There Are No Children Here

Last weekend I made another venture to the local used bookstore and found a book from my college reading list.  There Are No Children Here chronicled the lives of two young brothers who lived in Henry Horner Homes in Chicago in the late 1980’s.  While growing up in public housing these boys lived  a daily life of poverty and gang violence and experienced things that would frighten most adults. 

The book really got me thinking about a lot of things.  The kids in the book are no different than kids anywhere else.  They talked of wanting to live in a house with a yard and a dog. One of the brothers, Lafeyette talked about what he wanted to be IF he grew up.  

The school situation for these boys was pretty dismal as well.  The boys attended an inner-city school that serves the housing project.  At the time the book was written, the teachers were on strike for a month.  One counselor served 700 students.  The students at the school were months behind grade level, but improving because of a principal who demanded order in the school.

The youngest brother, Pharoah, did well in school.  He was bright and eager to learn.  Even though he tested six months behind grade level, he was still at the top of his fourth grade class.   His seemed to immerse himself in school work to avoid gang influences.

The boys had a couple of role models.  One is Craig, a local boy who graduated high school and held a job in retail.  Unfortunately Craig was killed by police in a case of mistaken identity.  The other role model is their cousin Dawn.  Dawn also is a high school graduate and, despite the fact that she had four children by the age of 19, she managed to attend a local community college.

I did some research on the internet and found that the author of the book used the proceeds from the book to send the boys to private school.  I felt that this would help the boys to escape the cycle of poverty.  I was disappointed to find an update in an internet article.  Both boys spent time in jail.  The younger one who showed so much promise and loved school was in jail on drug-related charges.

So the cycle of drugs and poverty continues.  There is so much to this story that we don’t know.  I don’t know if these boys eventually fell prey to the gangs who saturated their area .  Perhaps they even have children of their own. 

It’s sad that that the circumstances to which these boys were born help determine the outcome of their life.  They are just as intelligent as children in middle class communities.  Their parents care about them and want a better life for them.  Yet, they lack the resources to escape their surroundings. 

“But you know there are no children here.  They’ve seen too much to be children.”---LaJoe Rivers, mother of Pharoah and Lafeyette

Kotlowitz, Alex.  (1991).  There are No Children Here:  The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the
     Other America.  New York:  Random House.

Advertising is Evil

“The advertising industry does not miss a trick in finding ways to bring advertisements to audiences.  So it is no surprise that by the end of the 20^th century, advertising was keeping pace with the information age explosion of new media technologies.” (Wilson & wilson, 2001, p.350)

Advertisements are everywhere in our daily lives.  They are plastered on billboards.  They are on the radio.  They are on television.  And now they pop up on the internet.  Many of these ads target young children who do not have the ability to distinguish what is credible information from what is an advertising ploy.

With the explosion of new media comes a new responsibility to protect children from the influences of advertising.  It is importantly to be aware of some of the tactics that marketers use to “hook” young children on to their product, creating a customer for life.  We need to educate ourselves and our children on some of these techniques. 

Advertisers seek to create loyal customers from cradle to grave and use several techniques to subliminally market to younger consumers.  These advertising techniques are so sly that the child, and sometimes the parents, don’t even realize that they are having a product pitched to them.

Product placements in movies and cartoons are one way advertisers market to children. McDonald’s offers toys in their Happy Meals in the hopes that the toys will lure children to buy food. Internet sites encourage children to register for “clubs” which gives them access to personal information for marketing purposes.  Some schools even allow advertising.  Parents and other adults need children away from advertising because, according to Story & French (2008), “Prior to the age of 7 or 8 years, children tend to view advertising as fun, entertaining, and unbiased information.”(p.19). They have not developed the cynicism that teenagers and adults possess.

With this information in mind, it is up to us to act as the information police when it comes to technology and advertising.  The internet has the potential to allow millions of strangers into our home.  We must inform students to never give out personal information to strangers.  We must also help them distinguish between what is real and what is advertisement.  If we exercise caution, children should be able to use modern technologies without being constantly bombarded with advertisements.

References

Story, M. & French, S., (2008) Marketers View Teens as Marketing Opportunities in How Does

     Advertising Impact Teen Behavior?  (pp.19-27).  Farmington Hills:  Greenhaven Press.

Wilson, J. & Wilson, S.R. (2001).  Mass Media Mass Communication:  An Introduction (5^th ed.).

     New York. McGraw-Hill.

Friends Don't Let Friends Use Color Vibration

Color is everywhere.  I love color.  I love decorating my house with color. I love using color to put designs together.  One thing I really hate to see is color being used improperly.  My biggest pet peeve is color vibration in Power Point presentations and websites.

Vibration occurs when blocks of brilliant and very different colors that are close or equal in  value are next to each other…The colors appear to shimmer and lose their edges.  The struggle to focus on edge, added to the struggle to reach equilibrium in two opposing colors at the same time, becomes a miserable visual experience.(Holtzschue,2006,p.79)

Don’t get me wrong, color vibration has its place. A psychedelic poster or a poster to gather attention could use a little color vibration.  One place not to use color vibration is in text. Here is an example of color vibration that I found on a website this week.

 I understand that some people are color-challenged and aren’t aware of fancy color theory terms, but all the color-challenged have to do is take a look and ask themselves, “Does this hurt my eyes to read?” If the answer is yes, use other colors.  There are many websites that help to pick color schemes that are pleasing to the eye.

Here is a link of a website from Penn State that tells us about some colors we should avoid putting together.  This site will come in handy in the coming weeks when we learn about accessibility.

Penn State Accessibility Site

Resource

Holtzschue, L., (2006).  Understanding Color:  An Introduction for Designers (3^rd Ed).  Hoboken, New

     Jersey:  John Wiley & Sons.

Links to Books

Earlier I posted on the valuable books I have found at the used bookstore.  Here is their link on Amazon.

Commonsense Copyright:  A Guide for Educators and Librarians              
By R.S. Talab                      

Digital Storytelling in the Classroom: New Media Pathways to Literacy, Learning, and Creativity
By Jason Ohler

Discussion-Based Online Teaching to Enhance Student Learning                                               
By Tisha Bender

The Flickering Mind:  The False Promise of Technology in the Classroom and How Learning Can Be Saved
By Todd Oppenheimer

How Teachers Learn Technology Best
By Jamie McKenzie

Second Life the Official Guide
By Michael Rymaszewksi, Wagner James Au, Cory Onjrejka, Richard Platel, Saran Van Gorden, Jeanette Cezanne, Paul Cezanne, Ben Batstone-Cunningham, Aleks Krotoski, Celebrity Trollop, Jim Rossignol, and Second Life residents from around the world

Taxonomy of Educational Objectives Book 2
By David R. Krathwohn, Benjamin S. Bloom, Bertram B. Masia

Visual Tools for Constructing Knowledge
By David Hyerle

Is Technology Making Us Ruder?

Recently, the conductor of the New York Philharmonic stopped a concert when a cell phone rang, interrupting the concert.  It turned out to be an honest mistake-the gentleman was issued a new phone from work not realizing the alarm was set to ring, even though the phone was set to silent.  But a ringing cellphone can ruin a live concert experience for someone who pays close to $200 for a concert ticket.

This incident makes me wonder if technology is making us ruder. Most of this rudeness seems to be centered on cell phones.  I’ve been in movie theaters where more than one cell phone has rung.  I have been in a movie theater where another member of the audience answered the call and had a ten minute conversation.  I have been in line at a restaurant behind a man who had to call his wife and ask her what she wanted for dinner.  I have heard way too much information from strangers sitting near me having cell phone conversations.   The local convenience store near me even has a sign asking patrons to end cell phone conversations before stepping up to the register. 

All of these issues were not a problem twenty years ago.  I believe technology is not to blame; it’s how people use the technology in public.  I googled technology and rudeness and found several articles.  It seems as though others are just as annoyed as I am by rude cell phone users.  More people seem to be tired of having their concert, movie or dinner interrupted by the obnoxious cell phone user next to them.

Below is a list of Joanna Kurtz’s 10 cell phone Do’s and Don’ts.   I wish more people would follow them

1. Never take a personal mobile call during a business meeting. This includes interviews and meetings with co-workers or subordinates.

2. Maintain at least a 10-foot zone from anyone while talking.

3. Never talk in elevators, libraries, museums, restaurants, cemeteries, theaters, dentist or doctor waiting rooms, places of worship, auditoriums or other enclosed public spaces, such as hospital emergency rooms or buses. And don't have any emotional conversations in public — ever.

4. Don't use loud and annoying ring tones that destroy concentration and eardrums. Grow up!

5. Never "multi-task" by making calls while shopping, banking, waiting in line or conducting other personal business.

6. Keep all cellular congress brief and to the point.

7. Use an earpiece in high-traffic or noisy locations. That lets you hear the amplification, or how loud you sound at the other end, so you can modulate your voice.

8. Tell callers when you're talking on a mobile, so they can anticipate distractions or disconnections.

9. Demand "quiet zones" and "phone-free areas" at work and in public venues, like the quiet cars on the Amtrak Metroliner.

10. Inform everyone in your mobile address book that you've just adopted the new rules for mobile manners. Ask them to do likewise. Please.

If only more people would follow these rules.

The links below are to more articles on rude cell phone behavior.

NY Times Article Ringing Cell Phone

Cell Phone Etiquette

Are Gadgets Making Us Ruder?