Teenagers in the News for 3/31

"The Unexplained bullying of Billy Wolfe never seems to End"
By Dan Barry
Providence Journal, Monday, March 24, 2008

Reading this article was ridiculous. I dont think there is any other word to describe it. This poor boy, a sophomore in high school, is ridiculed and beat up almost everyday of his life, and the school system does nothing to stop it. His parents have recently pressed charges against some boys who have beat him up constantly, not for money, but to make a stand against bullying. To me, this article opened my eyes. I mean, you hear of bullying here and there, people calling each other names and what not, but I have never witnessed or heard of anyone getting so viciously ostracized. Obviously this article raises the question of bullying and what to do when it hits close to home, but to be honest, the bullying and torment that Billy faces everyday should still not be happening. It breaks my heart and im sure a lot of other hearts that this teen is the target of anothers insecuritys when he has done nothing wrong. I cant wait to talk more about this in class.

"Nantucket struggles to help students after 3 suicides"
By Benedict Carey
The New York Times, Sunday, March 23, 2008

This article is devasting. The small island of Nantucket, off of the coast of Mass, where Im sure a lot of people have been to vacation, is experiencing great loss. Three teenagers that live year round on the island have recently committed suicide, leaving the community devasted. The first occurred in Feb. of 07, and the teen was 15; the second occurred in October of 07, and the teen was 17 and an A student, and an athlete; and the third occurred in January of 08, and the teen was 16. These three deaths are not linked to each other, the three teens were not friends. The island is going through some devatsing times, and the school has shipped in counslers from the mainland of Massachusetts to come to the school to talk to the students. Most of them are inconsolable, and a loss of this magnitude is something that they dont understand. Reading this article hit me hard because dealing with losing someone from a suicide is one of the hardest things anyone has to go through.

"A curb on Street Violence"
By W. Zachary Malinowski
The Providence Journal, Tuesday, March 25, 2008

This article is about the Institude for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence, which is based out of Providence, but has impacted communitys as far as California. Sal Monteiro Jr. is a mediator at the institute that walks around the streets trying to persuade teens not to enter the life of gangs and violence. He was recently at Mount Pleasant High School talking to teenagers about the negative affects it has on a persons life. The institute has grown in numbers since it first opened, and it also has the support from Representatives Patrick Kennedy and James Langevin. I do not know a lot about gangs in Providence, or really anywhere, and hope to talk more about this in class today.

FastForward for 3/17

Preface for Fast Forward
By Lauren Greenfield


In Greenfields preface, she talks about how her project of taking pictures in LA came about. She had grown up in LA and as a photographer taken pictures of many other cultures, and wanted to return home to explore the culture she once lived in. She focused on the youth of LA and how they are strongly influenced by the media. The teenagers that she photographed often helped her; telling her what the photograph and offering insight on why things were the way they were. Her four year journey through the youth of LA taught her a lot about the subculture of teenage-hood, and the loss of innocence.
I can only imagine what it would be like to grow up in Los Angeles. As a teenager you want to grow up fast, but in LA you are immersed in the center of the entertainment industry, and "it generates much of the popular culture so integral to teenage life around the world." Children in LA are at the nucleus of the media that so influences teenagers lifes. Growing up in LA only speeds up the process that children want to go through. Life. I enjoyed reading this piece a lot because I understand what she is saying. Children do want to grow up so fast and the media plays a huge role in this. I like how she could go to a place where she had grown up and document the generation going through it now. Im sure she saw so many different things because as the years go on, children want to grow up even faster than before.
I could relate a lot of what she was saying to the Hine article. Just the fact that the media plays a huge role in children growing up. Although she didnt say anything about being digital natives or immigrants, the underlying thought about how the media influences children and society was present. Children want to grow up at a seemingly alarming rate, and Greenfield said that they are not connected to their parents at all. This is so true, because our generation has grown up so different from our parents generation. We have grown up on internet and instant gratification. Our parents, grandparents, etc, didnt have that. I could relate that fact to the Hine article.
Before I read this article I too wanted to take pictures of my high school presently. Although I moved out of state for 2 years and am back, it has changed so much. My town has basically done a 180, and living there now is incredibly different.