Blog 4- Youth Ideologies

Quote 1: "A corollary observation is that Youth have different interests and needs and therefore respond differently to the same opportunities is that they should have choices about which activities they participate in and they should have a chance to help shape those activities." (Hamilton, Hamilton, & Pittman). 

I completely agree with quote 1000%. Every child is different and as youth workers we should try as much  as possible to learn all the interests and needs of our youth in order to have a better understanding of how they all personally learn, how they can learn from one another, how they see the world and in what ways they can thrive to the best of their abilities. Coming from my own personal experience I have always been a visual and "hands on" learner. Growing up, lectures were alright but whenever there was an opportunity for the class to have group discussions or watch interactive videos, or even getting a step by step "how to" lesson from the instructor themselves was always where I found my strong suit. This is how I typically teach my students now in activities and although most students that I have are also visual learners, there are a few that aren't. They'd rather have the lesson spoken to them first in detail and then work from there. I've had to personally learn that not everyone learns the same way I do and not everyone has  the same interests that I do. So now I often try to cater to the needs of my all students and after we've completed a lesson I will often ask follow up up questions to see if they liked the activity, what they didn't like about it, what they would change and if there's anything that could be added onto the activity. I am also big on asking my students random questions of the day whether that be "what's your  favorite food?" or "what's your go to place or go to thing to do when you're feeling stressed?". I make all of my students answer and by doing so this leads to group discussions and the entire group is able to learn something new about their peers, whether they have similar or different interests and depending on the topic, they could learn about something that they have never heard about and is able to learn about it through their peers. 


Quote 2: "Among the drawbacks of emphasizing problems is the self fulfilling prophecy or labeling effect. When youth are selected to participate in a program because they are at risk or enmeshed in problem behavior, selection confirms their identity is troubled. Furthermore, being thrown together with others who are also stigmatized may unintentionally reinforce undesirable behavior."(Hamilton, Hamilton, & Pittman). 

I have always been a strong believer that if a person is categorized or stereotyped as something negative, there is a strong chance that the person will start believing in whatever's being said to them and will act upon it which them strengthens that stereotype. That is why as youth workers we need to be that counter voice in their head telling them all the positive and good things that they are and all that they can achieve and to disregard those negative stereotypes because that does not truly define  them. This reminds me of a child that I grew up with when I was younger. He was a bit of a trouble maker in school, had a rough home life (in which he had to raise himself and his siblings for the most part) and never liked school because of his belief that school was "never for him" and that he "wasn't smart anyways so why bother trying to learn" but this was only  because he learned at a slower pace than his peers but his teachers didn't support him in that. He would often be told by teachers, principals and his own parents that he had a learning disability however at a young age I could always see the potential that this boy had and he was quite smart and had a lot of skills in different subject areas however, the school never acknowledged that because he wasn't learning the things they wanted him to learn at the pace they wanted him to learn in. After hearing for years and years that he had a disability by very close authoritative figures in his life, this boy automatically assumed that he did and completely gave up on school in general. His mother had taken him to see a therapist so he could be professionally diagnosed with the learning disability and was shocked and confused when the therapist assured her that he had no such thing. She still continued to tell her son that the therapist was wrong and that he did have a learning disability and eventually the boy dropped out of school when he hit the tenth grade because at that point he had no support from anyone around him and he had given up completely on school for good. For years I tried to encourage this boy to go on  and keep pushing. I was only a few years older than him  so he never took my words seriously. I also tried to help him with his work but I learned that you can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped. To this day I try to be a strong encourager to my youth and try to instill in them early that they can succeed in anything that they put their minds too!

Quote 3: "The most persuasive post hoc explanation for the lack of difference is that racial matching probably matters a great deal for young people who are grappling with issues of racial identity and how they cope in a racist society". (Hamilton, Hamilton, & Pittman). 

To this day I also try to instill early in the youth that I work with that they are not a statistic especially since I work with mostly African American and Latino students in a school system that does not encourage and support them. I hope that by seeing me as a authoritative figure of color will help them take my words seriously and I hope to even motivate them with my personal experiences. I am a minority just like them who lives in a low income household just like the majority of them do and could've easily fell into the negative stereotypes associated with my race and class just like they easily can. However, by encouraging them to work hard, ask for help, and believe in themselves they can achieve anything and become whatever they want to be, just as I am working on for myself!


My dominant ideology is Positive Youth Development! I guess that's why I was drawn to the reading, 

Principles of Youth Development by Stephen F. Hamilton, Mary Agnes Hamilton, and Karen Pittman!  

Comments

  1. Victoria RestlerOctober 1, 2020 at 10:53 AM

    Thank you for your post Tamera and these reflections on SJYD. These quotes and your explanations communicate to me your commitment to agency, voice + choice, identity development, and asset-based frames for youth work.

    ReplyDelete

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