Month: January 2015

Opportunities for young people to be a part of society are minimal, and are they forced into further education without having the chance to make a living.

Young people want to make and living as early as possible and they do not get enough opportunities to do so. Young people especially teenagers are influenced by the media, in terms of what the latest gadgets are or what the latest clothing trend are and this can pressure youth from low-income families to be desperate for money, especially that youth are very judgmental and are constantly trying to fit in. So they can become potential victims of ridicule by their peers this can and this can be turned into a form of bullying. Young people from financially unstable families could be targeted or afraid of being targeted so they can become desperate for a source of income. However this does not only come from wanting to look good but for their families. Children being raised by single parents worry about their parents financial difficulties.

From looking at statistics I have found online, it is evident that in the last two years university fees have been raised from two thousand pounds to an astonishing nine thousand pound. These figures show how unlikely someone from a lower class family would be able to make those payments and this can potentially lead to debt. So the desire for young people to want to make a living from a slightly younger age does not only come from wanting the latest clothes, gadgets or following the latest trends, it come from wanting a good job and needing good qualifications and most young people want to achieve this by going to university. With the extremely high tuition fees to get into university how can they achieve this goal? Young people could do this by having the opportunity to work form an earlier age, so they can save up for their own tuition fees or to make it easier on their parent or carer by contributing towards your family living expenses.

Although, others argue that young people are immature, irresponsible and cause trouble so shouldn’t we as young people get the chance to change for the better, change people’s opinions and most of all prove those negative opinion wrong? Lowering the age to work could be that chance. Work doesn’t just bring the benefit or income but it helps build character, confidence, social skills and teamwork which are all key attributes needed in the future to prepare us youth for real life. After all at the age 14 we are in our third or fourth year of secondary school so 2 years from entering college or sixth form working from that age can make teenagers less dependent and more independent. This can make teens more self-reliant which is also a good trait to develop early in life. Traits such as these are that of what you will need to have when you get into the working environment as you get older.

Not only will this make teenagers more hard-working it will give us a chance to stop negative views held by adults and stereotyping teenagers. To prove those stereotypes wrong, stereotypes such as all youths are violent, lazy and juvenile which is completely untrue. Working from a young age can cause these opinions to change and maybe even strengthen relationships between adults and youth which doesn’t happen a lot in communities.

In conclusion, working at a younger age such as fourteen will not only help an individual from a low-income family it could help the community come together not just teens or just adults but both youth and adults.

Dear Samantha Taylor,

I recently came of across your article in The Times newspaper and I found it to be an unfair representation of young people and how they are supposedly like. After reading your article I felt it was important to dispel these unfair rumours that describe young people to be something they’re clearly not. As a young person myself I found these claims to be disrespectful. I am in agreement with you when you stated in your article that accounts of pornography addiction and of aggression supposedly caused by violent video games, particularly now that Grand Theft Auto V has hit the shelves, do not really reflect the great mass of everyday teenage social behaviour. But as you said these few accounts of these reported real life events do not express the social behaviour of a great amount of young people. I believe this as a young person. I personally, nor my friends, have not come across any of the aggression you speak of associated with violent game or pornographic addiction.

In your article Jonathan Franzen uses the words and phrases    “shallow and trivial culture…kids unable to socialize face to face” My opinion differs from this, because Shallow is the exact opposite of what young people are. The culture created through online socializing is much more complex and sophisticated than it is portrayed. Jonathan Franzen assumes that social media is used for just trivial uses such as uploading pictures etc. However many other young people and I have used Facebook as a learning resource, to do so we had to make and find and research the information necessary make it, now does these actions reflect that of idle uses? Moreover youth use these social platforms to express themselves as well as things that matter to them. A lot of youth use Facebook to express themselves through writing. As lots of youth write stories or poems. Not only this youth use social network to campaign or advertise their business. A young man with the name of Jeremiah used social media to gain votes for Lambeth Youth Mayor. Now these are clear examples of the many constructive ways in which youth use the social media.

Just because a relationship is formed online, it doesn’t mean it is less meaningful. In the article it is suggested that “Social media sites can make it more difficult for us to distinguish between the meaningful relationships we foster in the real world”. I think this remark is completely unfair because people can start meaningful relationships online even if you have not met in person. Moreover relationships formed online through social networks or dating can develop into something much more meaningful.This is evident as statistics show that a third of marriages in the U.S are started through dating websites. I believe that relationships fostered on the internet do not affect other relationships formed in real life. Not only this, but it develops less meaningful relationships as social networks allow you to have hundreds of friends that you may know but not speak to however it gives you a chance to strengthen weaker bonds.

Empathy is the ability to understand and share feelings of another. The American comedian Louis CK proclaimed on TV that he wouldn’t give his daughters mobile phones for fear they wouldn’t develop empathy. However, social networks give us a platform in which we can share our feelings and also read and hear about others personal experiences so in a sense it can further develop our empathy.

The way in which he described youth and the affect social networks had on young people were completely wrong. Seeing that article I felt it was my responsibility as a young person myself to dismiss these inaccurate facts about youth. as I found it offensive, if I didn’t confront these rumours who would? As well as this these absurd opinions and stereotypes of youth could sway the opinions of others bringing more of these negative opinion of young people furthering the gap between adults and youths relations. which i feel is already an issue in society.

Yours Sincerely, Reeise Wallace