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Today’s youth are not only influenced by the media and pop culture, they are also often defined by it.

 

In the past two newsletter issues, we have discussed with you both the central role of media in general in the lives of today’s students and, most recently, the powerful place that music occupies in adolescent media consumption.

 

This fall we offered a few practical and probing questions to help you to engage your students about their musical interests.  Last spring we introduced you to the Rockin’ R.U.L.E.R. acronym that encourages you as educators to:

 

Æ Recognize the profound influence popular youth culture (music, advertising, movies, TV, video games) has on the way your students think, act, spend their resources and relate to their peers, teachers, families and environment.

 

Æ Understand that there is a natural, generational “cultural divide” and resulting language barrier that exists between adult and adolescent culture.

 

Æ Listen reflectively and objectively to the media interests of the young people in your life (both your students and your own kids).

Resources to Help You “Cross the Cultural Divide”

By George Palombo Executive Director,

American Center for Character and Cultural Education (ACE)

 

 

Discussing the Influence of Today’s Music with Students!

 

Æ Evaluate the language and environment of today’s popular youth culture by meeting young people “right where they are”.

 

Æ Respond with a sincere and committed heart that seeks the highest and best interests of the young people in your life regarding their media and life choices.

 

This issue we want to provide you with additional informational resources about popular youth culture.  These resources can be easily accessed by going to our web site at www.straightroads.org and clicking on the Comprehensive Web Resources List link.  There you will find links to several other sites categorized by interest.

 

Resource topics subject links include General, Sites for Parents, Sites for Teens, Relationships/Sexuality, Youth Violence and Substance Abuse.  In addition, there are Media subject links to topics such as Advertising, Film, Internet/Video Games, Magazines, Music, Television, and Media Literacy.

 

We hope you will find these sites to be useful to you in gathering information to help you “cross the cultural divide” into the media saturated world of your students so that you can assist them in searching the depths of this media torrent, and its potential influence on them and their decision making in a critical and objective manner.