Listen Up Inclass Reflections

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!