Double Entry Journal #10

1. Do you think topics that center on "frustration with official power" and "attraction for mass media fantasies would differ in rural communities from those that inner-city teenagers focus on? How? Give some examples.

Topics would definitely differ in a rural setting.  I teach a lot of children that live “in the middle of nowhere” in Greenbrier county.  Many of these students have little exposure to “police brutality” and they do not like hip-hop.   They’re into hunting, farming, and country music.   Luckily, the crime-rate is very low in south-eastern WV so youth crime and violence would probably not be a topic of concern.

2. How do traditional social institutions and mass media work to silence inner-city kids?

They seek to maximize social control by constructing African American and Latino teenagers as criminals and superpredators, and then punishing their acts of defiance.  Pop culture seeks to maximize profits by naming them as hip-hop performers and trendsetters, and then co-opting their culture of defiance   

3. What is your reaction to the statistics presented under the heading "And Justice For Some?" Do you think the system in intentionally organized to disadvantage urban youth of color?

I was shocked by the statistics and felt as though African Americans were at a disadvantage from the start.  I do not believe that the system is intentionally organized to disadvantage urban youth of color;  I believe a long time cycle of poverty dating back to a time before Civil Rights is at play here.  I think it is important for “the system” to rid stereotypes and promote positive programs for urban youth of color. 

4. Link to an advertisement or commercial that you consider to be influenced by hip-hop culture?

By the way, here are lyrices to one of Lil Wayne's songs.  This is how we dew?

 

5. What dangers to young people do you see in the relentless marketing of "cool" ?

The hip-hop culture draw upon street and prison experiences.  It portrays that these things make you “tough” and “cool.”   Young people can see the rich and famous individuals of the hip-hop culture consider that as success.  They may think that that lifestyle can bring them success.

6. What is your reaction to the research that shows youth violence in decline? Do you still think that is the trend in 2012? Find some statistics to support your answer?

I feel that I can see that it is on the decline.  I do see more “anti-violence”  programs being promoted.  I also feel that I am seeing/hearing more about successful and educated minorities and it is also seen as being “cool.” 

 

photo citation:

http://ww4.hdnux.com/photos/07/75/25/2086251/7/628x471.jpg

7. Why is it important to let youth speak for themselves and their voices to be heard?

Speaking for themselves about their own lived experiences, inner-city youth offer an important alternative outside the dominant frame of consumption and crime.

8. What prevents Urban Youth from articulating their own lived experiences in ways that might be productive? Do you think this is problematic in rural areas like West Virginia? Do you think rural youth are victimized by mass media in ways that are different than Urban youth? How?

The language gap. A low income kindergartener has heard only half the words and can understand only half the meanings and language conventions of a high-income child.  A person needs to know about 95% of the words he or she hears or reads in order to understand language gap.  I do believe this is problematic in rural areas like West Virginia.  The socioeconomic status of a child’s family is a more important predictor of academic achievement than the school he or she attends.  In WV, we have several students with low socioeconomic statuses. 

9. According to the author, what is the best way to address the literacy challenge?

Apply multiple literacies in teaching.  The electronic media is becoming a big role in our lives, thus it needs included in instruction. 

10. Why is the skill and drill approach to literacy instruction ineffective?

This uses vocabulary from the white middle class.  Instruction needs to be more culturally responsive.  Teach by learning cultural experiences.  Kids need to have a sense of rootedness in place in time.  They need more opportunities for new experiences, facilitated by teachers, outside of school, in local communities and elsewhere.

11. What should schools offer to improve literacy instruction for Urban Youth? Do you think this strategy would also benefit student of the Appalachia region whose literacy rates are similar to those of youth in the inner-city?

Have more learning experiences with community involvement so the Urban Youth can have that sense of “rootedness.”  This could work in the Appalachia region with literacy rates similar. 

12. How is the process of reading changed by media?

Reading now goes beyond print.

13. According to the author how might the imbalance between inner-city kids strong command of oral and visual language be used to improve print-based language? Do you think this would also work for low-literacy kids in the Appalachia region?

Bringing a deeper understanding of media languages, in all their richness and complexity, to the process of teaching and learning might just go a long way toward overcoming this imbalance and bridge the language gap.