Thanks for the Memories...

How could I leave you all without one final goodbye? I can't tell all of you how much I've enjoyed this class. I LOVE the blogs, even though I wish we (as a class) could've gotten even more involved and immersed in the culture. I learned a lot, not just from the material, but from the great class discussions we had together.

Personally, for me, this class has gotten me excited about a lot of things, and it's really helped me find some direction and understand that not all academic discussion has to be in the "high language" of the dominant discourse (ohhh that phrase is amazing) of scholars.

And cheers to Dr. Bogad for facilitating and organizing this awesome class! My work in college has been pretty much ho-hum (one notable exception being Colleen and I's paper and presentation on Kelly for Feminist Theory), but in this class I've really gotten the chance to do some work that I'm actually proud of. I hope someday I'll be able to get paid for teaching a class or writing a book about stuff like this... hopefully!!

Teenage Jen approves this post!


Teenage Jen says: keep blogging!!

...aw, I miss class already. What now?

One Last YouTube Link...

I always thought of our class when this song played on my computer. It's absolutely perfect and I think it speaks to me more than any other teenager-y song. I figured I'd do a little tribute post, in the blog-style that I've learned throughout the semester... a much more sentimental entry is on its way!

Here's the YouTube video... MC Lars' iGeneration.



And people tried to put us down
When iTunes bumped a post-Cold War sound
My generation sat at the Mecca of malls,
Times Square, I'm there, Viacom installs
So we hit the net while the Trade Center fell
New York met Hollywood, we ran like hell
No Vietnam for us, yo, Iraq it's on
So who agreed upon this cowboy Genghis Khan?
The choice made, baby. Hey, we'd take it back
logged in dropped out, MTV took track
They sold it back to us and claimed no correlation
The iMac, iPod, iGeneration
And I'm waiting for the day we can get out
The world is ours, that's the story no doubt
Want to be more than info super highway traffic
want to be more than a walking demographic!

Hey! You're part of it.
Talking about the iGeneration
Yeah! You're part of it.
Talking about my iGeneration

See the iGeneration knew organization
meant optimization and unification
When imagination gave participation
In creation of culture a manifestation
The Berlin Wall fell and out we came
The post-Cold War kids laid claim to AIM.
LOL, OMG, yo, BRB. Space, colon, dash, closed parenthesis
We sat at our laptops and typed away,
and found that we each had something to say
Web-logged our fears, our hopes and dreams
Individuated by digital means
Fiber optic lenses, DVD, Coca Cola, Disney and Mickey D's.
Flat mass culture, the norm that took hold
I hope I die before I get sold

This is the I-N-T-E-R-N-E-T generation, see?

Central Falls Curfew

Check it out.

CENTRAL FALLS — Reacting to the fear that has gripped this city after two teenagers were shot to death over the weekend, the mayor yesterday imposed a 9 p.m.-to-5 a.m. curfew for all youths under 18.
After 9 p.m., anyone under 18 who is out on the street must be accompanied by a parent or guardian or the adults could face fines.

Goodness knows they won't be questioning the little white girl with pigtails. What's up with this?

Also... make the adults pay? What if they're not around? If this ban is for minors, shouldn't it also punish minors, not their respective adults? I don't think they should be punished for being out at night at all. Ugggg.

Anyone here live in the Central Falls area? I understand the situation they're having right now with those two shootings, but is this the right solution? Maybe I'm overreacting, but this seems a little... backwards.

Choice Assignment 3 -- Teen Internet Space

I was absolutely positive I wanted to do my last choice assignment on Scarleteen, just so I'd get the chance to talk about it. Well, I chose the other choice assignments for a reason, but I really think that Scarleteen deserves a shout out.

As its name and tagline suggest, Scarleteen provides information and realistic advice for teenagers. The website is split up into sections (such as "Repro Depot," "Pink Slip," and "Gaydar") which contain a number of articles each (such as "Honorably Discharged: A Guide to Vaginal Secretions," "Vagzilla! (Or, Genitals Great and Small)," and "ED: Why You Don't Have to Get So Down About Not Getting It Up" ...yes, I picked all the ones with fun names). They describe their approach as follows:

We feel accurate, holistic and interactive education, made as age-pertinent and appropriate as possible, allows anyone, regardless of age, to make the best choices throughout their lives. This, coupled with open care and communication from parents, other educators, teachers and other respected adults, and a confidence in individual choices and relationships is the foundation for lifelong sexual and emotional health.

Well... this website rocks. While it isn't made BY teens, it's certainly made with teens and young adults in mind -- the founder notes that the site began in response to a number of questions via email they were receiving through another site (not directed towards teens). The founders believe that whatever sex education most teens are getting in school isn't enough... and they're absolutely right. It's so important that everyone is able to receive accurate medical information, so a site like this that presents a broad range of topics in a blunt and straightforward manner.

For example, check out the article "Ready or Not?"

Even when we're not talking about heterosexual vaginal intercourse, any kind of genitally-interlocking sex is often framed as "taking it to the next level," even though in plenty of relationships, or for plenty of people, that may not be any sort of "next" or "higher" level at all, especially if one or both people involved really aren't and don't feel ready.

What I like most about this site is that it doesn't try to dumb anything down or leave out topics that might "too confusing" to teens. The website itself is broken down into sections (as mentioned before), and includes diagrams and text in a relatively easy to read format -- good for any age, really. Unlike Listen Up!, which I found to be a bit hard to navigate, this website flowed very nicely.

Speaking of Listen Up!... this site also had a section where teens could talk back... there are some pretty awesome articles where teens can write in and share their experiences with others. The stories range in topic from motherhood, to eating disorders, to homophobia. I really liked the one about hair... very reminiscent of one of the vagina monologues! It's cool to hear people (not just teens!) talking about this stuff.

What I like most about this site is the message board. Let's face it -- what "should" be done regarding health concerns isn't always going to happen. Not every young adult will feel comfortable asking (or be able to approach) a parent or doctor about reproductive health issues. The element of anonymity is very encouraging. Also... if you don't feel like going through all the articles on the site... why not just ask the people that wrote them?

The dynamic that the site and message board allow for lets teens discuss their health with professionals as well as peers. Marc Prensky noted that "Digital Natives are used to receiving information really fast...they prefer graphics before their text...they function best when networked." What Prensky describes is embodied in this website; it appears on the first page of google searches for related terms like "teen sex advice" and "teen sex health," so it's easy to find. The website itself is easy on the eyes. The ease of communication between the volunteers on the site and those seeking help is also a mark of a well-thought out plan to speak to teens "in their own language." There's a lot of information out there on the internet, both harmful and helpful... what this website does is try to speak to those teens seeking help in this medium, and provide them with solid information and support.

Yay!



Ohhh I wish I could just keep going and write more choice assignments for the blog. I'm definitely going to keep my blog going, but I just wanted to mention a close runner up that was almost one of my choice assignments. The All Girl Army is a collective of bloggers between the ages of 10 and 23. I just found that page today when I was searching for other stuff, and I think it's pretty neat/relevant to our class. Check it out!

Listen Up! (Revisited!)

OK. IE just CRASHED and didn't autosave all of my blog. This is why we need Firefox as the default browser on the school computers!!!

Anyways... I guess I'll just try to remember what I was writing. Talking points are coming up on this one, but there's a couple things I wanted to address before I head back to my laptop (WHICH HAS FIREFOX!!) and write a more detailed response.

The main thing I want to point out is the isolated nature of this website. I do have some concerns about the access -- to get your video posted on the site, you have to be a in an organization that is approved by Listen Up! through an application process. What about places that don't have these programs? Who are we missing out on? I guess there's no way to have a teens-only place without it being super-expensive (I imagine it's expensive to actually check everyone's age), but I think it would be more authentic to see a web space that was more accessible.

Once I got into the site more, I drifted from the comedies (and Resurrection... oh my goodness!) to some of the documentaries. I really like the genre, so I thought I'd find something that I liked. I found this really cool video called I Am Not A Boy. It was neat to see something so personal shared on a website like this. I'm still really iffy about this site because of the access issues... but isn't it worth it if we get to see honest, open stuff like this?

Aw, yeah, it really is. :) I'll blog more later now that I'm feeling warm and fuzzy again.

Choice Assignment 2

"I'm extraaaa angsty today about emotions!"

My interview with a teenager

Ohhh my goodness... or rather, "OMG!!!" I just did an interview with my internet friend, and it was amazingly amazing. You can find the whole text of it here (it's loooooong, and there's a lot of internet subculture references... let me know if anything is unclear!), so I picked out some of the choice elements to discuss.

But wait! I have to set up the scene, here. The person I interviewed is a 17-year-old white male in high school, not too far from RI. Since I know him primarily from the internet (and know he's a big "internet person" -- or as Prensky would say, Digital Native), I figured it would be neat to talk to him about internet stuff. He gets pretty talkative, so he kinda just interviewed himself, but I tried to steer him to get at what I really wanted to know... where does he "place" himself in the realm of the internet... and am I making a big deal out of this, after all, doesn't EVERYONE use the internet? These questions and more were answered...

Oh, I forgot to mention the best part! We did the interview through MSN Messenger, AIM's weird red-headed cousin. I kept the interview more like a chat style, so the responses are spread out more, and I edited it a bit to make it flow better. Ok, let's let the interview begin...


We started off with a little discussion about just how he relates to the internet...

Jen says:

so, you're on the internet. you're probably one of the most internety people I know

Mr. Miro says:

Indeed I am!

Jen says:

do you ever feel like you were raised by the internet?

cause I know I do

Mr. Miro says:

Raised by the internet?

Honestly? Most definitly!

Jen says:

so tell me what you've learned from The Great Internet

Mr. Miro says:

How to be social, probably more then 80% of all information that I know about almost all knowledge, things such as how too cook, care for animals, and it solidfied my already big knowledge of physiology, history, and vastly expanded my interaction with various cultures

But most people find it odd that I've learned to be so sociable and interactive from a machine

This initial exchange was really loaded! 80% of all information is quite a lot. But look at the things he pointed out... knowledge, history, interaction with cultures... how cool is that? The internet takes away a lot of the isolation we might feel living in a place where there are, for example, no people that share our interests, culture, religion, or ethnicity. We didn't mention this in our interview, but I think he and I both self-identify as weirdos that don't quite fit in... and the internet just opens up the world.

We ended up getting into a pretty cool chat about gender on the internet. I've always been amused by the whole "there's no girls on the internet" phenomenon, which is connected to the "there's no girl gamers" phenomenon, so it was neat to talk to him about how/if he identifies as a male on the internet.

Jen says:

first: most embarassing internet moment

Mr. Miro says:

Well,

I'm Mr. Miro now.

My word choices, way of speaking and mannerism come off as feminine,

and I used to be mistaken for a girl, a lot

Jen says:

tell me more about your internet gender mixups

Mr. Miro says:

Oh, well,

I'm Mirosexual,

A term I've coined that sticks with me

Jen says:

so even though you've added "Mr." you're still androgynous?

Mr. Miro says:

Yeah,

Tis true!

Jen says:

so... why did people think you were a girl?

is it all the commas?

Mr. Miro says:

I'm nice,

Jen says:

:P

Mr. Miro says:

That was partly a reason,

I type feminine

I wish we could've unpacked his idea about "typing feminine," but he strayed away and distracted me with other stuff. I plan on asking him later, though!! Anyways, I loved how he's "mirosexual" -- he created his own identity and stuck with it! This topic wasn't so apparent in the articles we read, but I know we've talked a lot about identity in class. Teens shape their identities not only through their "spaces" (myspace, facebook, etc), but through their interactions with others.

This led to a larger discussion about sexuality, which I also wish we could've talked more about... if you look at the full conversation, I wanted to get at heterosexuality a little bit, but he was taking me somewhere else completely, which was fine with me. The exchange got a little lengthy, but you can check out the full document for context.

Mr. Miro says:

Well, I found out that the human brain is amazing, and that I really really really like the body

Nowadays, I know what I like and the reasons why I like it,

Which is a great thing to have with the ladies,

Jen says:

indeed it is

Mr. Miro says:

Because phsyical looks aren't nearly as important as they were for me before,

It's something I can turn on and off freely now,

Jen says:

so the internet helped you discover your sexuality in a non-creepy way...

I know there's this lifetime movie where this boy is addicted to porn and it's the stupidest movie ever

everrrrrrr

Mr. Miro says:

Like I said before, I was raised on the internet, so remember that,

and yes, The internet helped me find my sexuality,

Jen says:

say more about that

like... what changed you?

what did it change?

Mr. Miro says:

Before, the female body was... forbidden, you know?

Jen says:

right

Mr. Miro says:

Hell, I didn't even know much about my own let alone the other sexes,

So, I'd look up pictures, and by looking up pictures, I'd learn words,

I think what was said there is really important. With the wealth of information out there on the internet, anything you don't know you can look up. I loved how he could identify the process of discovery he went through. Since it is a very personal process, I would say that the internet is a great resource for this kind of identity-building.

Later on, I asked him about his greatest achievement on the internet, expecting some kind of response about the number of visitors to his website or something else similar... but he told me that his greatest achievement was when he was able to save a friend's life. We got to talking about the story of Megan Meiers, who was pushed to suicide by a friend's mother posing as "Josh Evans," which is ironically the real-life name of Miro.

Jen says:

is it the dangers of the internet, though, or just of mean people?

Mr. Miro says:

Well, it's always the people,

Mr. Miro says:

They just use the internet as a new form of weaponry

Mr. Miro says:

it has a shield to it, and it has a knife,

During this part of the conversation, I was really reminded of some of the small group discussion we had about the "dangers" of the internet. Miro definitely recognized that there are two sides to that coin; as much harm as the internet does, it's also an outlet and resource for those that need help.

Towards the end of our discussion, we were getting bogged down in the negative narrative we're fed about the internet... so we changed gears a little. WWHS? Heh. What would Hine say? I always forget him since he was waaay back at the beginning of class, but I think now's a good time to bring him back. Hine talked a lot about the media sensationalism behind teen issues... the internet has ripped a huge hole open that has exacerbated that issue. I addressed that with Miro, and he seems to think that the construction of teenagers had quite a bit to do with the negative media representation. Solution, please!

Jen says:

ok so let's say you're the news guy for the day, Mr. Miro

what would you say about our generation?

Mr. Miro says:

Well,

We're uneducated and overeducated,

All at the same time,

We learn a lot of things,

But they're destroying us,

Everything they tell us and teach us rarely has a pleasant ending,

Jen says:

and you're saying the media is negative...

Mr. Miro says:

I am,

Therefor,

Things need to be in regulation,

Everything is grossly over-exaggerated

It's time for some good,

Jen says:

yes!

Mr. Miro says:

(and yes, I'm the kind of guy who crescendos his speeches - they dip down low and jump right up)

Jen says:

haha, keep going!

Mr. Miro says:

Well,

Things will be praised as much as they're bashed,

Life is unpleasant, yes. But it is because you're letting it,

So,

Think about this,

What good have you heard recently?

Jen says:

let's see

Mr. Miro says:

tick tock

Jen says:

ok, it took me too long

Mr. Miro says:

Alright, what have I learned from researching news of the internet,

We've gotten photos of galaxies

They don't combust or explode or die,

They merge into one super big galaxy

So we throw up a few pictures,

and BAM,

We might've just fed the interests of someone who likes space

Possibly benifiting our future

Heh... I have to admit, I was kind of amused by the way he carried on... he was so self-aware about his own representation of himself ("I'm the kind of guy who crescendos his speeches") . His speech was a little dizzying, but I really do get what he's saying...

I really love how we got to do this online... even though we're real-life friends now, too, there was something really important about doing it online. I remember at first being put off by some of Prensky's ideas about digital natives... that we're not stimulated by the more "classical" methods of teaching... that we need to be engaged with games and the like. Maybe that statement is derogatory to me because I place that value on it... what's wrong with wanting more interactive texts? I'm sure if I had suggest a phone or in-person interview, he (and I) would not have been as receptive or as free to talk about certain things. One of the digital native characteristics, I think, is the comfortableness with text-based instant interaction over the internet.

Overall, I was very honored to have been able to have such a “deep” conversation with Miro. I think it really goes to show that teens are very insightful and introspective, more so than “we” might think. I can't say that I didn't have any expectations entering this interview... part of the reason he's my internet friend is that he doesn't expect me to act like an "adult," so I always expect him to act... non-adult... but really, we're just two people that aren't all that serious! What struck me most was that he was so self-aware... he wanted to tell me things, make certain things the focus... he wanted to keep going!

The narrative of how teens behave on the internet stretches from the extreme of isolation and anti-socialness to the extreme of overexposure and victimization. I'm glad I got to have this conversation to prove that there's so much more than that!

:( Sad Face.

Noooo! My speakers have failed me... therefore I am having a hard time actually listening to "Listen Up!" Believe me, I am extremely depressed that I have been neglecting my blog, but I will be back with a vengeance! (Keep an eye out for my upcoming choice assignment about my interview with a teenager...)

The full blog on this one may have to wait, but I'll still say a little about my first impressions of the website. First of all... not conducive to holding my attention. This is no YouTube. This website really does look like it's directed at someone else besides kids, be it the "media partners" or "educators." It looks very professional rather than casual, so it seems to me that the producers would be doing this work in conjunction with school or other project rather than just for fun. Is this project really avaliable to everyone? Would certain topics not be allowed?

Ohhh dear, I really feel like I should be watching some of these. I'll be back tonight with my full blog...

Outline for Multimedia Project!

Teenage Mixtape Odyssey!!



Here's our little outline for this wonderful project:

History of Teens and Mix Tapes -- Nick

Migration of Mixtapes to the Internet -- Colleen

Mixtape Sharing Communities -- Loretta

Teens and their Mixtapes in Pop Culture -- Jen

(Perhaps not in this order)

Ours will truly be the multi-est of media presentations! Look forward to it!

Thoughts on YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook

Look at that -- finished before noon!

I'll admit it. I was am one of those. The ashen-faced, afraid of light, internet addict. It all started back in the 90s when we got one of those free AOL CDs I didn't have a car, of course. I lived miles and miles away from any of my friends or any kind of entertainment, trapped in the trees of Burrillville. For me, the internet gave me unlimited space to learn from and communicate with others at my level. Oh, yes, I was active on a pokemon forum, neopets, and those creepy AOL chats... that last one probably wasn't the best idea, but I don't think they were as creepy back in the day.

The clash that's occurring right now seems to be between freedom and privacy. We have the freedom to post (more or less) anything that we want, but we don't have the freedom from others entering "our" claimed space. The internet is largely understood to be a public domain, as the articles this week explain. I think what's going on right now is the death of the last frontier. Myspace isn't really my space -- it's everyone's, and I just have a share of it... it's just a storefront in the endless strip mall of the internet. I can't draw a line in the dirt on the ground and expect people not to cross.

Whoosh... that's the sound of my thought flying out the window. Maybe it's something we'll bring up in class.

Anyways, on to the articles. I was a little stumped as to where to start at first, so of course, I went to my best friend, Google. Googling "myspace danger" gets a few thousand hits, many of the articles were about just that -- "dangers" on myspace.

The article on the YouTube class was pretty neat. Like the teacher, I wonder if anyone actually tuned in to listen to the class. What she says about the "charm" of the class -- being "in" it -- it what I feel I've been experiencing in this class. Like Benelix said, using the blog each week puts me in the right mindset to be part of the experience we're talking about.

The article about the "Deleting Online Predator Act" offered some very valuable insight into current legislation regarding social networking sites. Under the act, public schools and libraries would have to block access to certain sites. Even before I read on, red flags went up for me -- are we trying to keep a certain class of people out of the internet? The author names a "digital divide" that would occur, separating those with access in thier homes from those with access only in schools or libraries. Specifically, the author said the following:

What a kid can do at home with unlimited access is very different from what a kid can do in a public library with ten or fifteen minutes of access at a time and with no capacity to store and upload information to the web. We further handicap these children by placing filters on the Internet which restrict their access to information which is readily available to their more affluent classmates.

It took me back to the Marc Prensky article that we all noted left gaps in relation to class. Since it is so important for people (young and old) to be connected to the internet, it's important for everyone to be able to use it.


Anyways... I remember all that drama last year about some pageant queen having to give up her title because of stuff posted on her facebook, I think... I found the article about it here. She got dragged through the mud because of some "racy" pictures. Racy? Please. I've been to the depths of the internet and back, and those pictures are hardly racy. Ok, so she's supposed to be a role model -- a self-disciplined, sexless role model. I can understand the drama if someone else posted those pictures of her -- but she did it, knowingly, and let anyone see them. Are we still so in awe of the internet that we think anything is really private?

That's where the dilemma of ownership that I mentioned before comes in. Each generation that is welcomed to the internet is still presented with the idea of the frontier -- this space is yours, do what you want with it. While it may not be the nicest thing to do, I don't really have a problem with kids venting their feelings or posting "inappropriate" pictures... I think it's great that teens can express their sexuality... but there is a problem if they don't truly grasp the repercussions that might occur.

I think it's great that kids are using the internet the way that they do. All we hear about is the kids that post videos of fights and children being preyed on by sexual predators, but I'm willing to bet that these occurrences are a small minority. I think a lot of the press out there about kids on the internet is sensationalism (like that 8-page long drama about the Horace Mann school) appealing to parents' fear. Are teenagers reading these articles and saying, "Hmmm, maybe I should stop doing ____ on the internet."? Nooo... probably not. The intention of those kinds of articles, I think is to "crash the party," so to speak. Kids have had free reign of the internet for too long, so now we need to pay attention and analyze and "save" these poor, helpless children.

Uggg.

Running a little late...

Hey everyone -- I've been super busy aaaall weekend with other stuff, but I promise my blog is coming soon... maybe not by 12, but definitely before class!