Podcasts to examine Adolescence
On the 4th of November, we started a new project in our Technology, which is called ‘Podcasts to examine adolescence’. As the title itself says, we are going to investigate and research on adolescence, and later on based on our choice, we are going to create a podcast (audio or video format) to talk about how it is to be ‘stuck’ in between childhood and adulthood.
In my opinion, teenage life is a very important phase for us to develop and grow as a person. I don’t mean as physically, but mentally. When we were children, we didn’t have any big problems to worry about, and we were all dependent on our parents/guardians. However, once we stepped into the world of ‘growing up’, we started seeing changes in us physically and mentally as well! We started to not only look at ourselves, but also our surroundings and environment. Friends became more important than parents, hence we experience peer pressure which might be able to lead us to the ‘wrong’ direction.
We will start having difficulty making decisions on what is wrong and what is right. We live in a world that is free and open, therefore we will experience even more problems on finding out what is our values, believes, what is the right/wrong thing to do etc. In other words, our lives are like a rollercoaster. Ups and downs, feel excited, however there are time when we feel like puking.
When our teacher introduced us the topic, we read articles about the lives of 17 year old teenagers living in New York, United States. All of them had different believes, points of views and life styles, although they were all at the same age. It is one of the evidences that the environment and society ‘shapes’ ones personality.
Several of those teenagers inspired me in certain ways or we had the same opinion on certain topics. So, my first inspiration was Adenika Thomas, who has such a busy life; she works, she prepares for several tests, she has soccer game, and dance and acting lessons. Still, she can manage herself to get good grades at school.
“I TAKE on so much and I have no time for myself. I do it on purpose. I love it and I hate it. If I’m not busy, I complain that I’m bored, but when I am busy, it’s like, oh, my God.”
- I really want to be busy so that I won’t have time for myself. I sometimes think that I create even more stress when I ‘analyze’ myself on my behaviors etc. Whenever something happens to me, I tend to analyze the whole situation, therefore giving me pressure to think through things etc. However, if I can keep myself busy and concentrate on one area, then I would be able to calm donw the tension I sometimes get from all those observations.
- People say that we should have enough free time for ourselves so that we can do whatever we enjoy doing, relax, and I also think that this type of free time is in need because it is a chance to get to know yourself better. On the other hand, I believe that too much of free time can destroy you as well ;)
The other girl I also found very interesting was Zy-Tasia Gaines, who is an ordinary 17 year old girl and who lives in Far Rockaway, Queens; however she is attracted to women and not to her opposite sex. She and her girlfriend have been together for about a year, and when their feelings towards each other got stronger and bigger, both families rebelled against their relationship. Zy-Tasia’s parents even argued about whose fault it was that their daughter turned out to be like this. The only person who was cool about the circumstance was her grandma.
“But my grandmother’s cool with it. She says, “As long as you’re not doing porno’s and doing anything crazy, getting tattoos on your forehead, I don’t care who you go out with.”
- I think that it is very important that at least one person in the family is ‘cool’ about the situation. They really are needed, because whenever the trouble gets bigger the more stress is on us, and it is scary for us. However, it is very comforting to know that at least one of the adults can understand and accept us and the problems we are facing.
- I also think that grandmothers should be more open-minded like the one of Zy-Tasia, because in my opinion, they are very good advice givers among adults due to their early experiences in their lives. Furthermore because they have been very close to their grandchildren, I think that they can understand them more than the parents do ^_^
” A lot of my friends stopped talking to me, and a lot of them still don’t talk to me. My girlfriend in Chicago, I’m her first girlfriend. So when we came out in school, as a couple, everybody said: “See what you did to her? Now you’re going to bring two people down to hell.” I’m like, “O.K.” And her parents really made me feel bad. They were like: “You’re ruining our family. She was fine before she met you.”
- I am just amazed how she has been defending herself against all those critics and misunderstandings! She does not care about what other people think of her anymore and it does not influence her at all, however she is hurt when adults criticize her. I think it has to do with ‘adults-still-know-better-than-kids’ and that Zy-Tasia feels insecure about how adults are looking at her. Maybe she is disappointed in herself, which I sometimes feel the same way too. I sometimes think that adults are the judge on my behaviors. Although I feel secure that what I am doing or saying is good, I sometimes tend to look upon adults and care about THEIR opinions, rather than on MINE or those of my FRIENDS.
Works Cited
Gaines, Zy-Tasia. “My Parents Had This Big Argument Over Whose Fault It Was, Why I Chose to Be
This Way.” New York Tmes. 16 Sep 2007. 03 Nov 09 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/16/nyregion/thecity/16gaines.html.
Thomas, Adenike. "If I'm Not Busy, I'll Complain That I'm Bored, But If I'm Busy, It's Like, Oh My
God." New York Times. 16 Sep 07. 03 Nov 09 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/16/nyregion/thecity/16over.html.
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