Youth - Our Future @youthourfuture - Tumblr Blog

Final posting

So here we are at the end of this unique assignment. The tumblr project was the first of its kind that I have completed in nearly 8 years at university and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it! I have found it refreshing, interesting and informative.

Blogging was a whole new experience for me (hopefully this doesn't show too much in my posts) and I found it took awhile to get my head around it. I have learnt far more that I usually do in a paper because of the requirement to post at least three posts a week which has meant that I have HAD to study the textbook - no chance to procrastinate on this paper!

As well as learning a lot about the way that young people operate, this process has been invaluable for gaining self-awareness - an integral aspect of working with young people. While I have studied human development before, applying this information specifically to adolescents has given me the chance to reflect and understand some of my own behaviours in my younger years. Reading others' experiences in this forum has prompted me to consider how different we all are; something to remember when out in the community supporting youth.

I will finish now with a beautiful quote from Tyler Knott Gregson, relevant for both young people and those who work with them. Good luck to everyone for both this paper and the future.

"Promise me you will not spend so much time treading water and trying to keep your head above the waves, that you forget, truly forget, how much you have always loved to swim."

kerragous-deactivated20240107

Depicted above is a simplified sociogram that can easily be created by conducting an anonymous test, which notes who an individual both likes and dislikes, establishing what category an adolescents fall under, whether they be popular, rejected, neglected, controversial or average, regarding peer status. (note, the above sociograph does not display negative relationships)

This information can then be used to identify those who are likely to be socially competent, have antisocial tendencies, potentially be aggressive as well as pinpoint individuals with low levels of influence among their peer groups or cliques who are likely to be more susceptible to peer pressure. With this information, any negative implications correlated to assigned statuses can be addressed and overcome, including educational achievement and peer interaction. References:

Hoffnung, M., Hoffnung, J. R., Seifert, L, K., Smith & Hine, A. (2010). Childhood (1st ed.). Queensland, Australia: John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Santrock, J. (2014). Adolescence (15th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education

Stiptek, D. (2002), Motivation to learn: Integrating theory and practice (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

youthourfuture

This is so important - early intervention into those less than positive peer interactions. If it is at all possible to steer young people away from antisocial relationships at an early stage, then they are more likely to achieve well both academically and socially.

This picture is very powerful in terms of the united front against bullying. The words written in black are the stark reality of high school and particularly females. That is not to say that bullying among boys does not happen, but words designed to hurt are often bandied about among females.

Santrock states that bullying is defined as "verbal or physical behaviour intended to disturb someone less powerful" (p. 362). That's why pictures like this are so important - young people taking back their own power and refusing to allow someone else to define who they are.

Bullying has extensive effects throughout ones lifetime and I speak from experience. I was bullied every single day on my school bus by several boys from a neighboring school. I felt powerless and took their verbal abuse as I did not know what else to do. I could not tell anyone about it because that was considered to be "narking." It has taken me years to understand that I was not the one with the problem - they were.

Santrock (2010) notes that victims of bullying can suffer from a lack of perspective, depression, and further health problems.

With the rise of social media, bullying has shifted somewhat and the daily news is full of reports about occurrences of bullying over the internet.

In recent years, there has been a push towards reducing bullying from various community sectors and there has been a bigger focus on this within schools as well. Groups organise days to promote awareness and education, such as www.pinkshirtday.org.nz, in the hope that this will reduce the hurt and pain caused by bullying in schools everywhere.

Santrock, J. W. (2010). Adolescence (13th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

A model that shows the social context in which learning occurs. There are various needs which must be met before the desired academic learning can occur.

Santrock (2010) notes that the level of negative attitudes towards schooling is on the rise and that is one of the reasons that models like this are important to understand what may cause a poor academic performance. This is also inclusive of attitudes outside the set work, such as social skills.

Farrington, M., Roderick, M., Allensworth, E., Nagaoka, J., Keyes, T. S., Johnson, D. W., & Beechum, N. O. (2012). Teaching adolescents to become learners. The role of noncognitive factors in shaping school performance: A critical literature review. Chicago: University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research.

Santrock, J. W. (2010). Adolescence (13th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Schools

I have blogged about this before, however, in the topic of schools, I believe it is important to extend on this.

My most recent employment was working as an alternative education tutor for young people aged 13-16 years of age who no longer attended mainstream education due to either truancy issues or isolation - i.e. bullying, disengagement or an inability to fit into the mainstream school system.

While these young people were considered intimidating by many, due to their attitude or prior criminal offending, I never felt intimidated, not even on day one of my employment. To me, they were just kids who had lost their way, and some of their behaviour was self-explanatory based on their backgrounds alone. Their "attitudes" were a protection mechanism and these young people had been let down so many times in their lives, it was understandable that they wouldn't let anyone get too close. They often spoke about their tutors as their family, due to the one-on-one support that they craved and a developing sense of belonging, which correlates with Santrock's notes regarding the Carnegie report which recommended "smaller communities to lessen the impersonal nature of large middle schools" (2010, p. 354).

I attended a conference in Auckland last year, where at one of the seminars, the tutors were informed that mainstream school is not suited to 70% of the secondary school population. 70%! That is a huge number - what are we doing wrong in our schools? This clearly needs to change.

Here's the interesting thing about these students - for the most part, they really want to learn. They want good jobs and some of them even want to attend university. But the way they were taught in mainstream schools just did not work for them - most students that came to us were at least 2 years behind in their education, some much more, up to 5 years behind. Santrock (2010) discusses the impact that this lack of education can have on young people later in life.

The alternative education program works for those who cannot integrate into mainstream school. Santrock (2010) notes the positive effects that tutoring, counselling and mentoring can have and these are all offered in this program. However, these options need to be offered earlier, before young people need to come to alternative education, so that they can gain the academic benefits that mainstream schooling offers.

Santrock, J. W. (2010). Adolescence (13th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Santrock (2010) notes the impact that negative peer influences have on adolescents. Involvement with antisocial peers has been proven to increase the incidence of substance abuse and depression.

The model above identifies the link between the involvement with antisocial peers, schools and families, which is evidence that no behaviour exists in isolation.

Santrock, J. W. (2010). Adolescence (13th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Picture reference on picture.

This New York Times article links back to the brain and cognitive function, as well as focusing on peer relationships. It is a fascinating insight into how young people brains operate when they are with their peers.

A study was conducted in which researchers used MRI scanning techniques to observe the brain signals given when young people were interacting with their friends, which were then compared with adults brain signals in the same scenario and the differences that were identified.

It is yet more evidence of the influence that peers have over each other, particularly in situations which have the potential to be risky or dangerous.

This article based around social identity theory outlines the importance of peer group interactions in the construction of identity for young males, particularly in terms of self-enhancement among various groups. This is a direct link with the peer statuses as discussed by Santrock (2010) which include popular, average, neglected, rejected and controversial children.

This is an interesting read with links back into identity construction and the many elements that are involved in this.

Santrock, J. W. (2010). Adolescence (13th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

I read with interest Santrock's dicussion on whether or not birth order predicts adolescent behaviour (2010). While Santrock points to researchers findings that it may not have as much of an impact as previously thought, in spite of critics of this research, I decided to do my own digging as this interests me, due to being the firstborn and engaging in some serious risk taking behaviour as an adolescent.

This article is what I found. The results (although undertaken in 2006, are still relevant) show that birth order has a major impact on the engagement of risk taking behaviours such as crime, substance abuse and sexual behaviour. However, it was found that younger siblings are often responsible, rather than firstborns. While the researchers hypothesized about the role that firstborns played in introducing these behaviours to younger siblings, the evidence available did not lead to this conclusion, even though having an older sibling increases the incidence of risk taking.

Santrock, J. W. (2010). Adolescence (13th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

hayleymarieb

Week 9: He is a bit repetitive but this video helps to demonstrate how parents and family values have and affect on what be believe our morals to be. This made me question my own morals and why I have these morals.

youthourfuture

Santrock (2010) discusses the role of family and other role models in developing moral behaviours. Behaviour is normally developed through the socialization process. In fact, with a few exceptions, such as psychopaths, where there is a belief that a genetic base exists for behaviour, all behaviour is first copied and then adopted permanently as part of an identity. This is why it is so important that we display appropriate moral behaviours to the young people that we interact with.

Santrock, J. W. (2010). Adolescence (13th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

This clip is a great example of the difference between authoritarian parenting and authoritative parenting. It shows 3 scenarios and in each one demonstrates the reaction of the teen to the authoritarian approach, followed by the reaction the authoritative approach. In all cases, the teenager acted aggressively to the mothers first reaction and more positively towards the second.

According to Santrock (2010), authoritarian parenting has a focus on punishment and control, while authoritative parenting encourages independence while still maintaining boundaries.

While this is, of course, acted out, it is a fantastic example of the different approaches that can be used when dealing with young people.

Santrock, J. W. (2010). Adolescence (13th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

This is a very typical representation of the image that comes to mind when we think of the relationship between young people and their parents. It is a time when the development of individuality and identity is at its peak and the chasm tends to grow wider and wider before it begins to close again towards the end of adolescence. Santrock discusses the reasons for the changes in this relationship at this time and these include puberty, changes in thought processes and relationships and developing independence (2010). Santrock also makes references to miscommunication due to their ego-centrism and the role that idealistic thought plays in young people's level of satisfaction with their lives.

Santrock, J. W. (2010). Adolescence (13th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

This is a very simplified breakdown of Kohlberg's moral development theory. It allows for quick reference to the various stages and shows the development over time. It is interesting to note how the motivation changes over time as one develops and matures as a person.

Picture retrieved from

http://educationalpsycology.blogspot.co.nz/2010/11/kolbergss-levels-and-stages-of-moral.html

This was a case that stunned the nation last week, a 17 year old "man" was arrested for pushing over a woman, who was trying to intervene when he stole a purse from another woman, resulting in a fractured skull and a brain bleed.

The 17 year old's actions are an example of an inability to demonstrate moral behaviour as described by Santrock (2010). This does not mean that he did not KNOW that what he was doing was wrong, however, his actions did not fall in line with any knowledge he may have had. The social cognitive theory of moral development allows for the distinction between these two aspects, outlining that the behaviour is based by extrinsic motivation - in this case, that he wanted/needed the money he had stolen.

It is likely that this young person has little or no sense of empathy given his actions both to the lady he stole from and the lady that he shoved away.

I would, however, like to make a note about the altruism displayed in this case, while not directly related to young people. After this event occurred, altruism was displayed all over the country, from both young and old, in the form of money, meals, support and care. It was a great demonstration of what Santrock describes as an "unselfish interest in helping another person" (p. 246).

Santrock, J. W. (2010). Adolescence (13th ed.). New York: McGraw- Hill.

An interesting study conducted on the role of morality in bullying, which is extended to include cyberbullying.

Menesini, Nocentini & Camodeca (2011) ask whether the same motives exist for traditional bullies and cyber bullies and have found that while some of the same motivations still exist in terms of a lack of a solid value base, there are also differences. Traditional bullies focus on others, while cyber bullies are focusing on themselves and feeding a need for social status and power. It was also found that young people who bully have a disconnection with their sense of morality.

This is an interesting study that takes into account both traditional and more modern methods of bullying.

Sex education in schools

I briefly referred to this in a previous re-blog, but felt it required a more in-depth analysis.

I attended a private secondary Catholic school from what is now known as Year 7 through to when I left at the beginning of Year 12. In Year 11 or 5th form as you all likely remember it, we had what the school considered to be sex education.

BUT and this is a big but, given that the school's values were based on Catholic teachings, it wasn't the sex education that my friends at the local public high school received (I was very jealous that they got to practice putting a condom on a banana). Instead, we learnt about loving relationships and caring for others. I vividly recall a "question hour" where we would place our written questions into a box and the teacher (who happened to be the religious education teacher) would pull them out, read and answer them. Well, mostly. If the question was related to anything other than standard, missionary style sex position, she would not answer it, stating that it was not in line with Christian values. This was only 15 years ago.

The result? Some of us decided to go and find out for ourselves. Consequences? I was pregnant at 15. Now, I'm not blaming my high school for this occurrence, but what I will say is that I really believe knowledge is power. I had no real understanding of sex as my mother was also too embarrassed to talk about it, given her own mother never talked about it.

Santrock (2010) outlines findings which show that while abstinence-only programs are valued in the US by parents, they do not delay young people having sex or engaging in risk-taking behaviours. He also found that, in Sweden, where sex education in a form begins at age 7, and continues on throughout their schooling, young people there have some of the lowest rates of teen pregnancy in the world. Proof that prevention is better than a cure, and armed with the right information and ALL the information, adolescents are capable of making logical, reasonable decisions, in line with formal operational thought.

Santrock, J. W. (2010). Adolescence (13th ed.). New York: McGraw- Hill.

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kerragous-deactivated20240107

I can recall a poster from my youth very similar to this… The image is very positive and inviting, piquing my interest, and I like how it doesn’t use scare tactics, but reflection as its mode of delivery,rather than just throwing information at its audience.

christinefrances12

This is fantastic…so positive…so much else I am seeing seems to be the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, rather than a clinic at the top.

youthourfuture

Education, rather than a cure. So important, and I believe that we need far more of it in our schools than in currently offered. Interestingly, I attended a private Catholic school as a youth and our sex education was virtually non-existent, due to a very strongly held belief against pre-marital sex. Because of that lack of knowledge, many of us just went to find out for ourselves..with consequences. I really do believe education is the key.

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