Supreme Green
EDU 210
October 11, 2013
Bryce Budoff Students in the 21st Century For my observation, I attended a high school football game. On this particular night it was the homecoming for the school I had once attended. I was very excited and eager to see the changes of the school and the different attitudes of the students that attends now. When glancing through the crowds, there was an array of different age groups. Their were elementary age children, middle school, high school students and an large mount of alumni, including my self. With such a big group of attendance, I was able to focus my observation on a small group of high school boys and girls that had just recently graduated from the school. They were excited like everyone to see if our school would finally win their homecoming game and to support the school. As I begin to observe this group, I glanced around at the clothing and body art of the students. Now mind you it is an evening game. You could see a large number of people wearing the school colors which are red, white and blue. I had on my colors too but was bundled up with blanket wrapped around me. But these kids were wearing close to nothing at all. The girls had on mid drift blouses , very small shorts and tennis shoes. The boys wore baseball hats, jerseys and skinny jeans that fell way below their butts. And yes, all of these students had at least one tattoo or body piercing on their bodies. In further observing them, their communication styles it is what I expected. They were extremely loud when they spoke to each other, that you could hear everything they were saying. They used a lot of slang words, like “my nigga”, “that's hood”, “ my homie”. But the one that surprised me the most was how they referred to each other by saying “bitch”. I personally would have found that offensive, but that shows how time has really changed. When they were not talking out loud to each other, you could see them texting one another on their cellphones. Until, one of the boys in the groups told them to stop because his battery was going down. The entire group laughed, so they being talking more verbally. But when they did speak it was never a complete sentence. More like bites of fragments, but they understood what it person meant. I could see they really enjoyed being around their peers. I believe that part of the problem they have with using correct grammar is because they have become accustom to using text lingo to talk to each other. The majority of the group had a positive attitude about being able to come back after graduating to see other students. They discussed their past teacher experiences and how one teacher in particular made them really work hard to pass her class. But they appreciated the fact, it help to make them a lot better person. That made me smile, to hear students feel that way about teachers. However, some of their other topics discusses was what they were planning to do after the game. A few of the girls were debating if they would attend the homecoming dance, because it cost $25.00. Other dances they had went to were boring, it ended to early and the DJ did not have it “cracking”. The guys jump in the conversation to suggest having a “kickback”. Now a kickback, is where they go to someone home to listen to music, drink alcohol, smoke and what ever they consider fun. This is all done with minimal or no adult supervision. Nevertheless, they all agree to attend the dance because they did not want to get in trouble again. My overall experience of this observation was very positive. I got the chance to really view how students in today's society think and act outside of the classroom. This let me know as a perspective teacher, there is much work that needs to be done to help all children. In helping the children, it would bring about a positive attitude in education. That will better the community in which I live.