Injustices

Every Sunday I am at the bar with my friend (I am over 21) and we watch football. Its a tradition and we love the season. When we talked football and talk statistics people don't take us seriously. Its not just men either, women as well. I see this as an injustice because they are making pre judgments due to our gender. In my eyes its not fair that I cant have a normal conversation about football and someone being surprised each and every time. Sure there are other injustices in the world but this is far too frequent.

I always feel like I shouldn't know as much as I do. Maybe its odd to them, maybe its too "masculine" but when you're not taken seriously you think of all these things because you're filled with emotion.
This situation happened again and I realize when I speak about football I am just not taken seriously. And when I saw this happen again, I called the person sexist. And I had my serious tone on and the person shrugged it off. But I'm sure they second guessed what they had said and what they will say in the future.
73% of men watch football, 55% women watch. Football is Americas favorite past time so it shouldn't be a shock when women are interested in this sport and it should be treated as a norm. And there are plenty of women who interview the players after games. I am just waiting for the day that a women is a football referee.

My YDEV Story

  

Growing up I always knew I had a talent working with youth. I always knew how to connect with youth of all ages and I found myself genuinely caring about the people around me. All my life people had told me, “You’d make a great teacher one day” but I was never sure that was for me.

                My freshmen year I majored in Elementary Education/Special Education. I enjoyed the classes and especially the practicums. I would always find myself bonding with the students in my practicums even if it wasn’t through the educational aspect. And they gained a respect from me that I never thought I’d get as a “Teacher Assistant”. When it came down to the math praxis and that dreadful biology class, I couldn’t get into the program. I didn’t give up though, I switched to Early Childhood education. I knew right then and there this major was for me! I loved the entire aspect of early childhood. I learned to importance of those developmental years and loved it. And there was this one class called “Early Childhood and Social Work” that got me elated to be pursuing this major. Unfortunately, due to changes in the program I couldn’t get in without graduating in 2019. That is when I made the switch to Youth Development. A mix of social work, youth advocacy and youth in a non-school setting. Literally a major made for me. I can explore so many youth centered places through this degree. And eventually I’ll go into Early Childhood on a master level but for right now I’m where I want to be.

Blog Post 5

 What are some of the ways the teachers in this article care for students? How do you see care being expressed at your internship site? What does the program do well? What could they improve on?

There is a great deal of acceptance described in this article. Acceptance only helps our communities move forward and I thought about my internship when I was reading this article. My internship accepts all types of children and all types of families and its a wonderful and inclusive place. This is an example of "keeping the kids in mind". Our world will only get better in years to come if the children in my internship witness love and acceptance on a familiar and daily basis.
In this article teachers are caring for their students by sacrificing their outside time and commitments for the betterment of the childrens learning. The classroom isn't just a day job for her it is similar to a ritual. And this is what youth work needs to become. It should be a lifestyle in which the youth benefit.
My program is all about the children! That is what is so great about Montessori. It was designed for children to have autonomy. They make their own choices and are figuring life out along the way. Something the school could improve on is maybe switching up the selection of work the students can work on. But I believe there is a certain curriculum they need to go through in order to do that. Other than that I really like it there.

In Montessori they care for the children wholeheartedly. This image is my internship in a nutshell. Especially since we have access to a coffee maker :)

Youth In Action

Youth in Action is a non profit organization for youth in surrounding cities who are viewed and treated as leaders. This is great empowerment because they are tomorrows leaders. Youth in Action LEADS means they are leading by example, leading by expression and leading others to their organization. They can lead other highschoolers into their safe space which is beneficial to their mental health when a support group is by them. When I was there I felt happy for the youth that they had their own community to speak up on social justice issues. Keeping thoughts like that bottled up during this difficult period in history isnt healthy. And the youth at Youth in Action are getting comfortable with having those uncomfortable conversations. And seeing high school students do that is very empowering.

Blog Post 3

In my life I have had numerous jobs and experiences with youth. I have worked with infants all the way up to college students. I have my challenging age groups and age groups I find that I work really well with. Working with youth in general makes me happy. Connecting to the article, "Shall We Play" I am most drawn to the age groups where play can be incorporated into their daily activities. Many dont understand that experiencing and working with play at a young age develops much creativity. High Schoolers and Middle schoolers can often get bored when writing papers or working on school projects because their brains haven't been exposed to creative ways of thinking due to lack of play.

I worked at ZooCamp in Boston for two summers and we incorporated play into every learning experience. We had a book of games related to animals, nature and so much more because it keeps the children engaged and it helps with their creativity. Typically after a play experience the kids would come up with a different version of the game where they created their own. As they did this I knew that they were learning and thinking critically of what would work and what wouldnt work.

Ive also worked in preschool settings where there were no limitations on where the children can paint and how they choose to paint. This was part of the article because the toddlers would receive permission and use their creative minds to explore the arts and theories of play.

Blog Post 2

Much truth was said about the youth in these two articles however, three stereotypes seemed to be unintentionally stated or quoted.

“No one likes teenagers. Only someone with something wrong inside wants to be around them that much.” (Steinberg)
These are beliefs that people who don't identify themselves as a youth worker, most likely think. Teenagers are not easy to be around. They require much guidance and support. However there are also teenagers that could probably communicate well with people older or younger than them regardless of what their age is. I dont think it is fair to group all teenagers in one chunk and assume that no person wants to be surrounded by them.

Adolescents were awkward, vulnerable creatures, innocent victims of raging hormones, rampant insecurity, and fervent idealism (which often bordered on arrogance), characterizations that were apparently linked to puberty and a lack of experience”
Teenagers are amazing and persevere day to day dealing with several roadblocks while simply trying to get through middle school and high school.

"Youth are to be feared, controlled, contained, and as Nathan notes, "Kept in" (Steinberg 269)
This is what drives certain high school teachers to leave the education or youth places. They have an idea about youth in their heads that are very ignorant. Youth are to be listened to, not feared because were were all once teenagers. We knew how tough it was and feeling like your voice was never heard. Youth are to not be controlled or contained but given freedom to pursue their interests.

7 Characteristics of Youth Work

1) Educational Practice
Youth workers engage students in diverse settings. They create trusting relationships with their students to have an open line of communication. Practicing connecting with students is a practice that benefits their educational experience.
During certain practicums throughout my time at RIC I have connected with students for an open line of communication to help me support them academically
2)Social Practice
Youth workers try to encourage students to work together in groups for their own educational benefit as well as retaining information.
In a few of my social work classes, the professor would state that group work is one of the most helpful ways to study because you are learning through other peoples experiences and perspectives.
3)Challenging Inequality and working towards Social Justice
When working with youth i is our job to encourage awareness of the world so that young people do not come up in this world in a naive manner. Therefore an anti discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice will give us time and a chance to reflect on the world and the injustices in the world.
4)Young people choosing to be involved
Young people choosing to be involved in their community shows great autonomy that they grew up with. Regardless of the setting if they want to get involved, the effort shows. I've worked at the YMCA and with their statement, they teach the youth to get involved in their own community
5)Youth Workers seek to strengthen the voice and influence of young people
It is our passion as youth workers to get the youth comfortable with expressing themselves in a safe space.
6)Welfare Practice
The welfare and safety of young people is put into practice. With expectations, the students are thought of first
7)Youth Work works with young people "holistically"
We have the power to reduce anti social behavior.

About Me!

Hello to everyone reading this! My name is Rachelle (pronounced Rachel) and I'm sure you all now know that I am a Youth Development major here at RIC, my concentration is Early Childhood Arts. My favorite color is green, I LOVE animals and I have two cats. My past work experiences along with my future career as a youth worker is what I consider therapy. I find so much peace in working with youth. I like to believe I am a simple human, hopefully the pictures attached will show that.

My best friend and I!

My world