Adolescent Development

I have enjoyed this experience of the Tumblr project as part of Adolescent Development.

It has improved my Web 2.0 skills, by giving me the opportunity to create my first ever Tumblr page, and develop the art of blogging. Throughout my blogging I feel I have contributed a range of ideas that centred back to adolescent development and also my own experiences in adolescences. This was definitely a new experience sharing my personal memories and feelings I had through my development, but I feel it has added value to my Tumblr page and linked with the course text.

Ultimately, I value this communication forum as it gave me the opportunity, as well as my peers, to interact with one another and share a diverse range of valuable knowledge.

I hope you have all enjoyed my posts.

My first friendship when I was a child was a lot more active and more focused on experiencing new things and activities, like make believe games and exploring the outdoors. 

A particular friendship relevant today is a lot more restricted in the sense that we have to plan when to hang out, rather than just showing up at one another's house. This is particularly due to work commitments and timing.

The intimacy across these two different time stage friendships differ, as they present quite contrasting forms of intimacy. For example, in my first friendship it was quite casual and we were not confronted difficult situations that made us question our friendship. Whereas todays friendship the level of intimacy is a lot more strong in the sense there are no barriers on what conversation topics will be discussed like, sex, stress, alcohol, socialising and boyfriends.

The Glee show depicts the typical Americanised portrayal of peers in high school. For example, there are the popular groups and the cheerleaders, the jocks that all the girls love, the geeks, the goths, the rule breakers and the homosexuals. All of which portray a different kind of peer status, defining who is considered better than others.

'Look Up' - A spoken word film for an online generation. Subscribe for more videos: http://bit.ly/Subscribe_to_Gary_Turk 'Look Up' is a lesson taught to us t...

Do web 2.0 really allow for adolescents to develop more & more meaningful relationships with peers? I'm quite torn on this topic, as socialising is the fundamental aspect of all these media sites, yet is that really what is occurring in the 'real' world? Adolescents may be communicating online, yet face to face relationships are being restricted through a screen.

There are two views of how relationships are formed throughout development: these include Continuous vs Discontinuous Development.

Continuous development displays a continuation of relationships in terms of future interaction, stimulating environments that encourage stable relationships with family members and peers.

Being the Middle Child

I am the middle sibling of three sisters, like Jan Brady in the Brady Bunch, where I have experienced some the characteristics illustrated in the coined termed 'Middle Sibling Syndrome. These characteristics involve, feelings of left out and isolation, but they are more recognised as negotiators in the family relationships.

In my experiences in growing up with my parents, I can reflect that they adopted an Authoritative Parenting style, where rules were applied with negotiation, correct guidance and nurturing. Although, there were demonstrations between power control over particular situations, where the use of a statement usually sounded something like "because I'm the mum" in order to over rule staying out later with friends or going to a party with alcohol.

Ethics in Education

Sex education, involving teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections for young people is very important (Santrock, 2014).

With it estimated that 1 out of 4 sexually active youth get a STI, highlights the need for prevention education and resources. These include, minimising the amount of sexual partners and the use of contraception and condoms.

In my personal view of New Zealand and the wider western world, it majority promotes methods of how not to get raped, especially for women. This is advertised through common sentences that many women would have heard at some point in their life;  don't walk alone at night, don't wear provocative clothing, girls don't get to drunk, stay with the group, don't be to flirtatious because then you are asking for it. 

Yet we have not been taught how not to rape.  As shown in Stuffs article, yet again its target audience is victims or potential victims who are advised "students not to wear headphones, to walk confidently, to carry a whistle and torch, and wear running shoes"

Why does it not target the rapists? This is a frustrating and confusing idea that has been so strongly implemented into New Zealand citizens perception of rape.

The Making of a Women

When I was a young girl, my favourite Disney movie was Cinderella, but it was not until I have become more educated that I have recognised the gender stereotyping messages portrayed throughout the Disney film, of what being it means to be a women.

Cinderella teaches us that women need to be domestic and that a mans role should not involve sewing or cleaning.

A successful women needs to have a high status, wealth and materialistic commodities in order to get a princes attention.

Additionally, a woman's life is not complete without a prince by her side and beauty.