peterpansneverland

All about the teenage years

[peterpansneverland08]

The end has come.

As I reflect back on this tumblr project the main thing that I think is that I am extremely lucky to be part of the "constantly connected" generation. Setting up a tumblr and posting to tumblr was extremely easy for me and if anything was just another social network I needed to tend to. I respect students who do not have this sort of social networking as a second nature to them as I think that would've made things a whole lot harder. I did question why it was worth so much and am still weary now about the fact that a fellow student is marking this project that covers a good chunk of the marks available for this course. I have enjoyed this style of learning though. Posting about each topic makes me reflect and really think about how I want to portray my understanding of things and how I can relate them to real life. I've actually really enjoyed it and I think it's a really good way to get your students thinking about the topics on a deeper level.

[kjfletcher-jones]

[peterpansneverland08]

Reading this almost makes me dread parenthood. When I look at the huge range of people that can have an effect on your child's morals and the decisions they make I get scared. As a parent it seems like all you can do is try and teach your teenagers right from wrong and let them go. All the while knowing exactly what's best for them and what choices they should be making. I would struggle and probably try and force my child to do what I say all the time. But I know this is not the best approach from my own experience.

Goodness, how do you parents do it! Guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it :)

[peterpansneverland08]

This is my mother and I on holiday in Fiji. When I look at this photo I feel happy and content. My mother and I never got along when I was younger. I was a smart ass teenager and she was a single mother trying to do her best with raising her 3 children on her own when my Dad got sick. When he passed away, I hated her. She had moved away and moved on. I froze her out of my life and had nothing to do with her for years. When I grew up and had a realization. I realized that my mother was human. That she makes mistakes just like I do and that she was just trying to do her best to deal with a heartbreaking situation like the rest of us. I realised that she had also lost someone special and that she was hurting as well. I realized that she was still my mum and as much as she had not been there for us, there were a lot of things she did do well as a mother. We have an amazing relationship now. She's like my best friend and I'm grateful everyday that I bit the bullet and reconciled before it was too late.

[peterpansneverland08]

Haha this is one of my favourite pictures because I've been asked this before and I wish I had of responded this way. This photo portrays a perfect image of what expectations are placed on both men and women by society. Men are expected to be big strong handy blokes and women are expected to be domesticated, polite, stay-at-home mums. I had an ex partner who's mother and grandmother would constantly take stabs at me because I wasn't cooking him the right food, or because I didn't keep the house clean and I was too absorbed in my career. I was labelled as a "workaholic" girlfriend who didn't look after my boyfriend properly. I found it so unfair that I was put down for concentrating on my career when a male would have been praised for doing that.

[peterpansneverland08]

I can't wait for the day people who stand against gay marriage or gays in general look like complete idiots. Love is love. It doesn't matter whether you're attracted to the same sex or the opposite. It's no something to be "fixed". It's not even something that can be controlled.

[peterpansneverland08]

Love this picture. I don't know why people still get so hung up about gender roles. When I was little I used to think it was very odd when mum drove the car because I thought only Daddy's are meant to drive. Now I laugh and wonder where on earth I got that idea from.

[peterpansneverland08]

I watched this documentary a few weeks ago about gender identity and it was a big eye opener about how transgender is evident from a young age. Society place so much ideas on what is right and wrong for girls and boys, and how each of them should dress and act.

"Sex is known at birth, gender identity doesn't develop until 3 years old. Sometimes the two match, and sometimes they don't" Dr Wallace Wong. 

Who does get to decide if we are boy or girl? 

[peterpansneverland08]

Can I identify with all of my cultures?

Biculturalism: Having or combining the cultural attitudes and customs of two nations, peoples, or ethnicgroups

[peterpansneverland08]

Identity confusion

[peterpansneverland08]

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

Albert Einstein

I love this quote and it always comes to mind when I read about IQ or the many different intelligence tests we have nowadays. Everybody is a genius in their own way and no intelligence test is ever going to capture that truly because it's not up to one individual or a test to decide whether someone is intelligent or not. 

[peterpansneverland08]

"Young people do a lot of risk taking, and this is just another opportunity. Young people play (poker) like a video game. They've grown up believing their skill is going to trump the randomness of the game"

Keith White

[peterpansneverland08]

Can't say it's 100% relevant but this picture make me think of brain development during adolescence where you believe parents are being totally unreasonable when really they have probably made a decision to help you because your own judgement calls aren't that great at this age.

[peterpansneverland08]

Teen Depression: Such a huge issue in NZ which I think contributes to the high rates of adolescent suicide we currently have. I agree with what is noted in the article about teens making "attention-grabbing" attempts at suicide but that doesn't mean they should ever be ignored. There's a reason behind why they are seeking attention in the first place. I personally think in a lot of the cases teens need to be spoken to but often parents don't have the education or awareness of depression themselves to have these sorts of conversations and aren't aware of what the next step is. So the teen is left to struggle feeling like no one cares or understands what they are going through.  

[peterpansneverland08]

Puberty

My most vivid memory of puberty will probably be a lot like most other females. I first got my period on Guy Fawkes of year 7 (form 1). My two older brothers were just about to take me down to the bonfire at the local school when I went to the bathroom. I called my mother in and the one thing I remember was her being so supportive and comforting, to a point where she almost seemed proud. When I spoke to her later she revealed that she had first gotten her period at school and she remembered being so scared with no one there to help her and she kept it hidden until she got home and cleaned up without telling anyone. She was just glad that I didn't have the same sort of experience.

[peterpansneverland08]

Erikson's stage of identity vs identity confusion: During my teen years I learnt quickly which mask to put on at the right time. During time with my mother's side of the family it was appropriate to wear what I called my "cultural" mask and speak my native language. If I had friends over I used to get embarrassed at my mother speaking a different language and would answer back in english. It took me a while to be proud of being from different cultures and know how to embrace them all comfortably. I'll admit I still put certain masks on though, when I travel home to Fiji I purposely dress down and "cover up" and use an accent to fit in easier so I'm seen as more of a local instead of a tourist.

[peterpansneverland08]

My idol during adolescence, a result of attempting to copy an older brothers interest at first which then turned into something real. I'm not very good at basketball but I have a passion and love for the game that matches any other die hard fan. I've admired Kobe's work ethic and drive to win from when I was young and I still do to this day.

[peterpansneverland08]

How horrible to know that our country is one of the highest ranked for adolescent mortality and suicide and that we struggle to pin point what it is that places us so high on the list.