After exploring the Listen Up website further I was able to find that within the site there are other links for teens to access other ways in which to speak up and talk about their beliefs. Within the website there were links to You Tube were teens can begin their own videos, access others videos and share their feelings about various topics concerning their lives as teens today. Also within the website are links to the Adobe Youth Voices, Input 2006, and MIPTV which are all audiovisual and digital networks where teens can go to let their voices be heard. While doing a web exploration I was able to find ‘Live Journals’ as another great place where teens can easily access other teens through keeping their own blog. Each post appears to be a diary of themselves about any topic of their choice. Much like our blogs other teen users can log into comment on their entry.
This was the second time I visited the website exploring just what Listen Up is all about. Only this time, I was able to observe how the unique creativity of the authors of “A Nightmare of Drugs and Alcohol” utilized this space in a very creative/ artistic way. This video shares with its audience the dangers of alcohol abuse and misuse. With auditory and visual applications the teens share a prolific segment about alcohol and teens today. Please check it out, http://www.listenup.org/screeningroom/index.php?view=3c2581db6f80efa6912eec63b3f1532d.
After viewing the video on “Babies, Bottles and Diapers” http://www.listenup.org/screeningroom/index.php?view=09fc01133f96a224c4b869c64dcd0f43 on teen pregnancy we hear from teen mothers and mothers to be. At the end of the segment a teen mom wrote a poem to her baby daughter and read it out loud and it really mirrored the ideas of Greenfield. The mother said several times “[Daughter] take your time child.” This mother’s idea relates well to Greenfields thoughts of the “early loss of innocence.” This mom’s poem also reminded me of Tupac Shakur lyrics ‘Dear Mama’ that we listened to in class. http://www.lyricsondemand.com/t/tupaclyrics/dearmamalyrics.html.
All in all Listen Up! is a very real website allowing teens to express their beliefs and talk back! I also feel that it is a good learning tool reaching out to all types of learners. Visually, and musically the website is a creative was for teens can access the sight using each video as a class room teaching about religion, faith, even teen pregnancy. I wish I knew about this when I was a teen!
Monday, April 28, 2008
Listen Up Inclass Reflections
TEEN SENSATION MILEY CYRUS IN THE NEWS TODAY!
Please check out the link below. It is a clip from the segment on Miley from the Today Show this morning. Learn what parents and the Disney Community are saying.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/24350239#24350239
Listen UP! Youth America!
Talking Points # 10
After reading a friend’s blog, I just wanted to share that I have truly grown to appreciate our bloggisphere this semester! I have enjoyed reading and sharing stories. One thing that really stands out to me is how much I have in common with other people. The blogs have allowed me to learn what others have experienced, feel and believe. I have learned that it is only until we open our hearts and minds to others and share who we are as a person that we learn how similar we all are!
I know that throughout the semester we have talked about 'safe places' for teens to learn. Infact, Ferguson mentions how her studies proved that “social structure and personal agency”…“cultural and racial awareness” challenged the safety of African American students in the classroom weakening their beliefs about themselves and the world around them.
After watching several of the videos on Listen up! http://www.listenup.org/ I have a greater appreciation for the role of teachers as positive mentors to teens. This network of teachers and students builds a virtual classroom where teens feel ‘safe.’ With each video teens of all ages and backgrounds post comments critiquing the other teens video. Many teens share videos reaching to topics spanning from stereotypes, youth, war, smoking, sexuality, racism…and the great list continues.
One documentary that stood out to me was entitled, “Editing the Truth” which explores the misconceptions and stereotypes generated by the word “gangster.” A wide body of research and several interviews later these teens got together to hear just what other teens believed to be the “truth” behind the word. A teen viewer Zeba responded, “Omg this is awesome! It’s so true, you never know what the person really meant to say, it can be totally manipulated.” Another viewer responded, “Very good documentary, it definitely showed me some other perspectives compared to what I originally believed.”
This web exploration allowed me to understand how similar we all are. Teens everywhere use the tools of multimedia today to connect with other teens about issues that concern their lives, the ways in which they think, believe and feel. This post made me think about Prensky, “Digital Natives” and the media not as a negative influence but a real display of how technology can bring us together and unite us.
Doesn’t the Listen Up! Website remind you of our bloggisphere?! It’s really cool that we have created our own subculture and network of thinkers. Cool beans!
Monday, April 21, 2008
Multimedia Project: 'My Super Sweet 16!!' - Working Outline
Women’s Studies Teenagers and the Media
Multimedia Project: Assignment 1 Working Outline
Members of the group: Briana Simonian, Ashlee Burns, Sarah Buckley, and Stephanie Shock.
Focus: ‘My Super Sweet 16’ What it takes? The Fame, the Goods, the Popular kids, the money, the Car…but does it all add up? What is the message behind the show? Why is it so popular?
Our plan is to teach our audience that the show is teaching middle age teens in society they are not good enough. Essentially, if you blend out you loose a state of normalcy among teens.
Ideas integrated into project focus:
1. Why are the kids on the show children of celebrities?
2. How is ‘My Super Sweet 16’ played out in other countries such as Britain?
3. Why the focus is kids modeling celebrities?
4. Incorporate textual evidence of the media on teens today.
References Greenfield, ‘Bad Boys,’ Hines, Ferguson, Christensen, and Boyd.
5. Clips from ‘You Tube’ ‘MTV’
6. Why the theme of every episode is significant? Importance of sequence of events?
7. Just how much is the budget for each ‘super sweet sixteen party’?
8. How do kids apply to get on the show? Incorporate evidence from Kid Nation application process?
9. Aspects of Teen “Freak Outs” on each episode. I.E. hype of each party. Why is it so exciting?
10. Message is the teens always get their way.
11. Identity production through media.
12. Importance of the ‘invites’ on the show.
13. Key themes of sexuality, race, drama (with and/or against the dominant discourse), parents roles or lack there of!?, materialistic things, guest star, and unrealistic expectations.
14. Target audience -middle class America?
Tasks due for our meeting the week of April 21, 2008
Briana – Outline Posted w/ details
Look at all references and class notes to find textual evidence to connect to the project.
Stephanie- Clips to add to project
Sarah- Articles pertaining to project.
Ashlee- Aspect of International ‘My Super Sweet 16’
Monday, April 14, 2008
MySpace Invades Youth America!!
Talking Points #9
"Identity Production in a Networked Culture: Why Youth Heart MySpace" by Danah Boyd (http://www.danah.org/papers/AAAS2006.html) explores just why MySpace attracts so many youth today. Despite heavy negative press, some teens spend every waking moment navigating their way through chat rooms, photos, videos and personalizing their own MySpace page to be viewed by the world. Like Hines, and Greenfield, Boyd toys with the idea that parents run the media often exaggerating how sites like My Space can be dangerous for their developing teen, “the media, typically run by the parent generation, capitalizes on and spreads the fear with little regard for data or actual implications. Examples are made out of delinquent youth, showing how the object of fear ruined them in some way or other. The message is clear - if you don't protect your kids from this evil, they too will suffer great harm to their minds, bodies or morals.” While there are several ways in which My Space can distract teens, Boyd emphasizes how it is a tool for positive socialization. Boyd demonstrates the ways in which the site regulates younger age users who are 14 + whose page can only be viewed by their peers. Boyd illustrates how My Space allows teens to be critiqued socially and “begin to engage with [a] broader social world.” However, the dominant discourse contradicts Boyd’s positive ideas about the site as a good tool for socialization because some teens take it too far. Boyd reports that while it can be positive, some teens “have an account which they check regularly because it's the only way to keep up with the Jones's.” Boyd explains, “youth look to older teens and the media to get cues about what to wear, how to act, and what's cool. Most teens are concerned with resolving how they perceive themselves with how they are perceived. To learn this requires trying out different performances, receiving feedback from peers and figuring out how to modify fashion, body posture and language to better give off the intended impression.”
However, often times writers like Hines and Greenfield bring us back to reality and remind us that the media is constantly portraying negative images which teens replicate. Hine states that our society’s beliefs about teens “are deeply contradictory. They should become free to become themselves. They are the hope of us all” (Hine, 11). Hine raises the issue that “young people crave contact with their families” (Hine, 25). The very absence of their role of the parents “engaging in their child’s life helping the teen to set goals” can damper the teen’s drive to aspire for their dreams ( Hine, 25). Hines illustrates like Boyd the need for teens to appropriately use MySpace while learning from their parents positive examples at home. These two must go hand in hand. Boyd remarks, “the dynamics of identity production play out visibly on MySpace.” Boyd reminds us of Prensky’s idea of ‘Digital Natives,’ “[MySpace] profiles are digital bodies, public displays of identity where people can explore impression management [2]. Because the digital world requires people to write themselves into being [3], profiles provide an opportunity to craft the intended expression through language, imagery and media. Explicit reactions to their online presence offers valuable feedback. The goal is to look cool and receive peer validation.” More times than not youth are influenced negatively by older adults like those in ‘Hollywood.’ Like Greenfield, Boyd remarks “the bigger challenge is that, online, youth publics mix with adult publics. While youth are influenced by the media's version of 20 somethings.” Greenfield would agree, “it seems like everyone is in a rush to be an adult. It’s not cool to be a kid.”
While Boyd believes that MySpace can play an active role in a teens search for identity it still fails to follow the dominant discourse of the negative perceptions of teens. This site can be looked at as a way for teens to shape their ideas but there are many ways in which youth is heavily influenced by the media and older teens on MySpace. What do you think about this? Is MySpace safe?
May Angels Surround You
Rememberi
ng Pops: 12/14/30~ 4/4/08
To some he was Anthony, Tony, or Smitty, and others Hun, Pops or Papa.
Today especially, I can’t stop thinking about my Pops a very special husband, brother, uncle and grandfather.
One place I could guarantee to find Pops was sitting in his special spot at the kitchen table. While waiting for you with open arms, you could always find him working on his Suduko, read the paper or working on a crossword puzzle.
Growing up Pops was there to play dolls with me in the playroom. Then he was there to help teach me to ride a bike. As I got older, he would drive me to ballet lessons where I could always find him watching me from a distance clapping. As an athlete, Pops and Nana were my cheering squad on the side lines of the sports field. From babysteps to braces to college Pops was always there.
But the most memorable times that vividly stand out in my mind are the conversations that Nana, Pops and I shared at that same round table in their kitchen. Through good times and bad, we talked about everything. From college admissions, classes, work, family, even boys Pops always gave you his best advice, because he loved you so much. He was always there for you believing in who you are and what you will become.
It is so hard to understand why god has taken him in? But I try to always keep our special memories together close to my heart. When I get sad my Nana always reminds me that Pops is now another guardian angel in our cheering section up in heaven. Always believing, always loving and always knowing that you are someone special.
A huge thank you to all my friends of the RIC community who have supported me and carried me through these tough couple of weeks. My pops always said after I transferred schools
"RIC is another blessing in my life." Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Much Love, Bri
KID NATION? Or Notion to Create Power Hungry Teens?
Talking Points #8
Should Kids Be Seen? by Meghan Daum http://www.meghandaum.com/latimes_column/2007/091507_kids_be_seen.htm
illustrates the uncertain motivation behind the show “Kid Nation.” The idea of the show seems dictated by publicity hungry producers going against the dominant discourse by creating a money hungry “cast of Little House on the Prairie teens.” Apparently, we didn’t settle America’s desire for man-to-man money challenges with “Survivor” and now they are turning to kids with “Kid Nation.” Daum reports “the payoff for this gamble? Each child received $5,000, plus chances to win many times that amount in prizes. Every week on the show, one child is awarded a gold star worth $20,000.” Daum reports that the children of the show are unlike that of many teens in our society “the children on the "Kid Nation" promo appear more physically active, intellectually engaged and (no small thing) appropriately dressed than most kids on TV (and in real life) these days. Instead of tempting diabetes with junk food or singing 50 Cent songs to their Bratz dolls, they're working with their hands, breathing fresh air and wearing clothes.”
What I do not understand after reading this article is what the producers are trying to teach our teens today? By shining the spotlight on teens casting them in this distorted light, what are we trying to say? I believe that the producers are creating a fallacy that only kids like these selected “perfect ones” on “Kid Nation” have a chance at winning money and becoming successful. The show is not real! We are not promoting good values with producer mediated scripts dictated to the teens on the show. I think a more appropriate view of “Kid Nation” would be viewing a documentary of the kids of this entire nation! Why not have videos of teens in inner city schools, Catholic private schools, teens working part- time jobs, teens promoting healthy choices in groups like SADD? The world is not built like “Kid Nation” and the negative values instilled into the children of the show. Teen viewers might believe that only money brings happiness and success.
Daum’s ideas correlate with those of Greenfield, Christensen and Hines about how mass media and society’s stereotypes develop our own ideas of ourselves and other people. Christensen reminds us how terms like “the wicked step mother” and the distorted image of female cartoons not as real people but “play boy centerfolds” negatively shape our own self perception (Christensen, 130). Each writer invites us to see how we can “pierce the surface” of these stereotypes and misconceptions (Christensen, 126). Christensen invites us all “to see patterns in the media…and learn to decode the underlying assumptions” (Christensen, 127). We must all “unlearn the myths” and empower ourselves to think for ourselves and develop our own beliefs about people, race, gender, and society (Christensen, 127).
Daum states in her article, that “Kid Nation” goes against the dominant discourse for parents and “"having big plans" for your kids may be changing. A few decades ago, these same folks might have been pushing their kids to win a science fair. But now that the culture of celebrity worship spans several generations, and because it's a biological imperative for parents to want for their children what they couldn't attain themselves, it makes perfect sense that some may want to see their kids on reality shows more than they want them becoming doctors.”
I believe that at the end of the day, it is not about the money that a teen can win on a game show it is about what they can give back to the world by being who they really are! Parents can begin at home to instill positive values to their children. In the words of Laura Greenfield, “like young people everywhere, L.A.’s teens are greatly influenced by the television and films they watch, the magazines they read and the music they listen to. If anything Hollywood’s proximity amplifies its import and influence” (Greenfield, 1).
Like all of these authors and especially Greenfield and Daum, I would ask all of us, how much has the media really shaped our lives? Looking back to the movies we watch, cartoons and “reality shows” what are some of the main cultural stereotypes/ bias that surround us? What are we taught to think about our youth? Power? Money? Self Respect? What are your thoughts…
Teens in the Media: Barrington? or Borringtown?
Talking Points # 7
Barrington? Or Borringtown? According to an article from SADD entitled ‘Rhode Island Students Against Destructive Decisions Chapter Honored for Promoting Safe and Healthy Decision Making Among Teens’ http://www.sadd.org/press/activity07.htm Barrington’s SADD Program (Students Against Destructive Decisions) received the 2007 National Activity of the Year Award. With this good press promoting teen-to-teen drug and alcohol awareness, it is hard to forget the several teen accident cases related to alcohol just this year http://www.projo.com/ri/barrington/content/EB_BARRBEER18_03-18-08_HQ9DPVC_v9.357d219.html.
The articles I found have two very different takes on teens and their influence to their peer population as well as how the whole community views them. The article on the SADD program in Barrington demonstrated teens efforts to create a campaign called ‘Borrington’ which was put in place “to challenge the idea that the town is boring – an excuse many students give for drinking on the weekends.” Joanne Royley, SADD advisor reports, “Teenagers here blame high rates of underage drinking on a lack of activities for people their age. Our idea was to teach teens that the town is really not boring at all and with a little creativity and imagination, they can find fun, interesting and substance- free activities here.” Students across several ages made T-shirts and posters to paint the town orange to promote their SADD group ‘Borrington!’ They went as far as making a webpage www.borrington.org as well as ran ads in the paper to promote healthy teen activities. What is awesome about the webpage is that it also has a blogish feel with pictures and videos with a forum where students came share their opinion about SADDs ideas. The ‘Borrington’ Group has also tried to raise awareness through open mike ‘nights on the town.’ Penny Wells, President and Executive Director of SADD reports, “The innovation, creativity, and dedication of these SADD students is truly inspiring. They have empowered their friends to make safe, healthy decisions.” This campaign has supported students within the town to challenge the stereotypical drinking activities and “empower” others to do the same. Rock on SADD of Barrington!
On the other hand, there always has to be someone to give teens a bad rap! The article from Projo, entitled ‘5 teens in 2 incidents face alcohol possession counts in Barrington’ begins with such drama. The article opens with “In two Friday night incidents within 40 minutes of each other, the police confiscated more than 150 cans of beer from 10 local teens. Five of them were changes with underage possession of alcohol.” First off, REWIND! Why the dramatic introduction? Where did their parents think they were going? Who gave them the beer? Shocking but some adults actually provide substances to teens ‘as long as they drink in the house!’ Hello! What are we telling our kids? We have to build a good foundation of healthy decisions at home. The article then reports of Joshua Milich was “charged as an adult because he is 18. The other four were sent to Family Court—and their names were withheld by the police—because they are minors.” There goes the Projo belittling teens’ calling them “minors, and COVERING UP their actions.” Projo goes on to mention, “a car was found, and all the passengers were released to their parents, who were called to the scene.” What do the parents have to say? What are the teens involved saying? The article concludes with the police officer reporting that after chasing several teens into the woods, “I observed four very muddy and wet juveniles. All four, two ages 16 and two age 15, were released to the custody of their parents.” This article does a great job at painting a picture that teens are just “juvenile and sneaky” but never once do were hear from a teen or their parents. The flow of the article itself focuses on authority “police and parents” roles to capture reckless teens that “cover up” their actions. I want to know if this is true! I would like to see teens submit an article to describe what happened that night inside of adults who are never willing to learn the other side of a teen’s story! Perhaps, SADD can help!
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Hollywood and It's Negative Impact on Teens Today!
Talking Points 6
There is a song on the radio “Hollywood is not America” by the band Ferras that I hear often and it reminds me of Fast Forward: Growing Up In The Shadow of Hollywood by Lauren Greenfield.
The lyrics are as follows.
“Born Helena Jane, with a restless soul,
She moved west to California,
Became a centerfold.
But once you change your name,
Well the pieces fall
Now she hardly recognizes herself at all.
And there’s never any rain, when you want it
A hollow little game, and you’ve won it
Lookin’ for a thrill, but you’ve done it all
So long, put your blue jeans back on girl
Go home, remember
Hollywood is not America
So long, put your blue jeans back on girl
Go home, remember
Hollywood is not America
And everybody here’s from somewhere else
You can make a million dollars
But you might lose yourself
And you can take the heat; will your heart grow cold?
They say acting’s just pretending
But even that gets oldAnd there’s never any rain when you want it
A hollow little game and you’ve won it
Lookin’ for a thrill, but you‘ve done it all.”
http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=3530822107858706768.
This song relays the same message that Laura Greenfield states about teens, their influence by the media and the “the early loss of innocence” (Greenfield, 1). Greenfield remarks, “[growing up] in L.A. it seems like everyone is in a rush to be an adult. It’s not cool to be a kid” (Greenfield, 1). Her message through her photographs encourages teens everywhere to separate “the reality from fantasy” (Greenfield, 1). Each of her photographs tells the viewer a story about the youth and “[forming] their identities” (Greenfield, 3). Greenfield’s message is that teen’s today want to bypass their youth in order to fill their lives a fake Hollywood image. She states, “Whether it is the desire to be an adult when one is a child, to be gangster when one is privileged, to be famous when one is unknown, or to look like a model when one does not, young people are preoccupied with becoming other than they are” (Greenfield, 3). The environment of L.A. has done the youth an injustice and “bequeathed the quest for the dream to her children” (Greenfield, 3). In the end the children miss out on being their own person developing a dark character that “[costs] them their innocence” (Greenfield, 3). If Greenfield, the band Ferras, Christensen and Hines would all come together they would agree that children are growing up too fast. Teenager’s today want to become these fake images of what they ‘think’ is good.
I found this article to be a wonderful read. I did not find it confusing in any way. Overall, I was able to connect Greenfield’s ideas with that of authors we have read in the past about the media’s heavy influence on our youth. I believe that the message of each writer and especially Greenfield is ‘to be your own person and the journey that takes you to who you really are is a gift which you give yourself.’ A journey of self-exploration is what life is all about! I wish I could meet Laura Greenfield!
