as i see it....

i saw a great movie today - freedom writers. i highly recommend it.

what makes it so great? it does a good job of showing us the plight of young students in an urban setting dealing with, not only, racial tension, but broken families in a broken world. maybe a world that a lot of us can't relate to and turn a blind eye to.

but it's great because of the story... because of one teacher who cared enough for her students to want to make a difference. did i mention that it's a true story? it takes place in long beach, california in 1994. so there was a real life person who's desire, to understand the youth in her world, so strong that it changed how she taught and had an everlasting impact on the students in her class. i consider her a hero, as well as the kids who made a choice to change their lives.

i can only imagine what kind of world we might live in if this was happening in more schools across the country.

"freedom is that instant between when someone tells you to do something and when you decide how to respond."
(dr. jeffrey borenstein)

Posted by youthworker4all at 9:53 PM | Permalink | Comments

i came across something today that i find interesting. it was an article in usa today (link) about the tv show, ugly betty, and a campaign started by abc to promote a positive message for young women; "be real, be smart, be passionate, be true to yourself and be ugly."

be ugly? i understand the basis of the tv show and i think the show is effective in conveying the message that beauty comes from within. that when we get to know someone and see beyond their outward appearances, we start to see them differently. and that's a beautiful thing. but i'm wondering how well a campaign will do when they use the phrase "be ugly."

i wish they could have used some other phrase. but i still like and support the vision of the campaign. young women need to be encouraged to be the other aspects of the slogan; real, smart, passionate, and true to themselves. for too long media and peers have told them that they need to be super thin and "beautiful" - which is such a relative thing for young people. young women need to feel comfortable with their looks and know that there is so much more to them than just their looks.

there's a website promoting the be ugly in 2007 campaign (link). i hope it does well. i'll be keeping an eye on it as well as what others are thinking about this. you can let me know what you think by leaving me a comment.

Posted by youthworker4all at 11:24 PM | Permalink | Comments

happy new year everybody. let's see if i can get back into the swing of posting to this blog.

i heard something today that i didn't really know or take into account. it was said that anger is just the outward manifestation of one, two, or all of these; hurt, fear, and frustration.

i've been thinking about this ever since i heard it. it makes a lot of sense. and i think about kids (and even adults) who i've judged as just having an "anger management" problem. i should have known it goes deeper than that.

hurt, fear, or frustration are emotions that we can have more empathy for. so next time you see someone who is expressing their anger, try to remember they are actually expressing something more and something deeper.

Posted by youthworker4all at 11:15 PM | Permalink | Comments