Quote:
Mara, a 15-year-old member of the Young Gunz team, shared similar beliefs. When asked how she and her video team members
gathered information she explained, “We found out the truth. Like the street
way of knowing it. Getting information
the street way is better than getting it the other way, you know, like the
people with the suit and tie. ‘Cause they don’t really know. Who really knows is the people who are on the
street” (p.49, Goodman, 2003)
Explanation of Quote:
This statement really surprised me. I think that it is sad that inner city
minorities feel that a library is for the “suit and tie” people and that the
street is truth. I have been lucky to grow
up in a world where I was encouraged to question and research everything. In fact, if I was to create a video about a social
problem, I would research the problem (internet, books, articles, etc.) before
asking the opinion of others. This may
just be because I teach math, but I find comfort and reliability in research
and statistics. Someone’s word is just
an opinion. An opinion is just an
opinion without statistics. Statistic bring
meaning to the opinions. Yes, interviews
of traumatic experiences are powerful.
However, start a video out with a cited and reliable statistic like (note
not a real statistic), “50 percent of inner city minorities have witnessed a
friend or close family member die from gun-related violence before the age of
18.” Then, when someone is telling a
first-hand experience or opinion on the matter, the connection between the
statistic and opinion are made.
Additional Resource:
http://crimelab.uchicago.edu/page/report
It would have been beneficial to the students to find statistics like the above, on youth gun-violence. It would have made the video more powerful.
It would have been beneficial to the students to find statistics like the above, on youth gun-violence. It would have made the video more powerful.
Additional Questions
for Week 11:
1. What are your
concerns about teaching young people to make videos about social problems?
The opinions of the video make it powerful, but I feel the
video is very unorganized. There isn’t a
clear problem and solution. Statistics
are lacking. Adult supervision is
lacking. I am concerned about the safety
of the student. I am concerned that creating
videos about social problems will put teens in danger. Gang members could see these social
explorations to be invasive and feel threatened by the young people making the
videos. Guns can be dangerous; the
handling of guns in this video made me uneasy and I am even someone who is
exposed to hand guns and rifles (My husband is an avid hunter); I even target shoot myself. However, the way the guns were handled (even
if it was to make a point), made me very uneasy
1. Name a social issue
specific to the Appalachian region that you think young people in your community
would or should address.
Social Issue: Drug abuse, specifically prescription pain
medication, methamphetamine (meth), and cocaine.
2. Find an online
resource you might use to scaffold community-based video production process.
http://www.druginterventions.net/westvirginia.htm
3. Choose one of the
following perspectives; teacher, parent, or community member. From your chosen
perspective, would you be supportive of a school program that engaged students
in community-based video production? Why or Why not?
As a parent, I would be a hesitant combination of proud and
afraid. I would try and see the benefits
of teaching the youth media, but the topic might make me hesitant. If my child was interviewing people about
their opinions on drug abuse in the county, I would be afraid for the safety of
my child. I would be proud of my child
for being a positive influence in the community, but I would be afraid that
possible drug abusers might hear of my child’s community outreach and try to
harm him/her (whether it be fighting, threats, etc.).
Citation:
Goodman, S. (2003). Teaching youth media: A critical guide to
literacy, video production & social change. NY: Teachers College Press.
One reason African American youth are distrustful of information found in books or in "news" is because these sources often only provide the dominant "white" perspective on the issues. Additionally African American perspectives are often not addressed or portrayed negatively. This especially true in news media and history books. For example,
ReplyDelete"An excellent example of media framing during Hurricane Katrina coverage was advanced by a number of critics. These critics claimed that White post-Katrina victims were framed as honest people who were “taking” things from abandoned stores to survive. However, Black victims doing the same thing were framed as looters (de Moraes, 2005). Moreover, a few observers have claimed that several news reports utilized a “hostility” or “irresponsibility” frame in their reporting of innuendo and rumors of criminal acts committed by New Orleans residents (Pierre & Gerhart, 2005).
I also agree that as a parent I would be concerned about my teen out-on-the street interviewing adults about adult activities. I think as teachers we need to provide a careful balance between student driven topics and appropriate topics. Additional as a teacher I would control access to the adults student could interview. Invite a recovering addict to class to be interviewed for example. I still think the video documentary process could be made appealing to teen, informative and safe!
Very good points!
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