All semester we've discussed what dominant ideologies we have of teens and how these ideologies are pertetuated though the media. Media doesn't do well with good representations of teens, almost every day on the news we hear about teens doing drungs, teens finding new ways to "get high" or consume alcohol, or the teens shoplifted or stole something from someone, but we never hear about the good things teens do. Researching how teens talk back was actually very diffucult and time consuming because productive things teen do aren't easily accesable. I did a lot of research and found a talk show that aires online and on TV (couldn't find what channel), TALKBACK4TEENS gives teens the opportunity to discuss and voiove their opinions on the topics that are important to them, it is a discussion by teens for teens. I watched a few episodes thoughout the last couple of days and felt really proud of these teens for standing out and speaking about issues that we often forget affect teens just as much as they affect us as adults. In one of the videos the teens are discussing why teens are often involved in selling drugs and/or violence, one of the girls says its because they live in poverty which in turn leads them to steal things for money. Another teen says he feels it has a lot to do with the lack of role models they have at home, he gives the example that a lot of teens are growing up with just a single mother or father, leaving them with little to no support. These teens really have some powerfull and intelligent things to say in all their episodes and I strongly recommend talking a loot at their website, even just for entertainment purposes. These teens are proving that teenagers aren't just this alien life form, they too listen to the news, sometimes more than adults and have their own valid and intelligent opinions about what goes on in the world, a world that they are going to live in for a lot longer than we are.
My museum exhibit and final project both were based on cyberbullying so I was interested to see what I could find online about it in reguards to how teens have stood up and raised awareness on this issue. I found some information about a thirteen year old girl, Britney, that had been bullied for about two years and decided to stand up against it. She created G.I.R.L.S (Girls Inspiring Real Leadership Skills) and basically what she does is speak to other teens about her life experice and help empower them to be themselves and not allow bullying to stand in their way. Check out this two minute clip where Britney talks about how she decided she was going to use her life experiences to help others going though what she went through.
