The Construction of Adolescence

Nakkula Toshalis 2010 Understanding Youth: Adolescent Development for Educators

Chapter 1: The Construction of Adolescence


After reading this chapter I was really intrigued by the overall content and thoughts about child development. It made me think of a million different things. For example, my sister talking about how her students are jerks. Everyday she comes to my house and explains how her job has been more about discipline than actually teaching what she loves. She is an amazing art teacher and I really feel bad that she doesn't get the opportunity to teach children this neat skill.

Then I thought about my own life and my own experiences and the type of kid I was growing up. I remember being that jerk and it makes sense after this reading. I was in Junior High School and I was a class clown and talked ALOT! I got kicked out of class and had detention almost every night. My teachers were amazed how I still managed to get A's when I spent most of class time not in class. I also remember being overweight and not having that inner confidence in myself which is I think why I acted like this tough little shit. Towards the end of 8th grade I was skinny and became a whole different person. My whole attitude towards school changed, I mean I still talked a lot but I wasn't about being the difficult kid who got kicked out of class anymore.

I went into High School as a completely different girl. I had confidence in myself. I liked the girl I saw in the mirror and I think that made a huge difference. I got straight A's and didn't get kicked out of class. I always still had my little bit of spunk but in a different way. Until tragedy struck and I was back to my old ways. I tested teachers limits and basically did whatever I wanted. I was on an emotional roller coaster for the next three years of high school. I owe it to a few specific teachers for my success. The ones that really stuck by me no matter how much I pushed them away.

As I read the story of Antwon and Ms. Petersen I really thought about myself and my own life. I thought about my actions and what I was doing. " They are testing the nature and boundaries of their relationships and learning environments in which these relationships are created". "what kind of person they should be, who their friends ought to be, in what or whom they should place trust, or what kind of world they should make". This all makes sense to me and really opens my eyes. I was a child who had believed in something her whole life. I believed this world was safe, bad things don't happen, and people are nice. Then something horrible happened, the world I thought I knew was turned upside down. The people I thought were my friends stabbed me in the back and I lashed out. I lashed out on everyone and anything, I was angry. Now I'm not justifying what I did but I see it might have got me to where I am today. People spend their whole lives trying to figure out who they are and what their meant to do. This is something I figured out younger than most and that I am grateful for.

Back to teachers and my sister in particular remember why you became a teacher. Not because you wanted power over children but because you get satisfaction in teaching others something you love.

• Open up and connect with students because it makes a huge difference in the outcome than you expect. So many teachers or professors will shut you down and say you're just wrong. Not enough explain their point of view or are even open to another point of view. Everyone is this world was raised differently. They all have different viewpoints and different circumstances going on.
• Take the time to actually get to know your students.
•  Give them a place to feel safe
• Give them tools to be the author of their story

"BEING HUMAN REQUIRES THE AUTHORING OF ONE'S LIFE, OF ONE'S LIFE STORY"!

Youth in Action: Egg Drop Experience

Youth in Action did an activity with us today called the egg drop. The activity consisted of being handed materials and an egg and with those things you had to create something that would protect the egg when dropped from the window. My group was given a cup, condoms, papers, elastics, and that's about it. I had done this before in elementary school so I remembered that the key to your egg not breaking was making a light but secure surrounding. My group used the cup to hold the egg and used paper and other materials to make it secure. This was light and a secure way to protect the egg. We were going to use a bag as a parachute so egg would fall slowly. However, the Youth in Action members took away our plastic bags that we were using.

The egg drop experience was really fun until the members of Youth in Action came and took away our parachute. This is when I got frustrated and didn't want to do the activity anymore. After our egg broke I blamed the parachute being taken away.  Seeing other groups and the resources they had made me think how my group didn't have the same. However, I was only mad that our parachute was taken away. Coming back into the room and having the discussion about poverty I can see how it relates. Children in poverty start off with less resources and get things taken away from them all the time.

Is this fair?

No, it is extremely unfair that some children get overwhelming resources while others get none. However I truly believe that no matter what, life will always be unfair and that's the reality of it.

what can we do about it?

Well in my opinion there are some things that need to be changed but both individual and institutional. I do believe that giving resources to individuals can help people strive further in life. However, the blame isn't all on the individual there are people who are in a vicious cycle. The poor stay poor no matter how hard they try. This is when the problem needs to be changed in just about everything to school systems, minimum wage, living expenses, and so on. These aren't things that will get changed over night. The more people stand up and try to change it I think will help it be changed faster.

All in all I am a strong advocate for people that try no matter how little they have. Maybe it is because how I was raised or maybe its because of my own traumatic life experience. I believe that life is this crazy, messed up world but you determine the beauty you see in it. Its not going to be perfect or easy in that matter but it will be worth it. I believe it depends on your values, what really matters to an individual. People come from nothing and make something of themselves everyday. I believe if you put the effort in you will see results. Life isn't about materialistic things because in reality you can learn to read without a book. I think people take for granted what they do have and are so focused on what they don't have. I think it makes a difference if you constantly look at your neighbor and envy them for everything they have that you don't. Nobody is going to have the same as everyone else. Not everyone is going to be handed a brand new car when they get their license, but that doesn't mean they cant drive. Some cities of Rhode Island have it way better than others. Some schools have way more money than others. That doesn't make those kids more talented or better off because they came from a richer neighborhood. What I'm trying to get at is yes the environment totally  impacts a persons way of life, but so does the individual. This is why I believe that live skills should be taught in school or in organizations. I think children could value from guidance in everyday life so they have the equal opportunity to make something of themselves.


Fun article on ways to take control of your life!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brenda-della-casa/life-tips_b_4538457.html