools? Both? Other sources?
At what age, if any, should schools begin teaching sexual education?

The "Other" in High School

Kumashiro’s article Toward a Theory of Anti-Oppressive Education made me think of the parallels between school and society. It got me thinking whether school reflects society or if society reflects school. Kumashiro’s “Other” in the school has historically been blacks, but today it can also include homosexuals, people of low socioeconomic status, or those who simply are not the norm or accepted minority. To answer whether school has a stronger affect on society or if society more strongly affects schools I look to examples of integration during the 60s. Through Civil Rights there were changes in the schools, but changes in the schools such as integration did not lead to integration in surrounding cities. While schools are a strong agent of change I do not think they are strong enough alone to change society. I feel as though schools are reflections of society.

The term “Other” used by Kumashiro made me think of my own high school and the dynamics of the “Other” that I experienced. I feel as though there is a strong difference between societal others such as minorities, the poor, homosexuals, and even women compared to school others such as nerds, drama club, Goths, and other groups that are marginalized. Societal norms can be included in school norms, but after high school some of the terms for “Others” in school settings such as “nerds” are not really considered to be “Others” in society. High school seemed to be more about labels and which group you belonged to than the “real world”. While which group you belong to does affect your social status I feel as though it does not define you as much as it did in high school. The term the “Other” made me think of how the lunch room of high schools is segregated into separate groups. At each table, or areas of the lunchroom, there were different subgroups such as jocks, popular kids, stoners, black kids, nerds, Mexicans, Goths, dorks, drama club. And then it was further divided into which class you belonged to; so if you were a freshman and a “dork” then you were really at the bottom of the totem pole. At each school one of these labels carries a certain connotation and it may be more acceptable to be in the drama club at some schools compared to others. But all you had to do was look at who you were sitting by to see what your status or worth was in the teenage wasteland.

Questions to consider:
- Do you feel as though schools affect society or if society affects schools more.
- What did your high school lunchroom look like, what did it say about your status.