Frontrunners

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I just had the chance to see the documentary Frontrunners.’  It’s the story of three students at Stuyvesant High School, in New York City, who run for president of the school’s Student Union.

Whenever I see a documentary with or about teens, I walk into the theater with a bit of trepidation.’  I worry that the filmmakers will have gone into the filmmaking with a hidden, or not so hidden, agenda. I worry the filmmakers want viewers to leave the movie with a very specific message about teens and the world that teens inhabit. Sometimes I leave a documentary about teens feeling like the teens in the film have been horribly used and manipulated. Read More →

An Accessible Youth Subcultures Classic

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There is no shortage of books on youth subcultures. Generally they fall into two types, popular and academic. Many popular works are written by rock journalists with strong editorial biases. Others are written by subcultural participants who also have agendas to push. Scholarly works are more objective but are often aimed at graduate level sociology students. Even if you are really interested in youth sociology these can be hard dry reading. Finding accessible, reasonably objective survey works for a reader who just wants to be a bit more “literate” about youth subcultures can be a challenge, but this book is good start. Read More →

Beloit College Mindset List

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Someone told me a few weeks ago that the average 16 year old was born the year I graduated high school. Then, I got a Facebook invitation reminding me that I have been out of graduate school for ten years. Wow! Where has all the time gone? And how do I keep up with today’s youth, and the chasm of years between myself and them continues to grow?

One great tool is the Beloit College Mindset List…

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