Listen Up! Youth Media Network

"If I was going to survive, something was going to have to change...and it wasn't going to be me."

What does it mean to talk back? The videos I watched were about teenagers and sexuality. One of the prominent videos walked the viewer through the life of a teen named Matty, who questioned the sex of which he was born, and the appropriate gender expression that sex dictated (male; masculine). He was identified by his grandmother as being "feminine' since at least four years old. He stated that he has always felt different, rather, isolated, from those around him. The gender he was supposed to be did not match the gender he feels comfortable expressing, and e wants viewers to know that this is OK. Today, he appears comfortable expressing himself and urges others to accept all people as unique individuals rather then categorize, stereotype, and outcast those that are different from yourself.

Matty's Video- "The Walk Through Closet"

Listen Up! Does it talk back?

After navigating the Listen Up! website for a while, I noticed something unique. Compared to the majority of YouTube and adult media depictions of teens, these teens had a different message to deliver about themselves. They want viewers to see them as real. They were not trying to sell an image. Rather, they were talking from their hearts. I watched videos on teens and drugs, one in particular about teens and nicotine dependence. These series of 17- year -olds were not trying to look cool or show off for the camera. They were talking about the real life, day to day struggles they face with their addiction. They said things like "I wish I could stop", and they were aware of the negative side effects, yet they still found themselves smoking. This doesn't sound like an adults portrayal of teens and smoking to me.
In addition to teens and drugs, there were videos on suicide, sexuality, and even one about teens as digital natives. Listen Up! is a portal for teens to post real-life autobiographies with one another. Its an outlet where teens can connect through shared experiences and learn about those of other teens. It houses diversity and generates open mindedness in a safe space. Teens really share their personal stories and analyses in a remarkable way here-in a way we have not seen much of this semester until now.

Final Project-Teens and social class

Here is our group: Katrina, Jess and Elena and I. We are investigating the relationship between teens and social class, and the way media portrays this relationship, both from an introspective and observational perspective. We will be using video clips from "People Like Us"- one of which is called Tammy's story, and we will be comparing this media to another media clip from the film for some contrast. We will also be utilizing a handful of analytical pieces from Jean Anyon and Gregory Mantsios to pick apart the constructs media chose to emphasize in this film, and also to highlight the oppressive (or very beneficial) nature of social class orientation with regards to education and social/cultural capital.
Here is the entire video segment on YouTube (it was too large to embed)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8VXrHeLqBA

Youth & Social Networking - Henry Jenkins interview

I enjoyed reading this interview between Henry Jenkins and Danna Boyd. I was unaware of the Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA) prior to reading the information contained in their interview. In my opinion, I agree with the two of them. Access to online networking sites offers a host of supplemental resources to the education setting. From interactive sites like Blogger and Wikispaces, teachers can expand on topics derived in class. Such modes of expansion include furthered outside conversation within classmates and teacher, supplemental video/text that can be easily accessed and posted/discussed by everyone, and those who are less likely to speak out in class have a chance to post their ideas. By passing the DOPA legislation, all of this valuable education is likely to be lost, rather then expanded upon. DOPA legislation is also cl assist to a certain extent, because it limits the access to public spaces in Federally Funded locations, I.E. schools and libraries. Kids who use these means to communicate will be disconnected, leaving only those privileged enough to have a computer in their homes. The poverty stricken, lower, and working classes should not have to suffer through another act of oppression in the classroom, which is what this law would be perpetuating.

In regards to the central point of the legislature, the "Predator"t, I think this part of the interview sums this up sufficiently:

"Predators do not use online information to abduct children; children face a much higher risk of abduction or molestation from people they already know – members of their own family or friends of the family. Statistically speaking, kids are more at risk at a church picnic or a boy scout outing than they are when they go on MySpace. Less than .01% of all youth abductions nationwide are stranger abductions and as far as we know, no stranger abduction has occurred because of social network services. The goal of a predator is to get a child to consent to sexual activities. Predators contact teens (online and offline) to start a conversation. Just as most teens know to say no to strange men who approach them on the street, most know to ignore strange men who approach them online."

The article argues that the 86 million people (mainly teens and young adults) who use sites like MySpace and Facebook are very safe in their navigation through these sites, and that kids use the same common sense while online as they would offline. Fear is a powerful agonist; just a small dose is enough to diffuse like wildfire in a country that has grown accustomed to being on edge-in our country. It would be a shame to lose such valuable, thought provoking resources like the above mentioned to such an exsaderated, unrealistic fear.