Youtube sensation, Rebecca Black, shot to fame singing her song, "Friday." It's catchy, energetic, and fun. She talks about the excitement of Friday, starting her day, making weekend plans, and hanging out with friends. She is young and it's a song about youth, its joy and exuberance. Fun, fun, fun!
Recently in Youth Culture Category
Watching the Columbus High School cheerleaders' performance reminds me of the cheerleading scene from "American Beauty." It is polished, sexy, and exciting. These girls are insanely talented and hard-working. They epitomize girl culture, female bonding, team work, and competition. The lessons learned in cheerleading will guide them through out their lives. They are fearless in their competitive spirit, yet they have to learn to trust each other. They flip into the air, knowing and trusting that others will catch them on their way down. Simply amazing!
Alice, Clara and Lecktra can dance and they know it. Dressed in skinny jeans and tights with loose tops, they busted out in public. I love their moves. They are confident, sexy and competent doing the tecktonic to music by Axwell, "I found you." What great fun!
I can't get enough of these girls. Here's more of Alice, Clara and Lecktra and their tecktonic. Watch them go.
Though the world of vidoe games is dominated by males, females are making their presence felt. Girls can be as competitive as boys...when it comes to video games. Like any sport, video games offer important lessons in teamwork, competitiveness, fairness, strategy, and fighting spirit. "Les Seules," The Outsider in French, is a group of Swedish females who excel in video games. The group formed playing Counterstrike. They will be showing off their skills at the DigitalLife, a four-day technology and entertainment convention. Read more.
I just watched a 1980s movie, "Heathers", about those painful and turbulent teenage years. The movie dealt with issues of isolation, acceptance and loneliness. It portrayed teenagers learning to deal with the pressures of life, relationships, and friendships. It points out the importance of peer perception and acceptance during those years. Teenagers view popularity as a big deal. The movie points out through its main character that all those things donÃt really matter. I think teenagers might all know that deep down, yet their everyday is still affected by their social status at school, in that microcosm that is so sheltered and safe. Students create much of the chaos and disorder that occurred in their lives. They hurt themselves and each other. They feel the need to prove something to prove to themselves and the world. ItÃs as relevant then as it is today.
Ironically, I should read an article about the growing trend of Japanese suicides right after I watched the movie. Nine people have been found dead, apparently as a result of a suicide pact. These teenagers are suspected of meeting and arranging their suicide on the internet. Japan has seen a 7% increase in suicides in 2003. More than 34,000 have killed themselves, which I believe is more than the casualty of the American soldiers in Iraq so far. ItÃs an amazing fact. Factors that contribute to the increase in suicides are attributed to economic difficulties and isolation. Modernity is taking its toll on youth. Even in death, they want company. The internet has given them their sense of community.
How do we mitigate our feelings of isolation and loneliness? How do we connect? Can we connect? How do we find meaning in life? To lead meaningful lives, we have to each struggle to answer and resolve these questions as best as we can. We have to create our meaning, find our own place on this earth. We will all leave it in due time. What's the big hurry? This is the only life we know. It's uncertain if there is anything else. Let's hope so. Read more.
Business sense comes naturally, when there's money to be made. Friends do not always have each other's best interest in mind. A junior high school girl in Japan demanded 20,000 yens for introduction fees, half of what her friend made for sexual favors performed on a 26-year-old man. She is on her way to become a madam. Police has arrested man on suspicion of violating a law banning child prostitution and pornography. When there's a demand, there is a supply. There will always be a demand for sweet, or not so sweet, teenage girls (and boys). The allure of youth is not diminishing any time soon.
It's acceptable for teenagers to have boyfriends and girlfriends, but not for older men or women to prey on their innocence. Age matters, especially with minors. But often times people seem to be attracted to what they can't have or have lost, perhaps squandered opportunities to hook up with teenagers when they were teenagers. Those innocent years cannot be relived. Those who try to relive their childhood days by procuring sex from children and teenagers are engaging in criminal acts.
People exploit minors for all kinds of reasons. It's sad that predators cannot regulate themselves, that their conscience does not stop them from acting in ways that hurt others. The desire is great to return to innocence, but those magical qualities that boys and girls and teenagers possess cannot be captured, bottled in a sense. People who attempted to capture that in any way end up changing and destroying that which makes the object of their desire special. Law does not stop crime. It does not change the character of predators. The desire to change has to come from within.
Within each of us are forces of good and evil. We all have the devil inside, but we don't have to act upon our desires. Read more.
The bad news is American children are fatter than ever, according to a government report. The good news is that teen pregnancy is down and children are less violent. Due to the fattening up of America's youth, they are developing diseases such as diabetes and heart problems at a young age. Read more.
