5401 Summer blog

Internet technologies are affecting education, like so many different industries, because they have allowed students who were accustomed to textbooks and libraries to now learn anything from the comfort of a computer. The Internet has also allowed teachers and students to communicate with each other through various means, as well as transmit information via course websites and blogs in addition to file sharing. With constantly improving Internet technology and the ability to speed up information sharing, there is no doubt that the next twenty years will see even more changes in the classroom, especially in the direction of access to class resources outside of class. Personally, I believe that it is important that classrooms adopt Internet technology and engage students since their future careers will most certainly depend on their ability to navigate an ever changing and highly integrated world. It is understandable that educators would prefer to stick with what has worked in the past ...

I think I could think  about this in two separate ways. For one, I’ve seen kids getting access to iPads, computers, and phones beginning in grade school, obsessed with this alternative way of learning and on the other hand, I’ve seen the usefulness of these technologies in grade schools to universities teaching kids how to read and do math in a way that is intriguing to them. I’ve seen the introduction of counseling strategies in high schools that provide one on one behavioral counseling through computers. The infiltration of technology in education does not frighten me. The only thing that frightens me is the reliance on technology, decreasing human interaction and social skills. I fear that our individualistic culture will become even more strict and harrowing. As long as we generalize these technological skills and make efforts to increase social engagement in schools and out side of schools I believe that we will be able to responsibly navigate technological strides in the educ...

I believe Internet technologies will allow for increased experiences via virtual reality and distance learning, but a lessening of social and emotional learning. I think having access to information is great...but I lament the reduction of direct, in-person human interaction. I worry that the less we in-person interact the more entrenched we'll become in our views and the more polarized the world. Human decency seems to erode when technology is the means of communication instead of face-to-face interaction. Maybe we are able to access more information and broaden our knowledge, but the price may be too high if the technology is not balanced with human interaction. A large part of the education system is not content transfer - it is learning how to navigate society and understand that there are all types of people in the world. If we have canned classes, set to a format and void of direct human interaction, then I believe much of the non-content side of learning will be lost.

Big Hero 6 is one of my favorite Disney movies. It was funny and heartwarming animated superhero movie. It revolves around Hiro, a 14-year-old robotics genius who lives in a futuristic city. Early in the movie, his brother dies, and with him Hiro’s dream of attending college early. However, Hiro find his brother’s inflatable health care robot, Baymax. Throughout the film, Baymax displays many human emotions: confusion, concern, love, etc. Alongside Baymax and some of his brother’s friends, Hiro is able to save the day. Throughout his journey, he struggles with the loss of his brother and (spoiler alert) eventually the loss of Baymax. In chapter seven, Turkle ponders whether children will eventually feel more empathy for their robot companions than even their family. I instantly thought of Big Hero 6. I’m not arguing that Hiro cared more about Baymax than his brother. Rather, I think that he used Baymax as a coping mechanism after his brother’s death. Because his brot...

Anthropomorphism in Westworld This weeks reading was all about the relationship human beings have with technology, particularly technology involving robotics and our growing ties with the internet. Hollywood has been using satire to illustrate man's reliance on technology for decades. From episodes of the Twilight Zone, to Bladerunner, to Terminator, the media has long been obsessed with the scary thought of humanity relying too much on robotics to our ultimate end. Most recently the fear of robotic takeover has been illustrated in HBO's Westworld.  Westworld is a series that follows the people behind the scenes of an amusement park populated solely by robots (or androids) that are completely indistinguishable from a human being. People come to Westworld to role-play what life may have been like in the American West during the 1800's, and to spend their vacation acting without consequence. You can murder, rob, rape, save, or maybe even love the android characters to ...

What role should high schools have, or should they take a role, in adolescents struggles with negative identity formation (rebellion)? Or should they only concentrate on positive identity formation? Negative Identity : When adolescents adopt an  identity  that is opposite what is expected of them. Usually occurs when adolescents feel that the roles their parents and society expect them to fulfill are unattainable or unappealing, yet they cannot find any alternatives that are truly their own Www.rcgates.com I think high schools need to focus on this issue. Unattainable roles can lead to mental health issues, which unfortunately lead to events like school shootings. This is a new danger facing children in schools these days. All it takes is one teacher to take an interest in a child to set them on the correct path.  I’m not saying that kids need to have all the answers when they graduate,  but a plan of action would be nice. Even if the child comes from a hou...

Prompt:  Is being an adolescent mostly the same as it has always been or has it changed dramatically. What would Eriskon say to this question and why? How do you think Erikson say we should change as teachers, if we should at all? I think being an adolescent is mostly the same: friendships, maturing, socializing. The difference is the environment or climate in which children today are being raised in. Technology plays a bigger role in kids lives then ever before. Erikson would day as the technology evolves and expands so should we. My parents controlled technology in my house in a way that I have adapted with my own child. Technology is a privilege not a necessity and there for must be earned. I got an hour of television a night and could not have a cell phone until I had a job and was driving. My son has to have good days at school to earn time on the tablet. As a teacher I have also adapted to the evolving education. I have a smart board in my class room which I use every day...

We see this struggle of identity formation and role confusion so clearly in the movie 8th Grade. Kayla is an introverted girl in 8th grade who hides behind her phone using filters to make herself appear as a cleaned up version of herself, when in reality she is lonely. Throughout the movie she learns to make real connections with people, and be herself, not trying to cover anything up or hide behind her phone.

Is being an adolescent mostly the same as it always been or has It changed dramatically. what would Erickson say to this question and why how do you think Erickson say we should change as teachers, if we should it all? Being an adolescent today is the same as it has been in a lot of ways, but the challenges they face might just look different on the outside. Clearly our parent's generation did not grow up with the struggle of cell phones, fitting in on social media, cyber bullying etc. But they did have similar experiences with identity formation vs role confusion. Erickson might say that today's adolescents are forced into much more role confusion because of phones. Back in the day it would be easier for a kid to form his identity based off what his family tells him because apart from school, that's all he knows as a kid. But today as adolescents are looking to the modern technology for ideas in identity, they are being introduced to many different ideas of what the worl...

     I believe Erikson would very much argue that changing technology would change the dynamics of being an adolescent. I think he makes a clear case for this and warns against us not paying enough attention to these changes. As we discussed in class, education has failed to adapt to the modern age,. Instead, we are relying on our methods of the past that do not coincide with the present or the future. However, I am not sure that we have a full grasp of what needs to be done.      I feel as though my experience as an adolescent is already significantly different from those of youth today. I was an adolescent when social media was still a developing thing, before every student got a laptop in school, and before the invention of the smartphone. These things were still in their infancy during my adolescent years and it wasn't until after I graduated HS that I realized how much it was becoming an integral part of adolescent life. I used to be in shock hearing...

I thought the book review for week 2 was kind of a hard pill to swallow. Erikson lays out the role of technology in the lives of our students and how it is integrated into their identity. To be honest, I'm not even sure how to deal with this because I strongly dislike this reality. It is very hard for me to succumb to something I legitimately think is wrong. I know to most people this would sound crazy- but the overuse of technology (namely social media) is almost a moral issue for me. Adapting to this overuse and allowing it compromises deeply held convictions I have, and I can't do it with a clean conscience. I can't be okay with students having their identities woven into social media... Identity should be found in unshakable truth that is true no matter what circumstance people face, so when everything gets ripped out of your hands you still have a firm foundation to stand on... you still know who you are. I don't think that all technology is bad by any means- I thi...

Is being an adolescent mostly the same as it has always been or has it changed dramatically. What would Erikson say to this question and why? How do you think Erikson say we should change as teachers, if we should at all? I believe being an adolescent has mostly remained the same throughout the years. Every generation has had their fair share of technological advancements, however the only difference now is that these changes are happening at a quicker pace than in the past. I believe that Erikson would say that this technological change happens with every generation, meaning it is necessary to adapt. For this reason Erikson would believe that we, as teachers, have an obligation to change to accommodate the new influences affecting children nowadays to best enable their growth.

I think today in our society one of the biggest examples of this week's reading and prompt is the development Netflix. I remember when we were younger we would go to BlockBuster on a Friday night and my parents would get a movie and then me and my sisters would get a movie and then we would all get snacks to take home. It was a whole event that was so much fun and such a big deal. Then we signed up for Netflix where each week they would send you 3 movies in the mail. Now it has advanced to the click of the remote. There are thousands of movies and tv shows at our fingertips. Adolescents will never really get to experience the movie store or the anticipation of the movies coming in the mail. They have all the tv shows and movies right in front of them. This is one example of the technological advances in our society that plays a role in the changing of the adolescent upbringing.

I think being an adolescent in this era has changed dramatically as compared to the olden days. Adolescent these days have high standards that they have to meet to be acceptable in society. Also, back in the days, adolescents did not go through a lot of peer pressure and the rate of adolescents committing suicide was lower than it is today. Adolescents depend so much on technology these days to the point where they no longer know who they are. They learn a lot from social media and live their lives of it. When you come to our educational system these days, the youth cannot succeed in schools without technology, but it was not like that with adolescents back in the days or generations ago. Almost everything has changed between adolescents now and those back then. Erikson will say adolescents these days are spoiled and need to learn how to survive without depending so much on technology.  I think Erikson will say teachers should build an interpersonal relationship with their st...

Is being an adolescent mostly the same as it has always been or has it changed dramatically. What would Eriskon say to this question and why? How do you think Erikson say we should change as teachers, if we should at all? Adolescents have similar characteristics throughout time, but I feel that being an adolescent has changed dramatically throughout time. All adolescents have the same encounter with trying to find their true identity and self. I think that Erikson would have a response similar to that. He would say that all adolescents go through the same stages where they are finding themselves and going through their identity crisis. All adolescents must do this, but what impacts their identity through time has drastically changed. Technology is biggest influencer on a adolescents identity and technology is rapidly growing and changing throughout the years and so being an adolescent through the past couple of decades has become so different.  I mean we have all heard that adol...

 Cyberbullying is the best example I can think of for this weeks review. We discussed technology in adolescence this past week and the seriousness as well as the importance adolescent kids put on technology. We see this in the Cyberbullying where we see the severity of bullying on the internet. Kids are being effected by this daily and this is a real problem in the U.S. It only seems to be getting worse as well. Therefore, I felt that Cyberbullying is the best example in regards to technology that we discussed this past week.

Recently I’ve been thinking of how technology may continue to adapt, and how that will impact identity formation. The film Ready Player One deals with a futuristic world (set in Columbus) where people escape life through a virtual reality universe. They create entirely different personas and develop their closest friendships with complete strangers. The main characters in the movie were teenagers who, in the end, decided to shut down the virtual reality universe twice a week to allow everyone to spend more time in the real world. Though a world like this seems unrealistic, it does draw some interesting parallels to today’s world. In my adolescence, the Sims were a popular video game. It allowed one to create a virtual character, often with the likeness of the individual. It allowed them to pick desirable characteristics, the perfect job, a family, etc. Now there’s countless other video games like this, and even virtual reality. In my reflection post, I made the argument that ...

One example that I could give is the movie "Nappily Ever After" on Netflix. This movies deeper understanding I believe would be how a middle aged woman named Violet, didn't get to experience the life she wanted to live as a child because she was always hidden behind her mothers shadow. She was only able to form a sense of negative identity because her mother told her how she "should" act and look. Later on in life as Violet grew in adulthood, even though she had moved out of her mothers house way before, she became paranoid with her everyday appearance and always had to seek for her mothers approval. Violet finally realized after many failed relationships, that her paranoia had taken control over her entire life. She finally had the will power to get away from everyone, and make choices for her own happiness. I think this relates to forming a sense of negative identity like Erikson was stressing because Violet felt so inferior to her mother, that she always fel...

I believe that the general course of adolescence has remained the same as it always has been, but the introduction of technology has exchanged how adolescents experience identity development. Just like in the past, adolescents struggle with developing their identity and rebelling against pressures and expectations placed on them by society. Some still explore negative identity formation through the use of alcohol, drugs, crime etc. For example, rather than cigarettes, a popular form of smoking nowadays is vaping/Juuls. Although technology is rapidly changing the way that adolescents (and adults) communicate, the actual substance of the communication remains largely unchanged. Teenagers still want to develop friendships and become part of a group. Teenagers want to form romantic relationships. Some teenagers still bully others. Some teenagers still feel isolated. But now, often times, rather than sitting in a basement playing board games, teens can play collaborative games online from...

Is being an adolescent mostly the same as it has always been or has it changed dramatically. What would Eriskon say to this question and why? How do you think Erikson say we should change as teachers, if we should at all? I do not believe being an adolescent is mostly the same as it has always been, but no different in the way that being an adult is not the same as it has always been. With the development of new technology, life has been altered from previous decades in the way in which people live their lives.  With adolescents, technology usage has become a part of them identifying who they are. Cell phones specifically have altered what it means to be an adolescent because kids can now connect with each other, (or anyone else in the world with a cellphone), in a matter of seconds. Therefore even when kids are together and hanging out, they are on their cellphones or playing a game online or using some form of technology together.  This however d...

I feel like the role of adolescent has changed slight due to how our society has evolved. Meaning, adolescences have different expectations to met compared to the past couple decades. I feel like now, adolescents expectations is to get their own lives together by going to college, waiting on marriage and having kids etc.. where as before, it was to contribute to the family you grew up with. I believe that Erickson would want to change the way teachers now see kids. Many teachers today, especially who work in poverty, low income, public schools... they try to almost raise their kids as their own. Even though that can be an amazing thing, it still isn’t their job as teachers.

Prompt: Is being an adolescent mostly the same as it has always been or has it changed dramatically. What would Eriskon say to this question and why? How do you think Erikson say we should change as teachers, if we should at all? I think that being and adolescent has changed over the course of time. However, there are still many similarities throughout the course of history. Adolescents always want to rebel and parents will got frustrated with them; that has never changed. I think the ways that the rebel are much different know than in previous times. The reason for this, I believe, is technology. Technology is the main reason that adolescent life is slightly different than previous times. Kids are literally connected in a matter of seconds. This can lead to many more pressures and comparisons for these adolescents, which does not help with rebelling or their own identity. They can never "get away" from a part of their life because social m...

Prompt:  Is being an adolescent mostly the same as it has always been or has it changed dramatically. What would Eriskon say to this question and why? How do you think Erikson say we should change as teachers, if we should at all? I honestly feel Erikson would say being an adolescent is mostly the same as it has always been.  I take this opinion because in every generation, there has been a sort of rebellion against parents/adults and the previous generations way of doing things especially as technology has continued to evolve.  There has ALWAYS been technology...advances that differed from what our parents knew.  My parents had no idea how to monitor us on the computer/internet.  I remember being a kid and having our first in home computer with dial-up internet.  Before then, my parents grew up with type-writers and word processors.  Technology will continue to evolve.  Parents will continue to not understand it and complain, and adolescents ...

Week 2 Reflection: Is being an adolescent mostly the same as it has always been or has it changed dramatically. What would Erikson say to this question and why? How do you think Erikson say we should change as teachers, if we should at all? I believe it goes without saying that the idea of adolescence has changed dramatically over time. In the past children have been viewed as everything from a blank slate, to sinful beings that needed to be taught the “right way”, as little adults that should learn the ways of the world and work as adults with similar expectations, to sacred and precious beings, etc. This is in large part because we have changed our views and expectations over time of what is means to be an adolescent based on our environment and knowledge. What we continue to see is this evolution and with the introduction of technology and I think it will only continue to change. I would even say this has changed a great deal since I was a child. With the invention of smart pho...

Adolescent having a negative identify formation is a serious issue and finding solutions to get could help them have confidence in themselves, motivate them and also help them to improve in their academics. As children mature, they began to have a lot question regarding their identity, having a class section for identity identification talks in high schools or organizations in schools that will help adolescence that has negative identify could help them have a better understanding of themselves and the identity they choose for themselves. Focusing on the positive identity is good but based on my prior knowledge, adolescents need a lot of support and guidance whiles they are growing up.  popular culture.   one adolescent movie that relates to this topic is American teenagers. This movie is about the youth not getting enough resources or advice to guide them when they reach that age. they had to figure out life by themselves and as a result, they made a lot of wrong de...

Is being an adolescent mostly the same as it has always been or has it changed dramatically. What would Erikson say to this question and why? How do you think Erikson say we should change as teachers if we should at all? I think that humankind has altered development, or our perception of what development looks like and when it should occur, with the introduction of technology to our social being and our environment. Food laced with hormones has altered physical development. Television, telephones, satellites, the Internet, and cell phones have redefined how we communicate, how quickly information is disseminated, and where influence comes from - our informational community has grown. Nevertheless, I don't think the developmental stage of adolescence with identity development has changed, but what influences that development has changed. I think Erikson would agree with me because adolescence is still the time of gaining autonomy and exploring identity. As teachers, I think Eriks...

The image of what it means to be an adolescent seems to change with each passing decade, but the needs of the adolescent during the process of identity formation aren’t too different from the 1940s. The Forties, like Erikson’s Sixties, saw its share of teens on telephones, teen drivers, and teens getting ready to go to war after high school. Nevertheless, there remains the perception that the Sixties are where locomotor culture begins and parents’ hold on their teens’ whereabouts ends. If this is truly a dramatic change, then how different would today’s teenagers be from the teenagers Erikson describes in Identity ? Overall, I believe that the fundamental nature of the adolescent hasn’t changed even since the Sixties. Many of Erikson’s ideas about adolescent development persist today, and using his framework helps me to make sense of my own experiences and observations. I see technology as a useful lens to observe how society works because I regard machines as simpler to dissect a...

Is being an adolescent mostly the same as it has always been or has it changed dramatically. What would Eriskon say to this question and why? How do you think Erikson say we should change as teachers, if we should at all? I do not believe  adolescents has changed since I was an adolescent. I feel like technology still plays a large role in society and especially in young people. If anything, the reliance and usage of technology have gone up since my days; however, I do not believe their has been a drastic change. I feel that each generation is different because they have different technology and different life circumstances than the previous generation in most cases. I still wouldn't say from by the time I was an adolescent to adolescents now have really changed dramatically. There are certainly changes, I just do not see too much of separation in my opinion as one would ...

Being an adolescent has changed dramatically over time.  My adolescence was different from my parents' adolescence and different from my little brother's adolescence.  Technology plays a big role in this.  Connection is a lot more online now as oppose to the in person connection that teenagers used to have.  I think this is what Erickson would say as well.  Technology changes they way people interact with each other and also changes how people view themselves.  As we talked about in class, comparison is a much more prevalent part of culture than it has been before.  This could be a contributor to mental health issues as it causes stress.  As teachers, I do think we need to adapt to these changes.  From my classroom experiences, more of the assignments are turned in online in middle schools.  I also think teachers need to take a role in making sure some things like people skills are not lost because of technology.  One of the helpful...

Is being an adolescent mostly the same as it has always been or has it changed dramatically. What would Eriskon say to this question and why? How do you think Erikson say we should change as teachers, if we should at all? We talked about this question in class on May 22 and how adolescents, around the same time, begin their identity formation. I don't believe that there has been a dramatic change in the way that adolescents form their identity, I do however believe that this idea of "identity formation" is starting earlier and earlier. I've personally been astonished at how technology (social media and such) have affected the rate of "identity growth." Because kids are getting on social media and have created outlets to express themselves on a personal level, I believe they somewhat have the cognitive ability to realize  what they put out there can effect others. I overheard two elementary girls (one crying) upset because another ...

Adolescent Identity in Eragon The Eragon (or Inheritance) book series was always my favorite book series when I myself was an adolescent. Maybe that was because it was filled with epic battles, quests, monsters and dragons, or maybe it was because the narrative was surprisingly easy to relate to for someone my age. Either way, by the time I finished the massive series I had learned a few things along the way. Eragon's narrative is a classic coming-of-age story that follows the journey of a 15-year-old orphan (why are the heroes always orphaned?) who's quest is to become a powerful Dragon Rider and overthrow the evil king. Pretty standard on the surface level, but it is the character development of Eragon himself that makes his story relevant to our class discussion this week. Eragon was born in the foster care of his Uncle, with little to no knowledge of his heritage. They were poor, struggling to get by, and Eragon had little knowledge of the world outside of his small ...

When discussing the way that technology affects us and our identity development, I am reminded of a recent album Neotheater, by the band AJR. Particularly the song "The Entertainment's Here". In this song they explore the idea of how we are afraid to be bored. We always need to have something going on, something to listen to, so we are never alone with our thoughts. We listen to music in the car and the shower, we scroll through social media feeds until we fall asleep. We are so afraid to just sit and think. There is a line in the song "I wonder what they did before inventing the phone, how could anybody face the quiet alone?" This line is so sad but so real. Our technology has consumed us to the point where we don't know where we would be without it. Our phones are interwoven into our identities. This makes me ask the question, who would we be as people without modern technology? But Erikson hit on the point that even forty to fifty years ago, it was the sa...

Prompt -  What role should high schools have, or should they take a role, in adolescents struggles with negative identity formation (rebellion)? Or should they only concentrate on positive identity formation? It is tricky when discussing negative identity formation because the word negative has a connotation that is...well...negative. But negative identity formation isn't necessarily bad. It is just challenging the status quo. Which, if you've seen any Disney Channel movie ever, that's the theme. To just "be yourself". But what does that mean when I don't know who I am? I believe schools should challenge students to question what they are learning and who they are becoming. This does support the idea of negative identity formation but it is not straight up rebellion. Schools should not tell students that they can "do whatever they want that makes them happy". This seems to be the theme of social media right now, doing whatever makes you happy no ma...

Recently I finished the series Full House, and in this series I believe DJ, along with Stephanie and Michelle, are great examples of what seem to be adolescents and children working through their identity with instances of identity crises. DJ has more instances of this as she is the oldest and has many conflicts with her peers along with being in the formative adolescent years. All three girls have both positive and negative identity formation, in that they do understand where their father and uncles are coming from in the advice that they provide however they do have different opinions and will pursue these differences. One example of DJ growing through negative identity formation is when Danny tells her not to date Steve. DJ disagrees and lets Danny know of her viewpoint on the situation and they come to a compromise. One instance in which Stephanie rebels, using negative identity formation, is when she tries to run away from home however is able to grow from this experience.

What role should high schools have, or should they take a role, in adolescents struggles with negative identity formation (rebellion)? Or should they only concentrate on positive identity formation? I believe that high schools should take a role in negative identity formation in order to help minimize its effects, but definitely not stop teaching positive identity reinforcement. In many cases of rebellion without guidance, the results are catastrophic and lifelong. One important point to remember in this case is the person delivering the message guiding the negative identity formation must eliminate all bias, however help guide the adolescent to good, healthy decisions. This is difficult as there is not one way to look at good, healthy decisions making it impossible to eliminate bias. Therefore the mentor must be as unbiased as possible, taking into account what the student values in life over what the community, peers, or parents want. High schools taking a role in negative identity f...

Week 1 Popular Material Review: Many tv shows and movies come to mind when thinking of a popular material review for this week. I think we often use pop culture to talk about role confusion because it is something we all go through. This is a major part of our development being a time where we try to really figure out our next steps based on where we belong and who we are. The movie Superbad came to mind for me. The kids in this movie are at the tail end of their high school career and worried about where they will go to college, who they will room with, if they will still be virgins, and what that says about their place in society. They all go through a form of identity crisis with the pressures of expectations and goals. They even begin to act out and rebel establishing a negative identity and the unsettling feelings that come with it. Showing the positive and negative identity formations with their ups and downs is why this movie among many others stuck out to me after this we...

Week 1 - Blog Reflection Prompt - What role should high schools have, or should they take a role, in adolescents struggles with negative identity formation (rebellion)? Or should they only concentrate on positive identity formation? I believe that schools already have a role in our current society when it comes to the identity formation of our youth. I’m not sure they should have as large of a role as they do but, we have pushed that on to them. I feel as though they usually focus on the negative aspects of identity and we really should focus on both in a balanced manner since they are both needed to become successful. If high schools only focus on the positive then I feel as though much guilt and shame would come from this fantasy expectation. If we only focus on the negative then I think there will be this unfair pressure causing further rebellion. Everything is balance and no part of someone’s identity should be ignored. I believe that the education system should take many step...

When thinking about adolescent rebellion and identity formation, I keep coming back to the musical culture I was involved in the late 2000s and early 2010s. As I thought about it more, music subcultures act as a kind of incubator for youth identity and rebellion. In this case, I am specifically talking about that which I am most familiar with which would be the punk and pop-punk scene of the respective years I previously mentioned. The amount of time It would take to explain the entire scene would require more time than I have here, but I just want to highlight some defining bands and songs of the genre and how they encapsulate this idea of identity development in adolescents. The first song that comes to mind is the band Sum 41's  big hit "Fat Lip." The chorus goes as such: "I don't want to waste my time Become another casualty of society I'll never fall in line Become another victim of your conformity And back down" Paired with the high-speed...

One of my all time favorite tv shows is Parenthood. I think throughout the series we see development between all of the characters who started out as adolescents and finished the show as young adults or adults. We get to see characters who find out what they want to be, what they want to go to school for, and we see their views on life as well. This is a great show and I recommend it to all!

This week's prompt is:  What role should high schools have, or should they take a role, in adolescents struggles with negative identity formation (rebellion)? Or should they only concentrate on positive identity formation? High Schools shouldn't only focus on either one or the other. It is important for administration of high schools to give focus and attention to all students, especially when they are going through identity formation. If we only focus on the students going through this process in a negative way then we are telling the students who are doing so in a positive way that their identity transformation is not at becoming as the students who are going through it in a negative way. If we only focus on the students who are finding their identity in a positive then we are showing those students going through it in the negative way that they are doing it wrong.  High Schools should have a few school psychologists on site and even more depending on the size of the hig...

Shameless is a great pop culture example of identity formation. Throughout the show, all of the characters experience many positive and negative identity formations. For example, Fiona had to raise all of her siblings by herself because her mother and father were alcoholic drug addicts that didn't care for any of them and treated them all terribly. Fiona learned how to do many adult things that helped her later on in the show which showed as a positive identity formation. However, Fiona also looses herself for awhile because of alcohol later in the most recent season. This shows as a negative identity formation that she got from her mother, father and situation she was in. I don't really think there is a better example for this than Shameless. With each character brings many positive as well as negative identity formations.

I believe high schools should definitely focus on and play a role in the negative identity formations that occurs in students lives within their school. Education itself has large impacts on a child's life that can be help form positive identities as well as negative identities. It is up to the school to look at what all goes on positively in order to make sure to continue to do those things. It is equally important in my opinion to reflect on the negative things that hurt adolescents identity that way there can be changes made to stop that. If the negative identity formations are flat out ignored, then no change can come of those negative formations regardless of how much emphasis is put on positive identity transformation. I want to become an educator for this very reason. To help change people's life for the better and help them form a positive identity. Therefore, of course the negative formations need to be addressed in order for them to change. It is my future job as wel...

"What role should high schools have, or should they take a role, in adolescents struggles with negative identity formation (rebellion)? Or should they only concentrate on positive identity formation?"  I believe that even though high school should promote positive identity formation there is no way to not have some type of role in negative identity formation because high schoolers will rebel no matter what at some point because it helps them define who they are. When talking about the positive identity formation and  encouraging student to partake in those activities the high school should also talk about the rebellion but even more the consequence of that certain rebellion. This way hopefully students can see what could possibly happen if they do partake in that rebellion. This does not mean that no students will partake in the rebellion because they see the consequences and think it will not happen to them. However,I do think it will make...

As I reevaluate what we have read the past week I find myself taking issue with the idea that "negative identity" could be a truly bad thing. I know well enough that in my youth that I rebelled against common actions and behaviors of the general society. Some of those values I still hold today. They gave me something valuable that has become a part of my being. Who is to say such a thing could not happen with other adolescents today? When thinking about students who you could say stand on "the outside of the mainstream" it is often those students who have their future growth stifled by parents, teachers, administrators, etc. The pressure to become "normal" and to fit in with society's "positive identity" structure could have negative consequences on the growth of the individual. These youth may be given low expectations, or in some instances may be outright told that they will never achieve. I find this idea abhorrent. Educational institu...

After 9 seasons, I recently finished the Shameless series on Showtime. For those who are unfamiliar, the drama/ dark comedy follows a working poor Chicago family— the Gallagher’s. At the beginning of the series, the oldest daughter (early 20’s) cares for her 4 brothers and 1 sister, The youngest of whom is an infant and the oldest is in high school. Their mother, Monica Gallagher is mentally ill and a “junkie”, while their father— Frank Gallagher is an alcoholic and drug addict who drops in from time to time when he needs something from his kids who are left fending for themselves on the south side of Chicago. Every Gallagher child faces extreme hardships and battles with negative identity formation potentially because of the influences around them. In the beginning of the series, the oldest brother, Lip is a prodigy child in school with a promising future to get out of the south side and attend college. Which he does, until he develops alcoholism and several run-ins with the law, ends...

When thinking about young adolescent identity crisis and rebellion, a lot of shows and movies can come to mind because they are targeting those young adolescents in the movie. One example that I think shows rebellion and identity well is the movie "Footloose." In "Footloose," a young teenager who likes dancing, staying out late, and rock and roll move into a quiet small town in the country where there is not a lot of dancing and there is a curfew for the teenagers to be back in their house before dark. Well this teenager decides to go against the town rules and stay out past curfew and dance in the "footloose" way. He then eventually gets other teens in the town to stay out late and dance to music. This perfectly shows rebellion because first one person rebelled and then he later got all the teens to rebel. This is just like Erikson talked about in the book when he said that sometimes young adults will rebel just because others are, and I think that is sho...

I don’t think that high schools should encourage negative identity formation, simply given the potential risks and dangers. For some, negative identity formation could result in health consequences (i.e. drug use) or legal ramifications. This may especially impact low income or minority students, who not only may be more at risk, but whose consequences can be particularly detrimental and long-lasting. However, I strongly believe that educators/staff/administrators should be aware of why an adolescent may be struggling with negative identity formation. If an adolescent doesn’t try to succeed in school, it often isn’t because he or she simply doesn’t care. If an adolescent gets involved with drug use or crime, that doesn’t make them a hopeless case. If an adolescent is struggling with developing a clear and positive identity, it’s probably for a reason. It’s human nature to assign labels to people; a way of quickly categorizing others in order to better remember them. Students ...

Rebellion by adolescents is something that is commonly shown in TV shows.  One TV show that I like to watch that displays this is Disney's "Good Luck Charlie."  This show has a middle school kid named Gabe and a high school girl named Teddy.  Both tend to rebel against their parents and do things they are not supposed to do at times.  In the episode "Driving Mrs. Dabney", Teddy is turning 16 and she wants to start driving.  Her dad said that she was not quite ready yet and she gets upset about that and rebels.  She starts carpooling with her neighbor, Mrs. Dabney, so that she can get more experience driving so she can prove that she is ready to get her drivers license.  This is an example of negative identity.  Teddy has other experiences doing this throughout episodes of the show.  Some examples include arguing about her phone and getting grounded after going places that her parents told her not to go to.  There are also examples of pos...

What role should high schools have, or should they take a role, in adolescents struggles with negative identity formation (rebellion)? Or should they only concentrate on positive identity formation? While the focus should ideally be in promoting positive identity formation, high schools should take a role in adolescent struggles with negative identity formation/rebellion. It is very common for rebellion to come out in students in high school, in my opinion it would be better for schools to aide in helping the student figure out why they are developing a negative identity. I understand it may be thought that giving attention to negative identity formation helps it progress in students, but it would be better that attention be given to it in high school when there are little to no serious consequences, as opposed to later in life when someone may get themselves in trouble or work or even with the law because of a negative identity that have created for themselves. It should be addresse...

What role should high schools have, or should they take a role, in adolescents struggles with negative identity formation (rebellion)? Or should they only concentrate on positive identity formation? High schools should definitely take a role in adolescents struggles with negative identity formation due to how prevalent it is in high schools.  From my experience in schools, high schools are the most common place to see rebellion from students.  High schools should focus on both types of identity formation because it is needed for classroom control, which is one of the most important responsibilities in teaching.  If they do not take a role it can be difficult to create an environment that is conductive to learning.  The best learning comes from an environment where the student trusts and respects their teacher.  Like coaches, I think high schools should take a role in punishing rebellion, although in some cases this can make it worse.  The book review state...