13. the Final Reflection

Describe your three citizenship projects (service, campus activism and on-line activism) and what you learned from them. Did your view of citizenship change as a result of your participation?

Service Project: Lifting Teen Spirits @ Angel’s Flight

Description: Angel's Flight offers refuge to runaway teens, most of whom are fleeing abusive families. The program includes a drop-in center and an outreach component, reaching at least 3,000 adolescents each year.

When I was first looking into service projects I could do I was most intrigued by working mostly with teens in high school because that age is probably one of the most testing times in our lives. Especially in today’s society high school teens are dealing with pressures much worse than when I was in high school four years ago. They are trying substances like alcohol and marijuana in middle school and then begin trying newer and harder substances once entering the high school atmosphere. They are pressured into engaging in activities with their peers in order to feel welcomed or a part of the group. Angel’s Flight I believe was the perfect fit for me. These teens and their parents decided that this was the best situation for them. These teens are rehabilitated while going to high school and learning how to handle their problems. In order to find this project I went onto the L.A. Works website and searched for Adolescent / Youth / Teen volunteer opportunities. This one came up and I went with a friend, also a Criminal Justice major looking to specialize in juvenile delinquency, to Angel’s Flight. We were emailed by the project leader Melissa who told us we would be having a little ice cream social with them making banana splits and sundaes. As we were getting closer to where the place was located it was dark and a little scary, so that was one thing I had to get over very quickly. We arrived and met other volunteers and Melissa, then we went to meet the teens. We sat down and played an ice breaker introducing ourselves and vice versa. After that we played a couple of games with them until it was time for ice cream. This was the time where we got to speak with them one on one about their life, and what they were doing in high school and their plans after. What was great about these teens was that they all had plans of some sort about life after high school. I was actually really amazed by the goals they had and the types of jobs thy wanted. One girl in particular actually wants to be a police officer. She had been working in a program with the LAPD as a cadet. Another boy was already accepted to a fashion design school where he deferred until the next year, as he plans to work and make money to afford the move out to Florida. Talking with the teens and learning about their lives and the goals they have for themselves was probably the most important part of the service I did. I think it showed me that while some at risk teens need direction, there are some that are self drive and directed as well, these are the ones that realize even given their situation they have the ability to succeed too. That was probably the most empowering part during my service visit to them.


Campus Activism: Life as an At Risk Teen: Thirteen Movie Screening

Description: “At the edge of adolescence, Tracy is a smart straight-A student--if not a little naive (it seems...she smokes and she cuts to alleviate the emotional pain she suffers from having a broken home and hating her mom's boyfriend, Brady.) When she befriends Evie, the most popular and beautiful girl in school, Evie leads Tracy down a path of sex, drugs and petty crime (like stealing money from purses and from stores). As Tracy transforms herself and her identity, her world becomes a boiling, emotional cauldron fueled by new tensions between her and her mother--as well as, teachers and old friends.”

I wasn’t really sure at first about how to do my campus activism project as I didn’t really know whether or not it was something that require policy activism or raising awareness. I finally decided that raising awareness is the first step in changing to facilitate policy …if I believed that was the route to go by the end of it. So showing this movie I thought would be a great insight into the lifestyle that teens can go down. I worked with the Criminal Justice Student Association to put on the event. They sponsored the event with pizza and advertising and reaching out to the right demographic, criminal justice majors. I also reached out to the psychology department as they too fit the demographic for those studying youth and law/criminal behavior emphases. Prior to starting the movie I spoke a little bit about why I was working with this isse, my service experience and why it meant so much to me. The movie played and a lot of people who weren’t going to stay ended up staying for the whole thing because they were intrigued by the movie. I think it was a great choice as it “kept the people wanting more”. I also made hand outs discussing how they could get involved which I will post here:

Ways YOU Can Get Involved!

Big Brothers & Big Sisters

www.bbbs.org

L.A Works

www.laworks.com
(search Youth volunteer opportunities)
- Help mentor and engage in conversation with youth and teens in the L.A area

Casa Pacifica (Camrillo, CA)
 http://www.casapacifica.org/volunteers.html

Outward Bound
 www.outwardbound.org
- positions through out the United States
- Volunteer or Intern working outdoors in both at risk and non at risk programs


Remember:

- This isn’t just a minority issue

- Youth and Teens all over face these issues

- Parents who struggle to make ends meet have less time to influence their kids in a positive way

- This brings a need for mentors, and other volunteers who are willing to influence

- Today’s youth are facing issues we faced a much younger age

- They are experimenting with drugs and alcohol at a much younger age starting in early middle school.


Internet Activism: Sponsoring Movie & E-Mail Forwarding, Promoting Websites


For my internet activism I struggled with the concept of utilizing my facebook to reach out. I found that facebook wasn’t really the demographic I was going for completely. I’ve always viewed it as more of a social networking site more than a political forum. Mostly because of the criticisms you face. Once a criticism is made, that becomes the entire focus of the conversation and the point is lost. I utilized facebook in my activism solely to engage people in wanting to learn about my issue. Much like the rest of the class I created a facebook event in order to promote my event and promote information prior to the event, in hopes I’d gain an interested audience, so that was part one of my internet activism.


I also promoted websites of the organizations I believed to be doing the best work or areas where students could get involved, like the one’s listed in my campus activism section. I thought it was important that people also where to go on the internet to find information if they wanted to get involved, different approach on internet activism, promoting websites to promote activism online.


Last two things I did which I believe are going to continue once I finish school and continue working with organizations like Outward Bound (who I am working with this summer) is create an e-mail forwarding message and website. The website is focused mostly on issues and policies I’m personally interested in, but it’s also set up in a way to be a non – profit type deal. I wasn’t planning on doing this solely for the class but I had been thinking of it and then the internet activism just kind of started the whole thing. The e-mail message forwarding came to me when I wrote my last two blogs/reflections. We all are annoyed by e-mail forwards but we all open them and read them anyway, while it’s annoying people still read them. I thought utilizing that would be most beneficial. The key to it being successful is to have a catchy subject line and then keep it short or if it’s long the like the one I am using make sure it’s split up well.


Subject: The At Risk Factor

Message:

“Many social critics argue that today’s youth face more serious and critical risks than any previous generation. Parents are convinced that their children face a major crisis. Most experts will agree that violence in schools, deteriorating family structure, substance abuse, alarming media images, and gang activity put teens at risk. Teenagers who have trouble coping with the stresses of life are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, engage in criminal activity, are sexually promiscuous, and attempt suicide. Many of these at-risk teens run away and eventually find themselves locked up in detention centers or living on the streets” (at-risk.org).


IF THEY HAVE MORE THAN FOUR OUT OF THESE 24 HELLLPP THEMMM!!

1. Has the teen ever been suspended, expelled, been truant, or had their grades drop?

2. Is the teen verbally abusive?

3. Does the teen struggle with basic family rules and expectations?

4. Does the parent have difficulty getting the teen to do basic household chores and
 homework

5. Has the teen had problems with the law?

6. Does the parent have to pick their words carefully when speaking to the teen, so as not to elicit a verbal attack or even rage from them?

7. Is the teen in danger of dropping out of high school?

8. Does the teen associate with a suspect peer group?

9. Has the teen lost interest in former productive activities, sports, hobbies, or
 childhood friends?

10. Has the teen ever displayed any evidence of suicide?

11. Does the teen seem depressed / withdrawn?

12. Does the teen ever display violent behavior?

13. Is the teen sexually promiscuous?

14. Has the teen’s appearance or personal hygiene changed?

15. Is the teen deceitful and manipulative?

16. Has the teen been caught stealing money or personal items from their family?

17. Is the teen severely lacking in motivation?

18. Does the teen sometimes lie regarding their activities?

19. Does the teen display outbursts of temper?

20. Does the teen lack self-worth and self-esteem?

21. Does the teen defy established rules regardless of the consequences?

22. When trying to deal with the teen, do the parents feel powerless?

23. Does the teen have a problem with authority?

24. Do the parents suspect the teen is experimenting with drugs or alcohol?


How to get involved and help those at risk:

- Big Brothers Big Sisters

- Local YMCAs

- Local teen and youth programs

Learn More at At-Rsk.org



I think my view of citizenship changed only in that it made me want to become more engaged in society in any simple way possible given my ability and amount of time. I think all of this proved to me that there are some things out there we are able to raise awareness about and beyond. I think we can learn a lot by being more civically engaged and we can make the world a better place at the same time, as cliche as that sounds. At the same time I think it does leave room for a lot of questions as we discussed in class. Is what we can do or doing really effective? Is there someone out there more qualified and better for the job? Experience or Passion? I think it's a long battle to make more of society interested in their citizenship and civic engagement, but it's possible. It's hard because we are so dependent on our government to take care of us all the time, but I think my issue is a prime example of where that doesn't happen and we have taken it upon our selves to change that and do something about it. When other issues are at this point I think we will see a lot more engagement. I'm not saying the government shouldn't handle everything but there are definitely some things we can handle on our own instead of relying on our government to figure it all out.

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Sunday, May 9, 2010 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

12

How does the advent of information communication technologies (ICT's) affect the issue you are working on? What benefits does the Internet and related technologies provide for your issue? What drawbacks? Does reality television have an impact on your issue? Positive or negative?


Honestly, even through the advent of information communication technologies I still haven't seen much progress on this issue. It's a lot easier nowadays for anyone to google "at-risk youth" a find an array of websites dealing with at-risk youth in terms of programs, non-profits, mentoring, and rehabilitation centers. Basically, you can find what you need if you just google those words. While this is great, I don't think it's really enhancing or making known the issue at hand. We aren't really striving towards any policy that could change this situation for the better. But again this all goes back to whether or not it's the government's responsibility to resolve these matters.

What's great about the Internet and other forms of communication is their ability to reach the masses at an unbelievable rate. E-mails are forwarded all the time about today's war, healthcare, and other hot topics this year. Is it not just as easy to make an e-mail and send it out to your friends who will send it out to their friends, and so on and so forth. Because this method has been working over the years since the development of the internet, I believe it is one of the most useful ways to gain an audience for your issue, and promote it. If you e-mail it to every person in your contact book and say that's 50 people, and they each mail it to 5 of their closest friends, that's 250 people you have reached, and they each send it to 5 of their closest friends, the number keeps getting bigger. Eventually you will have at reached people who are interested and if your e-mail was shaped in the right way, you now have maybe 25% of those people that will become involved in your cause. E-mails are very powerful thing. What's even more powerful are the automated e-mails that will insert the name of the person you are contacting, make it personal and more attractive for them to read.

It's because of this method that I have used it for my form of online activism. After thinking of all the things I could do on facebook, I don't believe that it would be nearly as effective as the method I just discussed. The chances of me reaching the right demographic on facebook compared to a forwarded e-mail are very low. So I thought this was the best method for promoting my issue.

As for drawbacks of the Internet, it can be very limiting at times especially with the advent of blogs and wikipedia. Anyone knowledgeable in the field or not can post whatever they feel, exactly what I am doing now. Though I have done my share of service and research, I am not as knowledgeable as say a criminologist but I may know more than your average person who enjoys stating their opinion.

Reality television has definitely been negative all around towards my issue, because of the amount of "crap" they show on tv these days. It gets adolescents interested in activities at a much younger age which leads to experimentation. One reality tv show in particular I remember MTV playing was about teenagers in juvenile detention centers. It showed the ins and outs of their lives prior to and after the sentence. I watched it a lot because I believe it really did hit home for some viewers out there. There wasn't anything fake about the show, you saw the teens get beat up, cry because they were alone, and all negative aspects of being locked up at a young age. We rarely have tv programming focused on issues like this because it's not "funny" or "entertaining" if you will, but last time I remember that's what Comedy Central was for. I am also pretty sure that REALity tv stands for something REAL. What good is it to have shows that are negative for today's youth to be viewing, we're only causing problems in the long run.

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Sunday, May 2, 2010 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

11.

How do the three trends discussed this week -- media fragmentation, decline in associational life, and blog polarization affect how your issue is discussed and policy related to your issue?


In terms of the trends discussed this past week in class my issue is definitely a little bit different on how it's being affected because it's not a widely addressed issue, which is why my activism revolves around awareness and getting people interested in the topic. Obviously hard as we discussed. Instead I am going to aim to how, if and when my issue because discussed, our society's technology and mass communication forms can either help or hinder the situation.

First I believe that the media as of now, only displays the negative aspects of at risk youth. We always hear on the news and read in the newspapers about the 16 year old that harmed someone else. We hear about the group of 14 year olds that decided to do drink excessively instead of going to class one day and then one died. We never hear about the positive things like the kids who are born in these families with the backgrounds of at risk activity and find their way into programs that help them grow and live the life they have the potential for. We have tons of commercials for activism towards cancer research, donating blood and body parts, adopting animals, sending money to kids in foreign countries...but where are the commercials for these kids? Where are the commercials that tell you about how to become a big brother or big sister? Where's the news about the L.A. Works who helps hundreds of at risk youth every week in programs at flight shelters and local schools? It's not there, just like we only see the bad stuff about the war on terrorism and our soldiers in Afghanistan. It's a viscous cycle in the media, and I don't know if we are capable of bringing ourselves out of it.

As for blog polarization I haven't really come across any blogs but I would assume that it'd be the same issue wtih online newspapers. We would be allowed to comment on these blogs, but people would be bashing what was written like they do with anything in online newspapers. Critics always have to sit there and find the bad in something. It doesn't allow for hte right kind of discussion, it's easy for tones to get mixed up and for people to become angry about what is written and focusing on that other than the issue at hand.

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Sunday, April 25, 2010 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

10.

Would more deliberation improve policy on the issue you're working on this semester? Why or why not? What are the strenghts and weaknesses of a deliberative approach? Would a system like the ones in the Brazilian examples be effective? Would deliberative polling be effective?


The whole week we spent discussing deliberation I had a really hard time grapsing the concept for my issue. I feel as though it is constantly deliberated, but the policy just isn't coming. So would more improve it? I don't really know, I mean how much more deliberation can there be? Deliberation is an issue in itself because not everyone is always heard, and not one person can just make change happen over night. Taking us back earlier in the semester deliberation isn't successful unless we gather the masses, but how do we make the masses care? The only way I could see deliberation helping solve my issue is if it was based around a "how can we fix this" type discussion, where the end means was to have a policy to implement.

The strengths of having a deliberative approach is that it allows for more people to have input and not necessarily always from those that are experts in the area. Another strength is that it allows for multiple ideas to be floating around and each of those could come together as one for a policy. Deliberation allows for a diverse discussion and solution with multiple perspectives. On the other hand, it's very hard to control conversation, who sets the agenda? Is the loudest person always going to be in charge? Deliberation fails to allow for a solution sometimes, it almost doesn't usually have a point. We somehow find ourselves going around in circles discussing topics, discussing in a way to inform others or say how we feel about the situation but never stating our own solutions to it, so is it really productive? Sometimes yes, other times no. I've found most deliberation processes to be quite unproductive, which is why it's hard for me to say that I think this could help my issue.

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Sunday, April 18, 2010 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

9.

Is citizen knowledge used on the issue you're working with? How? If not, why not? How could public knowledge be better used on the issue you're working with? How do Fung and Wright's model apply to your issue?

So on Wednesday, I went to volunteer at Angel's Flight in Los Angeles. Angel's flight is a place where teens are welcome with shelter, food, clothing, mental health care, counseling and education. The program includes a drop-in center an outreach component, reaching at least 3,000 adolescents each year, with services focused on emotional healing, growth and empowerment. Substance abuse treatment and recovery, mental health counseling, food and toiletries, job search guidance, gang prevention and intervention, tutoring, art, dance and music instruction are important program services they provide (from website, a lot easier to put into words than what I gathered and learned from the guy working). The experience was really great and perfect timing for what we learned about citizen knowledge because I feel I gained a great insight into the lives of these teens after talking with them and hanging out with them. It was great to see how the program is helping their lives but also how our assumptions are very wrong about these kids. Most of them have goals after they finish school, I spoke to one in particular about his life after he graduates this year. He is going to go to design school in Florida where he got a scholarship, and knows he wants to own his own store in the future. Another girl wants to be a police officer and has already been a cadet with the LAPD for quite some time.

I think citizen knowledge is widely used through out my issue. A lot of these programs are based out of non-profits a majority of the time. There are hardly any government funded programs, although they can apply for grant money. People that work in these organizations definitely develop knowledge in the area, which can be used in the future as they continue to go to other jobs in the same field. I think because this is such a tough issue that the use of public knowledge is used all the time. People share ideas and organizations are created through out all of the United States. I think that Fun and Wright's model is important in my issue. Who is considered the expert though? Someone who has worked in organizations with lots of experience around at risk youth, or someone who has done research? That's a tough call, sometimes experience is a much more useful kind of knowledge than research or having a degree in psychology. This is where I find Fung an Wright's model a little challenging because how do we measure who is an expert? Isn't it different for everything? I think while we gain experience after a degree we also can gain it in other ways. In this situation, I would take the word of the people who work at Angel's flight over someone who is fresh out of college with a B.S in Psychology focused on juveniles.

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Sunday, April 11, 2010 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

8.

Which conception of citizenship is better for outcomes on your issue? A universalistic notion of citizenship? A differentiated notion of citizenship? A transversal citizenship? What would differentiated citizenship look like on your issue? Universal citizenship?


So, I've been sitting here re-reading and understanding universal and differentiated citizenship as both of these seem to have some pros and cons to how they would effect my issue. A universal view of citizenship for my issue would mean that nothing changes, we view at risk youth as at risk youth apply the same laws and rules to them as everyone else. While I think this is important so they know and understand the norms of society and how to live in that society this could also be a disaster. If we apply the same rules all the time that means we aren't recognizing differences, for some it's difficult in their situation to have the same opportunities as other people to lead a successful life. However, I also have an issue with labeling differences because then that makes it seem like these people aren't capable of doing well without help. Plenty of people can make it without their differences being identified and adhered to. This is how differentiated citizenship works and I think that it works for some issues but not for others. I think this is why we have a major issue with things such as affirmative action because we take into consideration other factors like race, and minority status.

As far as my issue goes though, I think in terms of policy it's important to look at a differentiated view of citizenship. With these youth it's important to set them apart from the rest of society to make the appropriate changes to help them go in the right direction. We need to establish what makes this important enough to view the differences to do something about it. Once the government establishes differences they can better handle policy which will help the situation. The likelihood of this happening though I can't really fathom being in the near future given our current economic state, and social programs are getting some money but with new programs and policy being implemented the likelihood of more happening doesn't seem within reach.

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Sunday, March 28, 2010 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

7.

How does Arendt's concept of totalitarianism and or/propaganda apply to your issue? Apply Benhabib's critique of tying citizenship exclusively to nation to your issue? How does Bosniak's view of non-citizen citizenship apply to your issue?


I think that Arendt's concept of totalitarianism and propaganda apply to my issue in a positive way, if I understand her concept and definition: "the destruction of spontaneous thought and action". To me that means it's eliminating impulse action. If she believes that totalitarianism will eliminate impulse action then in regards to at risk activity we might have lesser numbers. On the other hand it could also not being effective in that while it eliminates spontaneous action and thought, who's to say that being involved in at risk activity is impulse? It can be when you have nothing else to turn to the one day your life goes completely into shambles, so you turn to drugs or alcohol, but usually these things happen over a period of time and that's when it becomes dangerous. Her concept of propaganda though I believe is beneficial to my issue because 1) there isn't enough of it and 2) it's important that there is more advocacy of programs to prevent these issues from continuing to arise. The right form of propaganda is key though, and I think that was another important aspect she touched on. She said that it needs to spread something that will make people believe it is real and happening and could happen to you, it should scare you into doing something about it. That's why Hitler was successful, but how far can it really go?

In regards to the Benhabib reading, I think that we have a very serious problem with the way we view citizenship and applying to undocumented residents. In terms of how this applies to my issue though, I am not really sure how it does other than we can't always accommodate everyone thought they belong to a political community or community in general. Benhabib stated that practices should be non-discriminatory in scope. I diigoed that we can't really just make exceptions for everyone all the time, and unfortunately I believe that's the truth. However when politically speaking, it's especially harsh on my issue because they are children who don't have a right to vote. They definitely can't be accommodated if they don't belong to a "political citizenship" of sorts. It's really hard all the barriers there are between state and nation citizenship but that doesn't really affect my issue either. Over all I don't believe that the people affected by my issue feel represented when it comes to that.

One aspect of this reading that I was particularly interested in was establishing global citizen rights. I think it's necessary because while these things that would be considered rights, are norms in most urban societies. It's really difficult to make them norms in other societies where they don't see it in the same light. At risk activity within you is something that his happening in many countries and I think everyone handles it differetnly. By establishing some sort of norms or rights it'd be easier to manage and help. Other than that I don't really see how this non citizenship and citizenship ideology really applies to my issue because we are dealing with children and whether or not they are legal it's still right to help them.


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Sunday, March 21, 2010 Posted in | | 0 Comments »