Essay on Schoolies

Schoolies Essay

Good morning members of the lions club. Adolescents are victims of the media. Why? Because the media has built up adolescents as being so mischievous that the viewers only want to see or read about the negatives. The media depicts the young generation of today as being hotheaded delinquents. The hoons they refer to are just a minority not the majority. Through movies and the newspaper the media targets only the malicious side of adolescents, which portrays every teenager as a dangerous individual. It is that that reinforces the ideals of adolescents today.

Before you read the article “ Keeping the peace in hot rod heaven” due to the fact that there is a rather large picture of teenagers, you immediately think that’s it about irresponsible teenagers. This article actually speaks about how an older man aged 37 lost control of his American sports car in a road race and crashed it into a restaurant injuring a ladies leg and a mans ankle. This article also talks about these hot rods gathering in the area in large numbers this has nothing to do with adolescents. Yet the media has victimised adolescents by putting a picture of 7 teenagers in the article when it was supposed to be about and older 37 year old who lost control of his car in a street race. This misrepresentation of adolescents is the main reason why we are viewed today as being untrustworthy, immature kids.

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Schoolies Week 7 days out of 365 where x students get to unwind reflect and relax. Schoolies week has become something of a rite of passage, a week in which thousands of young people head for Queensland's beaches to celebrate the end of their exams and the beginning of their new-found freedom. With all the positive things that happen on schoolies week it wasn’t long before the media picked up on the negatives. Which is exactly what the film maker of blurred did. Set over 24 hours, it follows the adventures of a group of students trying to get to the Gold Coast and features sex scenes, drug and alcohol abuse and a wrecked apartment. What they failed to pick up on was the bonding and friendships made over the schoolies week. By failing to recognise the positives the media has portrayed adolescents as being party driven delinquents.

However parties being bad is not new. Movies have always had the party scene weather it is from “can’t hardly wait” to “Van Wilder Party Liaison”. These two movies were made nearly 5 years apart but both share in the same genre. Parties. These stereotypical ideas are what reinforce that adolescents are victims of the media. With these movies showing drugs, sex and alcohol at parties parents are lead to believe that if there son or daughter were to go to a party they would be forced to take part in irresponsible behaviour. Some parents have even gone as far as to not let there children go out to parties and places therefor not allowing the children to experience a good child hood.

Fast and the furious is a movie about fast cars, delinquent behaviour and hate for authority. After watching this movie parents believe that adolescent + fast car = trouble. Because of a minority of young people in cars speeding and drag racing adolescents have been labelled hoons. But nothing is said about the 26-yr old man speeding up the highway late for work or the 56-yr old man in a hurry. Adolescents are labelled hoons because they are victimised and portrayed that way by the media. The scene I am about to show you reinforces that the movie is about fast cars, delinquent behaviour and hate for authority.

Shortly after this movie was made an anti hoon legislation was passed soli to stop street racing. But because of these new anti hoon laws adolescents have been targeted for the minutest offences. For example not to long ago a relative of mine was caught for operating a vehicle with excess noise when he was merle doing a u-turn and ran over road marking paint causing his tiers to screech.

Today I have spoken about the media manipulating the public into believing adolescents are delinquent kids through movies and the newspaper. After informing you on these points I have clearly reinforced that adolescents are victims of the media. If the media could just focus more on the positive side of adolescents then maybe the public would perceive the younger community for what they are, mature young adults not just a bunch of rat-bags. Thankyou.

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Black English Essay

Essay on Black English

African American students bring a language to the classroom that, although accepted in many schools, can be criticized as simply “poor” or “lazy” English. Though belittled and denied, it lives on authentically in homes, schools, churches, and streets. Most black children know this as the language of their family members

Imagine, for a moment, that a child and his friends are casually talking about something exciting that recently happened. Although this is a typical conversation, to anyone outside of the African American community, this dialogue might seem invalid or incorrect. This is because the children are speaking a form of English called Ebonics. Now imagine that after using this form of English all their lives, a teacher tells the children it is wrong. The English they use every day of their lives to communicate with friends and family is simply wrong? Most Linguists strongly disagree.

The term Ebonics combines ebony and phonics. In other words, “language of blacks”(Landrum 1). It is usually described as a free-style or simpler form of English, which includes the elimination of “to be” verb and the use of double negatives. This language originated in the African slave community. Although those who were enslaved learned English, many accidentally eliminated words, or added unnecessary ones. Of course, the slaves taught this to their children who, in turn, taught it to their children, and so on (Hart 3). Today African Americans still actively use this “shuffling speech of slavery”(Landrum 6). “Dismissing Ebonics as ‘fool talk’ or ‘ninny speech’ hurts our pride. This language carries our history!”(qtd. in Fox 11). There is standard, formal, casual, and custom English. Most Blacks say “why not Black English?”

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Some unnamed members of the Board of Education say the language should not be accepted in schools because African American students who speak it are falling by the wayside in America’s educational system. They’re saying that the majority of Black English speaking students have simply forgotten how to speak Standard English, which accounts for low SAT scores (Russel 5). However, Board member, Tony Cook, say’s “There is a huge issue of Ebonics portrayal in the media. Just because someone says ‘I be’ doesn’t mean they are intellectually deficient.” He goes on to explain that Blacks tend to live in impoverished areas with poor educational systems. Thus poor education is the reason for low SAT scores, not Ebonics ( qtd. in Rickford 12). In addition to his point, I.Q. tests results are essentially the same as all other ethnic groups, proving again that the use of

Black English does not affect intelligence. So why shouldn’t Ebonics be treated as any other language spoken by an ethnic group? The form of English which includes Yiddish, for example, is not at all ridiculed or treated with disdain. It is simply regarded as another form of English casually used by the Jewish community. This can make one question if this is a race issue, as many very well believe. Because there is the stereotype that whites are generally smarter than blacks, the language might not be as widely accepted because Ebonics is a black language. Therefore it is regarded as a very ignorant form of English.

Oakland school systems have developed a plan to help change the way Ebonics is viewed by teachers and students. Teachers are required to go through a program that helps them understand Black English on many different levels. They learn the origin of the language, how it is used, and how to be patient with those who use it. One of the first things educators learn in the program is that Ebonics speakers are no less intelligent than Standard English speakers. Many parents of Oakland school children were upset to learn that the teachers were going through this program, in fear of them accepting the language as Standard English. Yet the principle reassured them that the program was to have teachers understand Ebonics, not teach it. In the highly popular book Black English: its role in our children’s education (pg.17) by Joyce Hart, Board member Cook states, “By treating Black English as any other separate language, it allows teachers to demand Standard English in the classroom without damaging students' self-esteem.” Many teachers in Oakland now say that the program has been very successful and makes it easier for them to teach. The students at Oakland’s public school won’t be told that double negatives are poor English. It will just simply be translated into Customary English like one would do for a foreign student unsure of an English term.

“Most African Americans still invoke “spoken Soul” as we have for hundreds of years, to laugh, cry, preach or praise!” says John Russel proudly, author of Spoken Soul: The Story of Black English. Ebonics has been spoken in this country, as Russel said, for hundreds of years. It has been passed down through generations and it is rare to find an African American who doesn’t know how to use it. Most will agree that Ebonics has an advantage over Standard English. One can say with Black English in a few short words, what others have to say in an entire sentence with Customary English. For Example “I went to the store with Stacy, Tracy, and her brother” can be easily said in Ebonics as “I went to da sto’ wit Stacy ‘nem.” In his book Claiming Earth (pg 32), Haki R. Madhubuti proudly states, “That which is most unique about us besides our variety of facial expressions and skin shading, is the musical quality of our utterances. We
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speak in magical voices. Our language carries our history. Its memories being vocalized. All cultures have this. Blacks in this country have been negatively categorized and put down by others, mainly whites, who are ignorant of the value and beauty of linguistic differences.” Black English is not only a powerful language, but as Dr. Madhubuti stated, it carries Black history!

Every culture has something unique about it, whether it is physical appearance, foods, music, form of dance, linguistic differences, or all of the above.

Sweet potato pie, Blues and Rock n’ Roll music are all acknowledged as a part of African American as well as American culture. If White America claims most of the Black foods, dances, and music, then why not Black English? Maybe because this language goes far back into slavery and America has a hard time being reminded of that. On the other hand, perhaps White America will never fully understand all the terms of Black English since it relates to the cultural experience of Black people. It’s time for America to start accepting all of Black culture, not just the part with which it is comfortable. In conclusion, Ebonics is certainly worthy of being recognized as an alternative language in schools.

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