Week 1- Identity Reflection- Thomas Bartlett

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 institutions should assist adolescents in finding a part of their identity in the way they are best equipped, by assisting them in finding their skills that can be transferred to the real world. However, I do not believe it is the place of the educational institution to demand that each adolescent conforms to the general society's "positive identity." Ideas developed in a negative identity can coincide with the general society's positive identity. Conflict arises when the mainstream identity demands that those "rebelling" must conform and that their way is the only way. So long as no harm is being brought upon anyone, we should respect the autonomy of the adolescent.

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