Wide Awake… and yet, Still Dreaming

“In the days of the Millennials, is ‘The Dream’ still of concern?” Exactly 50 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his revolutionary “I Have a Dream” speech; this not only affected civil rights policies in America, but his message became a global reminder of what must be done in order to live in peace and understanding as one race: the human race. While many young people are conscious of his life and mission, it sometimes seems as if very few publicly care about ending acts of injustice, discrimination, or irrational violence. Images and messages of intolerance and self-degradation (lowering one’s self-worth) are posted daily—at every second, really. Even worse, some children of the new age praise indifference just so that a level of ‘cool’ is maintained. That being said, is it really cool to be disconnected and carefree?

Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu first made the notion of “cultural capital”—the manners, norms, dress, style of interaction, and other concepts that a group of people find valuable.  One’s cultural capital can be affected by ethnicity, age, geographical location, socioeconomic status (e.g. low-income, middle-class, the “1%”), etc. Being a person that is part of a minority group of a population can be a harsh reality as he or she may find their cultural capital is less esteemed by the majority. Cultural capital, like other forms of capital, is a method used to attain status and wealth; if one possesses traits and ideas that are valued by people of a specific culture, then he or she will have the support of that demographic, physically, fiscally (money), and mentally.

As I look at Twitter now, it puts me at ease to see (14 HOURS LATER… *insert side-eye stare here*) posts concerning the “I Have a Dream” speech or the 50^th anniversary of the March on Washington are the leading trending topics—and even posts on the upcoming U.S. confrontation with Syrian government allows me to think more highly of social media users.  Yes, it is fun to #ReplaceSongTitlesWithTwerk from time to time, but it appears as if teens are content with being apathetic to more pressing issues that ultimately affect your lives.  This apathy even goes to the point of ridiculing others for placing value in mature matters. And I shudder to think that the cultural capital of my generation is downing intelligence and uplifting purposeless spending, dishonesty, and smuttiness. Take a moment and do your brain justice by allowing it to truly DREAM.

- Brandon Avery

The American Teenager: On the Historical Tip

“WHAT IS LIFE?!!!” I guarantee you that at least three times per day I ask myself that question. Like daily meals or something. An adolescent’s desire to know the reason behind things is on high, and when you grow up in the Accelerated/Gifted Program during elementary school, that thinking begins probably around 5 years old. My story, at least. If I didn’t know why something was important to my goals or felt that a situation was not in my zone, pass. School, unfortunately, became something that did not meet my needs when I was 14. And if you know how 8^th grade goes, that’s REALLY bad timing to become indifferent to education. Still, I had to know, “What is life, especially when it comes to school?”

David Bakan, Ph. D., professor emeritus of psychology at York University (a.k.a. he’s big business at that school), wrote an article in 1971 that spoke on how the current status of the American adolescent is a direct result of the urbanization of the country. During the late 1800s and early 1900s the U.S. transitioned from farmlands as the primary economy to industrialized cities with production factories and suburbs—shout-out to the railroad workers for making that possible! With these changes happening, many more jobs were available to U.S. citizens, including “juveniles” (the term used for “adolescents” or “teenagers” in that era). These changes also brought forth three major social movements still pertinent today: compulsory education (required schooling), child labor laws, and separate legal procedures for juveniles. According to Bakan, what has kept these constructs intact for the past century is something called “the promise,” which states “if a younger person does all the things [s/]he is ‘supposed to do’ during his[/her] adolescence, [s/]he will realize success, status, income, power, and so forth in his[/her] adulthood.” Sounds familiar, yes?

There are so many issues kids face even in middle school that “the promise” seems to have been broken by that point. High school, while presenting its own plethora of problems, can however feel more promising as it becomes much easier to see the significance of schooling to adult life. Also, it helps to get involved in extracurricular activities as they allow you to “test drive” a real-world profession. Ultimately, it doesn’t suck to have these demands as an adolescent; just make sure that you’re open to asking “what is life?”—and that you’re even more so receptive of the answer.

- Brandon Avery

Adolescence in Retrospection: The Intro

“Why are my parents down my throat about school when it’s not even that serious?” “How come it seems like everybody and everything is over the top and hypersexual?” “What makes it so difficult for me to be understood nowadays?” I feel like I can safely assume that you, someone between 13 and 19 years old, are asking all of these questions and then some. Fun fact: I, a 23-year-old college graduate, currently ask myself these questions; and on that note, some young ones, like 5^th and 6^th graders, are thinking similarly. (I know this only because of my cousins and recent teaching experiences.)

Let me explain even further. My name is Brandon Avery; I am a certified educator, performing artist, experienced mentor, food fanatic, Jesus freak, vogue trainee, and according to most developmental psychologists, still an adolescent. In case you’re wondering, an adolescent, in essence, is you—an individual who is undergoing biological, psychological, and social changes that occur after childhood but prior to adulthood. Most say that this word is synonymous to “teenager” EXCEPT in order be a teen that word has to be in your age. Like I said earlier, 10 year olds and 20 year olds are also experiencing these same changes.

So…I’m spitting all of this knowledge, but your questions have yet to be answered. Yes, I’m aware of that, pero no te preocupes. My intention in these articles/blogs are to let you know that not only are you one of millions of adolescents going on this journey of self-discovery, but there are people who have conducted—and are currently conducting—research that answers these questions. I know that if someone had straight-up told me I am not abnormal and they truly knew my struggles during 2000-2004…DEAR GOD, HOW BETTER MY DECISION-MAKING SKILLS WOULD BE!!!!!!!!! As always you can take the information with a grain of salt or not at all, but do know that I would not waste my time or fingertips telling you something that holds no truth; I would be eating Kenny’s ribs instead if that were the case. #IJS Thus, if you will let me, I would LOVE to assist you as you work towards finding the middle ground between the meeting the demands of the world (i.e. your parents, teachers, and friends) and satisfying your own crucial needs.

Aight, you in? Yep, I thought so. Vamos!

- Brandon Avery