Teenagers and the Internet

[amateur51]

>>>"What people need is a greater level of self awareness NOT more rules..... " GG<<<

....I've thought that for sometime, and I believe it should be 'taught' in some manner....how that would be done I've no idea, but I think it is important....and by 'a greater level of self awareness', I do not mean self confidence in essence or self importance....more how to fit in or rub along with other while having interests and ambitions....citizenship....( sorry that's a bit vague)

When I was involved in training youth & community workers many years ago, much effort was put into developing 'games & excercises' to achieve just this.

All at the back of a dusty cupboard by this, I imagine - which is a shame.

[Dave2002]

When I was younger the only forms of distant relationship possible were by letter, or later by using the phone box at the end of our road. Otherwise relationships were by going out, and face to face. A bit later we had a phone, but as it was in our living room, it was not very private, and indeed for a while we had a party line so the neighbours could listen in, or vice-versa.

There were also significant cost barriers to communcation.

Nowadays just about anyone over 10 years old has a device which they can use to connect with who knows who or who knows what anywhere in the world, and many would probably consider it an intrusion on their privacy if their parents wanted to know what they were doing, or who they are communicating with. I think mobile devices and services have a lot to answer for!

[MrGongGong]

>>>"What people need is a greater level of self awareness NOT more rules..... " GG<<<

....I've thought that for sometime, and I believe it should be 'taught' in some manner....how that would be done I've no idea, but I think it is important....and by 'a greater level of self awareness', I do not mean self confidence in essence or self importance....more how to fit in or rub along with other while having interests and ambitions....citizenship....( sorry that's a bit vague)

I do know how it can be done
What I have found is that many young people who have Aspergers have had to consciously learn about themselves in relation to themselves and others. Consequently this IS a group (who don't "do group" ) who have a greater sense of how things they might encounter or involve themselves in will affect their behaviour and also how these things relate to the rest of society.
Sadly, trying to equip more youngsters with these kinds of skills is seen as "wooly" , "social engineering" etc and not currently fashionable in the "thinking" or those in charge.
There's no point having more repressive regimes or banning etc total waste of time, what IS needed is self awareness........
When I worked in Japan with Japanese music teachers this came up many times, it's a constant theme , "how do we be individuals , with our own expressions and also be members of a wider society" ?

[amateur51]

I'll ignore that in the cause of peace & harmony

http://www.goodenoughcaring.com/writings/writing185.htm

[Resurrection Man]

http://www.goodenoughcaring.com/writings/writing185.htm

Many thanks for the link, ams. I simply don't know enough nor have the time to carry out an exhaustive study into the why's and wherefore's of parenting. All I can do is go by what I see.

[Resurrection Man]

.....

though the idea that somehow "modern" teenagers are all an out of control rabble of feral thugs really is a myth.
.

No-one has said 'all'. At least not me.

[french frank]

Message #4 on feral children?

I think Mr Pee has answered that: it was a reference to one particular family which he happened to cite not that "somehow "modern" teenagers are all an out of control rabble of feral thugs" . The quote doesn't even allude to 'teenagers', modern or otherwise.

I cannot answer his question as to where their mother was at the time as I'm not sure exactly when the event took place ...

[amateur51]

I think Mr Pee has answered that

If he has, he's done it telepathically to you, avoiding me and the thread

[MrGongGong]

If he has, he's done it telepathically to you, avoiding me and the thread

Simon taught him that trick

[aeolium]

There's no point having more repressive regimes or banning etc total waste of time, what IS needed is self awareness........
When I worked in Japan with Japanese music teachers this came up many times, it's a constant theme , "how do we be individuals , with our own expressions and also be members of a wider society" ?

I don't know how readily self-awareness can be taught to teenagers, though. It seems to me to be something that is picked up in adult life with experience; teenagers seem often unsure about their own selves (I know I was). And particularly with teenagers who have low self-esteem who may be more vulnerable to the pressures of social media, more easily affected by twitter/Facebook bullying etc. Japan is a society with totally different attitudes towards the individual and the community from ours, with a far greater emphasis on responsibilities to the group than individualism. And that kind of approach can have its own problems in creating pressure to conform.

I'll be interested to see what solutions the film suggests, if any.

[french frank]

If he has, he's done it telepathically to you, avoiding me and the thread

I meant Resurrection Man, didn't I?

[Serial_Apologist]

I don't know how readily self-awareness can be taught to teenagers, though. It seems to me to be something that is picked up in adult life with experience; teenagers seem often unsure about their own selves (I know I was). And particularly with teenagers who have low self-esteem who may be more vulnerable to the pressures of social media, more easily affected by twitter/Facebook bullying etc. Japan is a society with totally different attitudes towards the individual and the community from ours, with a far greater emphasis on responsibilities to the group than individualism. And that kind of approach can have its own problems in creating pressure to conform.

I'll be interested to see what solutions the film suggests, if any.

I would have thought that spiritual traditions Like Zen Buddhism that challenge the primacy of The Word being at the start of everything, thus teaching that we are both more and less than our ideas of ourselves, would be a useful mental clearance house starting point for a different approach to existential problems.

Yes, these things went out in the 70s, or are supposed to have, because anything that challenged the egocentric basis of "successful competitive capitalism" and its Judaeo-Christian-basic challenging of supposedly slothful human nature, was out... And now we perceive in the round the consequences in terms of global economics driving global consciousness to go faster and faster to keep up at all costs, and the effects of all that on sustainability.

I hope to see change before I pass on - like Marcuse started to towards the end of his life.

[vinteuil]

I would have thought that spiritual traditions Like Zen Buddhism that challenge the primacy of The Word being at the start of everything, thus teaching that we are both more and less than our ideas of ourselves, would be a useful mental clearance house starting point for a different approach to existential problems.
.

... I don't think you need go to Buddhism for this : the same line of looking at the world exists among Christian thinkers too : Pascal's Pensées for example = from #72 ('On disproportion : the two infinites' ) " /... /For, in fact, what is man in nature? A Nothing in comparison with the Infinite, an All in comparison with the Nothing, a mean between nothing and everything. Since he is infinitely removed from comprehending the extremes, the end of things and their beginning are hopelessly hidden from him in an impenetrable secret; he is equally incapable of seeing the Nothing from which he was made, and the Infinite in which he is swallowed up. / ... /

[eighthobstruction]

....you've both lost me....

[Serial_Apologist]

... I don't think you need go to Buddhism for this : the same line of looking at the world exists among Christian thinkers too : Pascal's Pensées for example = from #72 ('On disproportion : the two infinites' ) " /... /For, in fact, what is man in nature? A Nothing in comparison with the Infinite, an All in comparison with the Nothing, a mean between nothing and everything. Since he is infinitely removed from comprehending the extremes, the end of things and their beginning are hopelessly hidden from him in an impenetrable secret; he is equally incapable of seeing the Nothing from which he was made, and the Infinite in which he is swallowed up. / ... /

True, vints, there are Christian mystics - or there have been - but Chritianity contains an awful lot of theological fluff to get through, whereas "direct pointing" is intrinsic to Zen and Taoism. There's Gestalt Therapy as a sort of "Western equivalent" or used to be.