Listen Up!!

After looking around the website for quite a bit today in class, I was able to identify many common themes among the video clips. Many of the clips tackled big issues, such as teenage pregnancy, human rights, environmental awareness, family issues and important decision making, while others focus on smaller more personal issues, such as fears.

Among the videos, a few stood out to me as amazing examples. The video entitled, Babies, Bottles & Diapers: Reality of Teen Pregnancy, was a good example of a video that focused on the lives of teenage mothers and fathers. Overall, the video had a message that we as a society need to open up the discussion further about teen pregnancy, because as one young mother in the film put it, teens are definitely having sex! The clip also highlighted resources that are available to teenagers who are sexually active, or those who are teenage mothers and fathers. A community resource called "The Door" was showcased towards the end of the clip. At The Door, birth control is readily available to teens, as well as prenatal and parenting classes for teenage parents. The Door serves as a positive resource for teens who are sexually active, or teenage parents. As is discussed in the clip, the discussion about sex and teens needs to be happening more, if that happens, more places like The Door may be available for teens all over the country.


Also while looking around the website, I found a short "pamphlet" viedo entitled Juvenile Asylum. The video discusses teenagers rights if they are subjected to a search by faculty or school security. The video follows a male teenager who is targeted everyday at school when he walks through security. Even though searches are only supposed to be performed if the metal dectector beeps, this teen is targeted everyday, even though he never sets it off. The video uses him as an example of illegal targeted searches. According to the video, the law says that searches must be warranted and random, this is not the case everywhere, especially in inner city schools. The video did a great job of presenting basic rights that teens should be aware of, such as the right to remain silent.

Overall, Listen Up! seems like an interesting resource for teens, with a wide variety of topics being covered by the documentaries. The site also serves as a positive outlet for teens, I'm just curious about the process that is involved with being featured on the site. Is there a selection process? I'm sure with a little big of further looking I could get my answers!

Locks of LOVE on Youth Media

While looking around the Youth Media Network site for tomorrow's discussion, I found a video that was posted by a girl who donated her hair for Locks of Love. This video was created by two young girls who donated their hair to the organization. The video was short, but documented them talking about why they wanted to donate their hair and what the process was like. This video hit home for me because I am currently growing my hair out to donate. One of the girls said she was donating her hair because one of her brother's friends was diagnosed with leukemia. It is great to see compassion from teenagers, not many videos make mainstream television or even YouTube that feature teens performing self-less acts, such as donating their hair. Letting teens put their voices out there, voicing what is important to them in such a creative manner, makes the Youth Media Network a great site.


On a personal note, I decided to grow my hair out to donate to Locks of Love for my mom. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in February of 2006 and I watched as she went through chemo treatments, losing her hair and self-esteem all at the same time. Then I saw that confidence come back after she recieved her wig. There is no measuring how much joy that brings to a cancer patient. Even though she didn't recieve her wig from Locks of Love, the effect was still the same. If my ten inches of red hair can bring that much joy to someone who is suffering from such a horrible disease as cancer, then as long as my hair keeps growing I'm going to keep on donating!

Talking Points: Kid Nation

Talking Points: “Kid Nation”

I’m getting a “Kid Nation” overload today, as I just finished writing a choice assignment about the show. However I will try my best to find a different aspect of the show to focus on right now. One article that I connected with was the one written by Nancy McDermott, “Kid Nation: it’s not exactly William Golding”. She discusses the overblown criticism of the show, including the argument that it violated child labor and abuse laws. Personally, I think that the very notion of this is ridiculous. So what if the pioneers of “Kid Nation” had to do a little bit of hard labor in order to survive? Many adults would probably argue that the work, which included cleaning outhouses, preparing meals and hauling water, was good for the pioneers’ overall sense of work ethic. Throughout their experience on the show, the pioneers of “Kid Nation” became more confident in their own abilities as human beings and their ability to live without the constant hovering of mom and dad.

According to the article by McDermott, many parents of the pioneers' parents were criticized and labeled as unfit parents for allowing their children to be on the show. This goes along with one of McDermott’s main points, that parents today are over protective and everything concerning their children is blown way out of proportion. I admire the parents that allowed their children to be one the show. I feel that their intentions were pure, simply wanting their children to have an experience that McDermott compares to overnight summer-camp. A chance to have once in a life time experiences, meet other kids from around the country, and hopefully learn skills to help them in the future. Unlike Megan Daum’s view of the parents’ intentions, I do not feel that they were in it to make their children into mini-celebrities.

One question that I have is what would have happened if the pioneers were really left to their own devices. I understand that a production crew, medical staff, etc have to be present for safety reason, just as on “Survivor”. What if the pioneers were given handheld cameras to document their experiences, and the journal, dictating the direction of each show was removed, would the audience have a purer view of who kids and teens really are? Would we be able to see how they react to certain situations, without the watchful eye of adults present? What would happen? I understand that many of you probably haven’t watched the series and might not be able to answer, but for those of you who have, what do you think would happen? Would it make for a better show? Thoughts?

Choice # 1: "One Nation, Ruled by Kids?"

Choice #1: Analysis of a TV Show

As much as I sometimes hate to admit, I am a huge fan of reality television. My DVR is filled with episodes of "Survivor", "The Biggest Loser" and "The Amazing Race". When I saw the previews for a new series called "Kid Nation", I was intrigued by the simple idea of the show. Setting 40 kids of all ages free in a "ghost town", with no adults around, just to see what would transpire, sounded like a pretty interesting show. Not many reality shows feature kids and teenagers, I was interested to see how these young pioneers would be represented. I began watching the show religiously, never missing an episode, and at the same time getting my boyfriend, Casey, hooked as well.

The show featured 40 kids ages 8-15, from different states and ethnic backgrounds. From the beginning, the "pioneers" of "Bonanza City" were separated into four districts, each with a representative to serve on the governing board of the town. These council members would read a journal every morning, left by the previously unsuccessful settlers of the town. The entries in the journal focused on specific issues, such as the presence of religion in the town, formal education and delegation of tasks. After reading the journal, council members would then disclose the information presented in the journal to the rest of the pioneers at a town meeting. The theme of the journal would then serve as the major theme for the episode and the challenge to determine class and jobs assignments.

In "Kid Nation", there are class designations that each districts receives based on their performances on the physical and intellectual challenges featured in every episode. The rank of a district then determined what jobs they would be responsible for around town. The ranking classes included the Upper Class; members of this class were given the highest salary of $1.00, and were assigned no specific duties in Bonanza City. Some members of the Upper Class chose not to help around town, while others pitched in, helping to cook meals and clean the out houses. Following behind the Upper Class, were the Merchants, receiving a salary of 50 cents, the members of this class were responsible for running the stores in town, including a candy shop and a saloon that served up killer root beer floats. Next were the Cooks, who were responsible for cooking three meals a day for the 40 pioneers of Bonanza City. The members of this class earned their 25 cent salary, struggling to satisfy everyone's hunger and battling the mounting of never ending dirty dishes. Finally, at the bottom of the food chain were the Laborers. The most undesired class ranking in Bonanza, the pioneers of this class were responsible for all the hard labor around town. These tasks included, hauling water from the well, tending to the animals, and most disgusting of all, cleaning the outhouses. Members of this class received the lowest salary of only 10 cents.

I agree with some points made by Ellen Goodman, in her article, “Kid Nation: CBS’ New Reality Show Creates Little Capitalists”. Her overall criticism of the show is very harsh, and some times way over thought. However, I connected with a few of her main points. She criticizes the production crew for pretty much determining the direction of the series, instead of letting the pioneers take it in their own hands. According to Goodman, “But the real founding fathers of "Kid Nation" leave little to chance or choice. It's the producers, not the so-called "pioneers," who determine the structure of the town called Bonanza. It's the adults who lay the cultural grid down the main street.” This quote from Goodman lays the foundation for one of the only problems that I had with Kid Nation, the overwhelming presence of the so-called “absent” adults.

One thing that I was disappointed with right from the start was the not always visible, but still evident presence of adults. The premise of the show was that these kids would be left to their own devices, without parents or adults around to steer them in the right direction. That was simply not the case. The pioneers were given tasks based on a journal that was left by settlers of the town in the late 1800s; this was a little too much for me. Some of the older pioneers were obvious to the fact that the journal was written by the producers of the show, even if they never admitted it to the cameras, but the younger ones were completely fooled. The journal put ideas of education, religion and government into their minds, ideas that then served as the theme for the entire episode.

The pioneers of Bonanza City proved themselves to be very intelligent human beings, capable of leadership and conflict resolution. Even though the journal gave the pioneers something to focus on, I would be interested to see what would have happened if the journal had not been present. The pioneers would have discovered and dealt with ideas that were truly there, not put into their heads by a fictitious journal from the 1800s. For me, the presence of adults through the journal reinforces a common stereotype of kids and teenagers that left without the guidance of adults, the children will rebel and nothing of meaning will be accomplished. I challenge CBS, in the future seasons of “Kid Nation”, ditch the journal and see what happens, when there really are no adults calling the shots.

Children and teenagers are often not seen as being capable of leadership, or simply the completion of chores, falling into the common stereotype of “kids today are so lazy!” “Kid Nation” attempts to challenge this untrue myth about kids and teenagers. Even though there were times when dishes went unwashed and jobs were not completed, the pioneers of Bonanza City were able to band together and complete the tasks at hand, eventually. One pioneer from the show that stands out in my memory is Michael, a 15-year-old pioneer who was able to unite Bonanza City into action with his motivating speeches during town meetings.

Melanie McFarland, author of the blog, “Birth of a Kid Nation”, also shares my strong fondness for Michael. She quotes one of his rousing speeches to his peers, “You guys do realize you're not just representing yourselves," he said after stepping in front of everyone. "This is to prove that kids of all age groups, like you guys, can actually take control, get organized, and that you can actually work together cooperatively...You guys really need to think of your job, and to take control of it, and after we do that, we'll just become a working machine and we'll work out a lot better." According to McFarland, Michael’s speech “Stopped the enterprise from descending into chaos.” Even though Michael did not serve as council member until the end of the show, he embodied leadership, confidence and compassion for others, attributes that many teenagers possess today, but are not given the chance to truly showcase. I remember watching the show and turning to my boyfriend and saying, “That kid will be our President someday.” His presence and dedication to making Bonanza City a better place, was that compelling.

Overall, I enjoyed being a viewer of “Kid Nation”. Despite some of the negative reviews of the show, there need to be more shows like this airing. Shows that feature children and teenagers uniting together for a common cause. Proving to the critical and stereotyping adults out there that young people are capable of much more than playing video games and being disrespectful to their elders. I was pleasantly surprised by “Kid Nation”, expecting to see a bunch of kids whining about the lack of computer games and television, but instead I witnessed kids and teens showcasing their leadership abilities and compassion for others. Two attributes that many kids possess, but are not given the opportunity to showcase.

project idea?

For my Sociology theory class I'm reading an article that looks at smoking as a fashion accessory for young girls in the 1990's and I got an idea for the project. The article describes how in teenage years young women are trying on different identities and sometimes, being the girl who smokes, and everything that goes with it, is that identity. The article points out that smoking as a leisure activity for teenage girls may be seen as having some short term benefits such as, "establishing status among peers and autonomy from parental figures and in providing a form of resistance to prissy, confining ‘good girl’ images. In the long term however, it cannot provide sound basis for identity development or will have detrimental results.” The article went on to discuss how teenage girls want to emulate the sophistication, success, beauty, sexuality, popularity and ease of living of those smokers portrayed in movies, TV shows, music videos, advertisements, etc.

For the project I was thinking of not only focusing on smoking, but drinking as well. So many times on Facebook and Myspace I see pictures of teens who are partying, and in these pictures I see a common theme of teenage girls. They pose in sexual ways for the camera, some are passed out drunk,etc. I'm thinking that if I can find a connection to TV shows, movies or videos that targets teenage girls specifically, I can show that these teenage girls are trying to emulate the partying featured in the media. I don't know if this idea makes sense to anyone, its just a start, but hopefully someone can see where I'm trying to go with this! :)


-the article also focuses on alternative leisure activities for young girls, maybe this could also be included...just a thought!