please send any e-mail to jupiter@twics.com (Rodney Ray at KNHS in Japan) or angus@gol.com (Angus at KNHS in Japan) that you want forwarded to any of the students at KNHS in Japan
Annette
I think that today’s teenagers are fairly well behaved and don’t usually commit terrible and dangerous crimes. Teenagers in my age group usually just get in trouble by their parents or teachers for not doing what they’re told, fooling around, or being rude or mean to other people. Although there are different groups of friends in my grade, there are no really exclusive cliques. Everyone pretty much gets along.
One growing trend that is a problem in teens that is very frightening, is the number of teen school shootings. Last year, in one school shooting alone, about ten students and faculty died, ending with the two student shooters turning the gun on themselves. Hearing about these stories always makes you wonder if it could happen in your own school.
When I asked my mom about what she thought was a problem with teens today, she thought that teens were experimenting and trying things that can be harmful to them at earlier ages. My mom also thought that teens want instant gratification and so, they don’t work as hard. After asking my dad what he thought parents and adults don’t understand about teens in Japan, he had the opinion that Japanese teens are put under a tremendous amount of pressure, such as getting into good colleges and excelling in schoolwork.
I hope that future generations of teens, and my generation, will become more responsible for their actions, and become more caring and interested in their surroundings.
Andrew (all caps, sorry!)
AMERICAN ADULTSWANT THEIR CHILDREN TO BE SECURE IN THE FUTURE, WITH NO WORRIES, THIS IS A PARENTS DREAM FOR THEIR CHILD. THE CHILDREN THEMSELVESWANT BASICALLY THE SAME THING. TO LIVE HAPPILY WITH NO WORRIES. I THINK MOST TEENS IN AMERICA WANT TO HAVE A LOT OF MONEY WHEN THEY GROW UP. BUT THAT IS NOT THE ONLY THING PARENTS WANT FOR THEIR KIDS.
FIVE YEARS FROM NOW I WOULD DEFINATELY WANT TO BE AT A GREAT SCHOOL, AND IN TEN YEARS I WOULD PROBABLY BE COMING OUT OF COLLEGE, TRYING TO GET A GOOD JOD.
MOST KIDS IN AMERICA HAVE DREAMS, BUT DON’T TAKE THE TIME TO ACHIEVE THEM. IF PEOPLE REALLY WANT TO ACHIEVE THEIR DREAMS, THEY SHOULD THINK AND TRY HARD IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH THEM.
Alexis
I thought that your presentation on the dreams of young people was very informational and well done. It gave me a much greater insight into the hopes and aspirations of Japanese teenagers than I ever had before. The graphs you all made were very helpful in describing the results of your surveys, and made it easier to visualize just how many people felt a certain way. I thought it was interesting that so many teenagers had a dream, yet only half have actually done something to attain their dream. Also, I was confused whether you meant long term, or short term goals. It seemed the a major goal of many was to do well on the Entrance Exams. Does this mean that many Japanese teenagers are only thinking about the immediate future, and that they will figure out their life long dreams after they get into a good college, or that they are just prioritizing their dreams and goals, and Exams happens to be more important because it is more immediate, or that the majority of Japanese teenagers do not plan out dreams for life? In America, I feel that there is definitely a big divide between those who have aspirations and those who do not. There are either people who are very passionate about one interest and want to pursue this interest throughout their life, making a career out of it, but there are also many who do not have a clue about what they want to do or become later in life. In my opinion there a very few who are on the fence about whether they have a dream or not. Also, just like in Japan, I believe that only around 50% of teenagers are doing something to prepare themselves for reaching their dream. I think that wherever you are, you will always be able to find those who have a specific dream, and have always had one, and those who do not, or have one but do not work on achieving it. I think this type of behavior is very common among teenagers.
Jordan
I was very surprised when during your presentation you told us that Japanese teenagers were into political activism. This sharply contrasts American teenagers, who on avergae watch four hours of TV a day, and do little else besides school and sports. Teenagers hardly every think about politics, and think of it as something that older people do.
I was also interested in the presentation you made about dreams of Japanese teenagers. The main goal of a Japanese teenager, according to your pole, was to get into their college of choice. This is very different from the typical American teenager’s goals for life. Most would like to become a movie star, or sports player, and of course, make a lot of money. These dreams do not usually include getting a good education.
Christine on Activism
I think that one of the biggest generalizations made about teenagers today are about their lack of involvement or apathy. However, this quite simply is not true. More then ever, today’s generation of teenagers are becoming involved in their communities as well as in the larger world wide one. Perhaps the best example of this is at Nobles where students do charity work in all different places. Many students choose to work at a different sites in the surrounding region such as in lower income areas close to Boston. Working with children through tutoring or in afternoon programs are especially popular. Also a large portion of the student body participate in international travel which includes community service. One trip last summer went to Romania where Noble’s students helped to fix the facilities in an extremely poor orphanage.
While many students participate in the social side of service, there is very little interest in political activism. My peers seem very unconcerned with the happenings in the government, both on a local and national scale. Whether this stems from a feeling of dissatisfaction or just a general lack of not-caring, I am unsure of. This however is not important. What is important that my peers do not seem to care about the laws and actions being taken which will have an impact on us as we graduate from our teens into our twenties. I do not have any doubt however, given the genuine interest in social reform among people my age, that we will have any trouble leading our world into a period of greater prosperity and peace, even with our lack of interest today in political happenings.
Lindsey
Last week’s video conference on the topic of teenagers in Japan was very successful. It is truly amazing to be able to hear and see you as we discussed issues, even though you are on the other side of the globe. The topics we discussed were complex, however, your English was perfect. I only hope that in the future, I can speak Japanese as flawlessly.
It was very interesting to see that the issues that teens are currently dealing with in Japan are not very different than the ones that American adolescents are facing. For instance, the ways that adults view teens, is very similar to the way you described the relationship in Japan. It is thought by adults here that teens spend too much time on frivolous things and having fun, and not enough time working.
As you said about teens in your culture, American teens have a variation of hopes and dreams. In addition, both teens and adults in America share similar concerns for the future. Students worry about getting a good college education and job. Like you, our parents share these concerns.
Thank you very much for sharing your information with us. It was clear that you spent a lot of time and effort, and it was much appreciated. Good luck with all of your school work. We will be in touch soon for another conference.
Mike
Video conferencing with the Japanese students from Kyoto Nishi high school was very successful. I learned a lot about japanese life that I didn’t know before.
On the topic of teenage life, the girls did many surveys at their school to find out how kids enjoyed their lives. One question that I was interested in was asked to the adults, "Do you think that teenagers today are very different from teenagers of the past?" Had I been asked this question, I would have said that they are pretty much the same, but most people surveyed said that they had changed and they had actually gotten worse then they had been before.
Another topic was that of the future. They did a few surveys to find out about worries and dreams of teenagers. One aspect of this presentation that I was interested in was that more than 50% of boys said that marriage would get in the way of their dreams while a vast majority of girls said that it would not.
Nick
Nobles is a very dynamic, but small, school. It has great faculty and an intelligent student body. The classrooms are clean and well equiped with new technology. Japanese in particular is one of the best classes. All in all it’s a very nice place.
Warren
The one topic that stood out the most in my mind was how so many students
think that their teachers are boring. I was wondering if the reason the
students think this is because the teacher is the problem, or the material
being taught is the thing that they find boring. Sometimes the teacher is
the problem, but mostly in my experience, the material was the aspect that
was boring. One example of a class where its material, to me is boring is
U.S. History. For some reason I have never thought of History as being
interesting. Despite the fact that the material is boring my teacher usually
takes one day off of the current material and we have a discussion on
something that involves our lives, Conversations like this are a good way to
prevent the subject from entering a monotonous cycle.
Lauren
I believe that American adults view American teenagers as lazy, ill informed, and uneducated. To some extent this is true; compared to teenagers in other countries of the world, especially in Japan, American teenagers are uneducated. However, the teenagers cannot be solely blamed. The public education system in America is a joke. Instead of spending much needed tax dollars on education, the American government spends it on other frivolous things.
My initial reaction to the Japanese students’ presentation was that they were incredibly hard on themselves. They seemed very concerned with the way they were viewwed by their elders, which is a good thing. However, I don’t think that they are giving themselves the credit they deserve for working so hard at their school work and extra curricular activities while still be politically active and model citizens.