Week 1 Derek Topp

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 matter what it is. And with the skyrocketing rates of depression and anxiety, it's not working. Schools should strive to make their students into functioning members of society. Isn't that the goal of public education anyways? This does not mean bottlenecking students into becoming clones of each other. But it does mean teaching them to be respectful of others, to work hard, to have fun, etc.

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