Young Adults

It seems to me that young people today are so dependent on others for their daily living. What happened? How did this happen? The common sense of young adults just is not there. They don't want to think through their situations. They want everything given to them. What happened to the thought process? I see this in my classroom each day. If they need to write something they do not spend enough quality time brainstorming or if they do brainstorm they just focus on one area.
They seem to not want to take their"blinders" off. This seems to be a ME, ME, ME society. What can everyone do for me?

That is the problem with our society, we don't want to see anyone else in our path of life. We don't appreciate the differences that live in our cities. We don't even see our differences?

I am doing a lesson today on cultural differences and the students have to answer questions about themselves as it deals with cultural awareness. Here are the questions and you need to rate your self on a scale of 1-5. 1 being never and 5 being always.

Here goes:

How often do you:

1. Interrupt someone who is telling a racial or ethnic joke?
2. Read about the achievements of people or mental disabilities?
3. Challenge friends expressing a gender stereotype?
4. Send emails to TV or radio stations that broadcast "news" stories with cultural or racial biases?
5. Examine your own language for unconscious bias or stereotypes?
6. Ask exchange students or a person from another country questions about their countries of origin?
7. Volunteer your time for a cause you support?
8. Donate goods or money to shelters for battered women or homeless people?
9. Intervene when a person or group is verbally sexually harassing someone?
10. Truly appreciate a friend's differences from you?
11. Take the lead in welcoming people of a different race to your class, club, job site or friend's circle?
12. Protest unfair practices that you see?
13. Ask a member of an ethnic group different from yours how that person prefers to be referred to?
14. Examine your own level of comfort around issues of sexual orientation and sexual practices?
15. Celebrate your own uniqueness?

Then go back and look at your scores, if you have a majority of 1's or 2's you are not very open to different people or cultures. If you have a bunch of 5's you were not being honest with yourself.

It was interesting to do this with 8th graders. They were really being reflective. It was nice to see!!!!!

I challenge each of you to do something today that helps you know more about someone else or someone elses cultures or traditions.

I challenge each of you to not solve a problem for someone else today. We all know that people come to us and give us a scenario or problem and before we know it we solve the problem for them. Instead of solving the problem, help them think out their solutions. Be a teacher today and help guide someone.