Principal of the Year turning technical

So Michael Hobin of Coventry was awarded the Principal of the Year award.  And I found it really interesting that he is strongly encouraging social media and technology in the classroom.

Coventry principal surprised with award

Talking Point 11: Teens Talk Back

So I loved this video, not only for the Dr. Who reference but a lot of the stuff I watched in my hour of Teens Talk Back had to do with "understanding teenage girls"... and more importantly, not understanding them.  I think it was worth interesting that the more time I spent watching videos and searching websites the more I found the quote:

"NO ONE UNDERSTANDS ME!!!!"

Which I totally remember thinking when I was in middle school and high school, that my problems were so different from everyone else's that there was no one on the face of the Earth that could possibly understand what I was going through (Leaving all the brain tumor stuff aside).  When teens create this rift and their own classification, they are in essence following our course assumption that: Youth is a culturally constructed category.

When I continued to look for teens representing themselves I stumbled upon videos like these:

By the end of them, I feel like I lost brain cells, was I really like this as a teenager?  I'm not sure if I'm more annoyed at the teens or the people who were educating them.  Which is when I started finding more of the positive things that teenagers are doing and learning rather than the two videos above.  The first of which, is an inspiring story about teenagers and what they can do when they put their minds to work, creating android apps to solve problems in their everyday lives.

Talking Point 10: Glee Episodes

So I have always been an avid Glee watcher, so I had already seen the episodes we had to watch for this weeks Talking Point.  But it was interesting to watch them again and watch for signs of how teenagers react with one another.

One thing that I always thought this show did a good job doing was creating a new outlook and identity for people who are gay and lesbian.  I always thought that they were helping protect people but this video shows otherwise.

It's crazy what they are saying.  I am an advocate for gays and had the privilege of growing up in a community where we were very accepting of everyone.  And even when my best friend of over ten years suddenly started questioning her sexuality and began dating another girl, it was fine by me.  But I know how mean people can be, and I know how hard it is for gay youth in America.

Violence on Glee

So I am a religious Glee watcher and last nights episode reminded me of our reading of Kimmel and discussions from class:

Talking Point 9 - Hip Hop

Tricia Rose - The Hip Hop Wars - Reflection

So I'm not going to lie and say that I know anything about hip hop, because I grew up in East Greenwich, which in 99.9% white and for the most part I listened to Taylor Swift and stuff like that.  There is not a lot of violence and no gangs.  Even though we have a Main Street and below it there is the lower section of East Greenwich.  It is where the families who are on assisted living live, and everybody knows it, they have a reputation.  And that is as close to "ghetto" as we get here in East Greenwich.  When my stepdad Shaffie moved in we created a big fuss because he is so dark and it freaked people out.

Aaron and Shaffie - Summer of 2008

But when it wasn't until Shaffie moved in with us that I started thinking about hip hop in a new way.  Sure I danced to the songs at all the dances but I never really listened to what they were saying or cared enough.  We always joke that he is teaching me to become more gangster... it's not going to well, obviously.  So for his birthday one year I actually made him a "gangster mix".  And it starts out with songs that I used to think were "ghetto" way back in the day

"Ghetto Superstar" by Pras

And has explicit songs that really stands out like "Gangsta Gansta" by Lil Scrappy.

I believe that Hip Hop is becoming too commercialized and that is why you can see the shift from the first video which came out in 1998 and the second which was released in 2006.  Although I don't listen to rap music or hip hop, I can still hear the difference.  But why is it that I don't listen to this kind of music?

And while I was writing this I found this and thought I would throw it in just for giggles:

"Sure I'll wear a tiara..."

Talking Point #8: Kimmel: Masculinity, Homophobia, and Violence

It is obvious that within the past few decades that there has been a rise violence within school.  Kimmel says on page 1439

"Students report being increasingly afraid to go to school; among young people aged 12 to 24, 3 in 10 say violence has increased in their schools in the past year and nearly two-fifths have worried that a classmate was potentially violent"

After reading the article I was sitting watching Law & Order SVU with Matt and it was a pretty intense episode about a teenage boy who sociopath - an individual who feels no remorse for their actions - and he ended up beating his little sister and cutting his mother with a knife.

If anybody wants to watch the episode it is the newest episode 19 from season 14:
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Born Psychopath

When the episode was over Matt and I talked about the article and basically I asked him what his thoughts were on the perpetrators of the shootings:

"Statistically they are white middle class males."  

I asked him the same question we asked in class: why these boys and not others:

"They have a sense of superiority and feel as though they are better, they deem themselves as elevated than those they are targeting.  Sometimes they are oppressed by those they target and eliminating that target, those who have belittled and marginalized them by choosing to show their strength, force, and superiority over them allows them to feel better than their targets"