When you see a 11-16 year old boy in a hoodie, what do you think? What needs to change? Do we change our point of view or do the youth change?
131532
Nice question. I wouldn't even know where to begin with answering this one there are so many issues tied up in this. Firstly are we talking UK here? I'm guessin yes. When you say "urban" are you talking inner city/ethnic minorities generally/Black youth specifically cos it all makes a difference. Also- who is doing the misunderstanding? Is it the general population cos if it's a case of the general population misunderstanding white youth that's absolutely nothing new, if it's the general public misunderstanding Black youth that's also nothing new but they're very different issues. I live in South London (arguably an area of the country with the worst reputation and some of the highest street crime rates- and an area where the stereotypes of hoodie-wearers are rife). I'm 21 (so not too far from the teens and at times  and in certain situations I still consider myself to be 'youth'). For me 11-16 is a really big age gap. If I see an 11-14 year old boy walking down the street in a hoodie my impressions of him will be different than if he's 15/16. It also depends on his demeanour- maybe I can read these things better because I'm of that age and culture and not long out of school? To give a good example the other day I was packing my car boot outside my house and I had to go back to get some more stuff. There was a young Black boy (I'd say about 12/13) walking down the street towards me with a hoodie and tracksuit. I decided that he wasn't a risk so I left my car boot open and went and got the rest of my stuff. As I was coming back to the car and he was walking off past it I thought to myself 'would I have left the car boot open if he was taller? or older? or with a group of friends? or if he looked angry or on a mission to do something bad?' I don't know. It's interesting. A couple months ago in a similar example we were unloading some drinks that we'd just bought from the car (getting ready for a party) and there were two young white girls (about 15) walking past, singing and acting silly (no hoodies). Anyway, I waited by the car til they had passed before I went inside. It was night time maybe that had something to do with it? I don't know. It's interesting because I don't have any schema that consider young white girls to be more criminal than young Black boys (and in fact dominant ideology actually works the opposite way) so as far as I'm concerned it must have been the particular circumstances and I guess that's my answer to your question. It depends. In terms of change, wow there's so much. A really good start would be breaking down barriers between young and older people- exposing them to each other's lives and cultures so they can understand there's nothing to fear and that the other should be respected (this goes both ways). Respect was my next one. Particularly young people need to recognise that their elders should be shown respect regardless of how 'deserving' they are in our eyes. I've seen and experienced some severe violence from older people towards youth (mostly on the buses) and it's just not on but maybe it should start with the youngers? Maybe we should learn to be the 'bigger man' and show respect. Take up our roles in society as the next, capable generation and start to ensure that the path we've laid will be walked by generations to come and when we're older respect for your elders will be a given (like it was back in the day). (I always write essays on here so I'm gonna stop right there- boy I could go on and on, do get in contact if you want any more!!)
223293
Honestly? Yes! All things change. People change. Relationships change. Change is constant in all our lives. The real questions are who’s actively doing the changing? \nTo whom and what? And why? And in which direction? And what do you want to change?\n\nA relationship is between people. To change a relationship you have to change the people. The best place to start is with your-self.\n\nYou cannot simply expect the other to change - and they are going to resist your pressure to force them to anyway. But if YOU change, your partner and your relationship automatically have to follow.\n\nYou were once a baby. You changed. You became a young child. You changed again to a teenager. And again, you changed into a grown-up. \n\nDidn't you? Every time you changed, everyone around you did too and so did your relationships with them. People have a head start on life - changes. They are largely built- in until about twenty years old. \n\nThings happen fairly automatically and are largely to do with our bodies and minds simply growing and developing. And after twenty? Well\n\nWhen we are adults people change when they are thoroughly fed up with banging their head against the same old wall. They change when they cannot stand the boredom of continuing the way they are. They change when they find out, again, what they once and always knew - that they have Choice. that they Can!\n\nChange happens for all three reasons every day but some changes are good, some are bad, and a few are well - just neutral. \nWe need to learn how to be consciously aware of our own change process instead of remaining unaware and letting them just "happen to us", for good, bad or worse.
128305
Honestly what does it really matter? Why are people so concerned about what other people are doing/wearing/listening to. WHO CARES!! Once kids get out of high school no one cares what's hot or not, what's the new style of clothes, or the coolest band out. People need to stop worrying about others and what they are doing
416290
No, I think sometimes 18 is young.  I, personally have a child close to that age.  My child has no idea the issues involved much less is able to make decisions based on those issues..  He is a child and a minor for a reason.  He still is being raised and taught.  I think he should be a child, dealing with teenage issues instead of the world's right now.  He has trouble picking out clothes for school.  I don't think he is ready to vote for the leader of the free world...
544318
Topic 1 - I used to work at a Private High School that required uniforms.  \n\nPro - 1) Uniforms make everyone equal (or appear equal).  You don't have the problem of the "rich" kids looking rich and well you know.\n2) Fosters a feeling of belonging.  Look at any sports team.  They all have uniforms.  Why?  Because it shows everyone else that they are part of this team.  So for schools, it can (depending on the uniform) identify you as "belonging" to this school.\n3) Uniforms reduce the amount of time teenagers spend "worrying" about what to wear, so they can spend more time concentrating on their school work (Hey, these are not my reasons - these are the ones the school gave.  Personally, I always had difficulty maintaining a straight face with that one).\n4) Uniforms reduce the overall cost of clothing that parents have to spend.  Uniforms only need to be replaced if they are outgrown or damaged.  Unlike regular cloths which go in an out of fashion constantly, and therefore must be purchased on a regular basis so that the student can "be in style".\n\nCon:\n1) Uniforms provide an "institutional" like atmosphere that forces teenagers to conform to one standard.  It starts the job of making them into "followers" and conformers.\n2) Uniforms constitute a militaristic idea, and works to destroy individuality, and free-thinking.\n3) Uniforms do not destroy peer hierarchy based on clothing.  Instead it forces everyone into the same clothing - the style of which accentuates some body types and looks terrible on others.  The individual cannot chose clothing that looks best on him/her.  This can significantly reduce the self esteem of that person.\n4) Uniforms do not reduce the overall cost of clothing for the parent, because the student is going to want "real" cloths to wear as soon as they get home from school.  So the cost to the parent actually increases because they must buy both sets of cloths.\n5) Uniforms do not make everyone equal.  Uniforms or not, the rich kids will always be able to "accessorize" in order to distinguish their financial status from the others.\n\nTopic 2\nNot exactly sure what they mean by "foster new damage" - what kind of damage?  But here is my take on it\nPro (means you are arguing that Electronic Devices do Foster New Damage)\n1) When you use something like a computer or calculator, you don't learn the real thing (i.e. you don't need to know math in order to get a correct answer with a calculator, you don't need to know how to spell because the computer corrects it).\n2) Computers get faster and faster, but humans can only work so fast.  This is causing work environments that have unrealistic assumptions about how much productivity can be accomplished in a specific amount of time.  Worker dissatisfaction and burn-out is at an all time high.\n3) Over use of electronic devices creates adults with less social skills.  When kids do all of their communicating via texting, paging, or email they don't learn the "art" of conversation with a real person.  This also causes them problems later in working environments that require "team work" because they never learned how to relate to other people - especially those who can be difficult.\n4) Over use of electronic devices has created a whole new set of medical problems.  RMI - repetitive motion injuries such as Carpal Tunnel did not exist until the advent of the computer.  Also more issues such as lower back problems due to sitting at a computer all day in a bad chair, or vitamin D deficiency caused by spending all hours indoors in artificial environments and not getting to see the sun.  A new one is being called "irritable desk syndrome" - look it up, I'm not kidding\n5) Electronic devices have become a "leash" which we cannot get away from work, or home.  It used to be that once you left work, you stopped wor
2885
Acceptance.  \n\nBeing unaccepted in the teenage world is a social stigma that hurts many people.  So, following trends that the rest of the student body and teenage society follows, is a way for a person to not only 'feel' accepted but be aclimated by their peers.\n\nHowever, once you turn into an adult, this changes, as the social norms ect are less clear, leaving the decision on what to wear, how to wear it, and what to do and how to do it, simply up to you, instead of society.
420450
I have found this to be very unfair and annoying that society is so very rigid with men.  Women can wear men's clothes and it's not looked at twice, but if a man wears woman's clothes, the entire society flips out.  I think that it's taught by the parents to the children of each generation.  I also hope that as each generation lightens up a bit, these rigid rules lighten up.
446848
Personally I like girls to wear dresses, skirts, or anything that says girl. It seems lately that a lot of younger girls wear boys clothes including boys underwear and I just don't like that. I think girls should dress like girls but not like a slutty girl.
72125
i think everyone should be allowed to keep in contact with their friends.  from 14 year olds to 40 year olds.  obessed: yes.  but that is what keeps some people going, they need something to keep their life going [ex: ipod, friends, pop, etc] some people pick myspace.
129334
Given that I'm clearly not old enough to have a grown son (being 19 myself) I think it would be hilarious to wear such a T-shirt.  I'm not sure how I would feel about it if I were old enough that I could actually have a son old enough to be in prison, though.  A bumper sticker would also be cool.
190031
Kids with cell phones is riduculous! 4 years old is way too young. Kids are growing up too fast nowadays. THIS MADNESS NEEDS TO STOP!!!!!!
84242
actually, I'm 15 and when I was 13 a was a total nut job, and not at all punk. Look around at your school, the people that would look like they would never be punk...could be in a year or 2. :)
238109
I do think there is a difference if you grow up around a race that is different than your own.  I don't think it is negative or positive just as long as they do not forget who they are. I think it is up to the parents to help the child realized the difference but not make that big of a deal to where they feel different.   Make sense???
617599
Hi Phil,\n\nI suppose that, first of all, I would like to say that I am a 42 year old mother of four.  I happen to think that your blog is "Oh my good gosh wonderful".  \nI, myself, have not tried the blog thing, since I only heard about it probably three months ago.  But, I am trying to get the hang of this stuff, in between work, baseball practice, games, etc.  \n \nYour blog seemed very knowledgeable, which I find impressive,\nfor a boy your age.  \n\nUnfortunately, today's kids have to deal with so much negative energy.  I think you know what I mean.  So, for me, it was refreshing to know that there are actually some clean, intelligent teenagers still out there.  Please tell me that you are, because, in my opinion, Hip Hop is ruling the country, and I find it disgusting.\n\nAt least when I was growing up, musical bands were discreet in their lyrics.  Anyway, back to the main topic of this answer...........\n\nYou obviously know your stuff, and I think your blog is outstanding, to say the least.\n\nSincere best wishes toward your future in computerland
587180
I think the world is filled with more emos each passing day right down to my best knowledge in Singapore, Australia, America and so on so forth. I think, as a society, we need to understand why they fall in this category of society. They may be going through really suffering pressure the world gave to them and might be confused of what to feel towards such certain things therefore they seeked to being emo. Of course such society groups have certain fashion to their own beliefs. Tell me which doesn't? And I must also say, they do dress well but sometimes they scare off my little cousins which are afraid of black. Children should not be exposed to black too much in their childhood years.\n\nI think the question here is not emo being credited. There should be no question at all, indeed. It's just a phase or a chapter of their life which they find it very hard to turn to anyone else. They will all eventually mature and be who they are going to be when they are older. I have faith in them. Cos after all, they have gone through the hardest path of their life.
605316
our country hasn't changed any morels or values...they have "lost" them..and as long as they are lost our generation and the ones to follow will only continue to see the side effects...children killing parents, parents killing children, child pron, disrespect, and the list goes on.....in todays sociaty either everything is considered "ok"..and if not then they label it with a diease and then it's still "ok"......
148514
I don't think there is realy an age that is appropriate, because all people have different maturity levels at different times in their lives. I lost mine at the age of 16 and I'm 22. My boyfriend got my drunk and basically took advantage of me. Don't get me wrong, I could have said no, but I didn't. Today I wish I would have waited. Thinking about when my son gets older and if he ever asked mom, when did yo first have sex. Most parents would never hear that so I probably won't, but what if they were to ask? Although, I would never take it back because it got me where I am today, I've been happily married for two years with a gorgeous ten month old son. People make mistakes, but hopefully they learn from them. Society isn't the problem I don't think. i think the parents and schools need to start at a young age teaching values, because they are lacking somewhere.