For this blog I chose to pick three quotes that really stuck out to me.
1. "As adults we believe we know youth- we once were youth, and some of us share our daily lives with youth as teachers, parents, and friends. But to rely on that which we already know is to reproduce that which we already 'know'" (Bogad, 3)
To me, this quote means that as adults we must grow and learn with youth instead of trying to teach youth what we already know. We can learn from youth as much as youth can learn from us. Youth culture is constantly changing and growing. Adults must keep up with the changes in order to better understand and relate to the youth they are working with. It is not productive to "live in the past" when time keeps going. Some lessons are life lessons, most learning is done throughout your life into adulthood.
2. "This magazine cover advertises adolescence as a stage, specific and distinct by age-based criteria: on the eve of her twentieth birthday, Katie Holmes is granted a moment of nostalgia for her teenaged self that will disappear like a glass slipper at midnight" (Bogad, 5).
This quote is referring to a LIFE magazine cover with Katie Holmes on the front talking about her final days as a teenager. I liked this quote because it made me think, when do you start becoming a teenager and when do you stop? Does age really change who you are as a person? Or is simply just a number? I don't think the moment Katie turns twenty she will have some sort of epiphany of "becoming a woman". This is all so socially constructed that it is ingrained in us, and the majority of us buy into it. I bought into it. I remember having a huge 13th birthday party to celebrate "becoming a teenager". But what does that even really mean?
3. "Understood as a linear progression marked by the comings and goings of birthdays, the discourses of adolescence development suggest that every young person passes through these stage enroute to a mature and stable 'self'" (Bogad, 7).
I think this quote is referring to "going through those teenage years". The media often displays being a teenager as difficult. Either high school can be amazing and fun or depressing and awful. There is no in between. Parents are often shown talking to their kids about, "just making it through high school, and college will be better". Why is this "stage" of a person's life looked at as something we have to make it through instead of something to enjoy? There is often a sense that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, as long as you make it through high school you'll be okay.
I liked what you had to say about the second quote! I also thought a lot about that transition from being a teen, since I turn twenty next week and I found the whole idea of having this epiphany about adulthood and no longer being a teen very funny and odd.
ReplyDeleteI liked what you said about the first quote. I agree with you when you mentioned that us as adults can learn as much as Youth can. Some people think less of youth because they are "too young" and may not know what us adults "know". As adults we can lead with youth and grow from them as well.
ReplyDeleteWell done!