These masks come in all different shapes and sizes for some are accented with laughter while

Transcription

1 1 High school is much like a carnival full of masks. Each person walks around with a mask full of feathers, glitter and any detail that will distract the viewer from who is truly underneath. These masks come in all different shapes and sizes for some are accented with laughter while others are painted with anger. It then poses the question, do we ever know who is under the mask? How are adults able to effectively reach students if they are not willing to remove a mask and be open with what is taking place in their lives? I have spent the last few months working at a local private high school here in Gilroy, Anchorpoint Christian High School. This school currently enrolls around sixty kids ranging from ninth grade to graduating senior. The focus of this school was to help local youth escape from challenging situations. The small size however does not deter from the numerous cultures that are experienced on campus. It ranges from a few students from privileged homes to students that are at the school to escape juvenile hall. Being in close proximity to these students and working alongside them was not foreign to me by any means. I have spent numerous hours mentoring students and currently am very involved at my church working as a youth leader every Wednesday and Sunday. I also have a place in my heart for this age group and it has become a passion of mine. I was blessed to be able to throw my heart and soul into this project. Even though this project is over I am not ending my work and relationships with these students. My first round of field work was individual interviews which gave me very raw and real answers about their views on life and their position. However for this round of interviews and field work, I was interested in seeing what they had to say and how they would respond to each other s opinions. To accomplish this I had three out of the six students sit in a circle and brought

2 2 up questions that would provoke conversation. It was interesting to see how they immediately entered into their shells that they were so eagerly loosed from earlier. They were no longer in the safety of individual interviews, which then caused them to change and alter their answers. In an effort to prevent them from closing off, I had to restructure the interview process. Rather than asking direct questions and writing down their answers, I had to create a friendly conversation. It was with this approach that I was able to receive the results that I was seeking. As Raeleen, Al Capon and Wonder Woman joined my circle I immediately noticed that the four of us were dressed very differently. Raeleen was wearing a pink sweatshirt, only enhancing her Barbie doll appearance, with matching earrings and her blonde hair swept over the right side of her face. Al Capon was a lanky guy wearing a long sleeved white shirt with his neck wrapped in a stripped scarf giving off a very artistic vibe. I could not help but laugh as his eyes pierced through his glasses giving me a different facial expression each time I would look at him. Wonder Woman sat to my right in a white sweatshirt that seems to be a favorite since she has it on almost every time I see her. I even pointed the observation out to the students and they all laughed at how their clothes represented them in ways they did not plan. This gave me a spring board into the interview session about the mask that high schoolers wear every day. I presented my theory that everyone wears masks throughout their life but I was finding that in high school the mask are more common. Without hesitation the students all at the same time jumped in agreeing. They then began to explain the different masks that they see every day. The masks we wear depend on the people that we are around. If I am around someone who likes music I will do all I can to talk about music. The same is true for preppies, athletes or even stoners. Now I may not know a lot about getting high from personal

3 3 experience but I can fake it well enough to get by. (Wonder Woman, 12/4/08) I thought that the statement of fake it was interested so I asked Wonder Woman to elaborate on what she meant by fake it. She then proceeded to explain, with the help of the other two, that this was to give people the impression that they understand what it is to be in that particular crowd. It was adapting yourself to your surroundings so you can fit in. This then strengthened the argument that high schoolers wear mask to deceive those viewing them. I then asked the challenging question of who they had in their life that they were able to unveil themselves. Turns out it is not a parent, and it was rarely a friend but it was a teacher that all the students had in common. She was a lady that had been teaching at the school for a few years and she opened her classroom during break and lunch to anyone needing a safe haven. Why is this person influential? Because she sees what we have to go through every day and she sees how hard it is to be a student. Also she never judges us but instead she encourages us. (Raeleen, 12/4/08) Is it important for you to have someone to talk to about whatever is going on in your life? Yeah cause if we do not then there is nowhere we can go. (Wonder Woman, 12/4/08) What do you think that all students have in common? We all have issues. It does not matter what we may lead you to believe because we all have something that we are struggling with. (Al Capon, 12/4/08) We all can blend into the world around us. We are able to wear mask to adapt to our surroundings. (Wonder Woman, 12/4/08)

4 4 If we don t wear masks then we would not be able to be part of any group. It doesn t matter what group you are in you are always altering yourself to be part of a certain group. (Raeleen, 12/4/08) From these statements and many like them I began to realize that wearing a mask and blending into a certain people group was no longer a method to become popular but rather a means of survival. If these students do not make themselves chameleons in school then they will soon suffer rejection and be cast aside. This was seen with a student named Sean. Sean walks around without a mask most of the time and he is raw and real with many of his emotions. Strangely this is not accepted by his peers. Rather he is ridiculed, teased and not respected because he does not desire to conform to any group. His lack of adaption makes his everyday life at school a challenge for he does not blend. The sound of a bell ringing brought my interview to a close but I still had one more question to present to these students. What advice would you give the now Jr. High students that in four or five short years will be in your position? Stand up for what is right no matter what. (Wonder Woman, 12/4/08) Use your God given brain and don t let anyone tell you different. (Raeleen, 12/4/08) I do not have confidence in my own generation so I would tell them to watch the news and know the world around you. (Al Capon, 12/4/08) I sat there for a bit after all the students left pondering the whirlwind of interviews that I encountered. I however could not shake the words spoken by Al Capon, I do not have confidence in my own generation. Could it be that he really did not believe that his generation had potential and that his generation was capable of being successful? He sounded almost like a

5 5 grouchy eighty year old man for every statement that came out of his mouth related to a serious topic seemed very cynical and pessimistic. Why is there no hope in this generation? The world we live in travels faster than it ever did before. In just the past five years, since I was a senior in high school, the world is completely different. Everything is advancing. Technology is making us less reliant on one another, information is at our fingertips, and we do not even need to go to the store to buy groceries, instead they can be delivered. This world is changing and we as adults are not changing as quickly therefore the impact on the following generation is hindered. Through my conversations with students I was told that adults see teens as either a good apple or a bad apple and there is no middle ground. My parents lived in a world of tire swings and bicycles and do not understand the world that I live in with cell phones, television, internet and video games. They cannot relate to what I am going through cause they do not understand my world. (Sean, 10/17/08) Adults just see the stereotypes and they do not know the person underneath the mask. (Raeleen, 12/4/08) I wish there was truly a solid solution to this problem. I have been wrestling for an answer to my very own questions the entire semester and cannot devise a plan that will always work. However, I am not without hope and have found some solutions. I find that adults are not taking and interest in students and are satisfied with the mask the child wears because, it allows them to continue the façade that everything is fine. We need to have the discipline to get to know people beyond what is revealed. For an individual that works with students or is a parent taking the easy way out is not an option. If we really want to get to know the next generation and assist them into adulthood we must enter their world. This is not to say that we all must go

6 6 and get piercings, tattoos rock out on an ipod or do any of the extremes but we do need to make ourselves aware. During the past election many adults were becoming very educated on the two candidates that were running for presidency. The sad fact is that many could most likely name the hometown of a complete stranger than they would be able to list some of their child s close friends. We must become students of the youth of America to then be able to help them mature. You must first know them on their level before any assistance is influential. My personal plan is to simply spend time with the students at Achorpoint without talking. I need to make myself available. I just need to be disciplined and allow myself to listen to what it is that they are going through. Once I have gained their trust and they see me as a safe haven where their mask may be removed I am able to help them with their daily trials. It is through this that one can see the true trials that an average teen faces every day. Like I have stated before I walk away from this whole project more perplexed than when I entered. What I thought would be a simple assignment and a time to hang out with some high schoolers has turned into a mission for my life. I now have taken up the responsibility to be an outlet for these kids. I wish that I could write a glorious dissertation on how all of the issues with teens wearing masks and giving the illusion of perfection can be prevented, but I cannot. To do such would take much more than forty hours of field work and interviews. I do however walk away changed, and though this paper may not show that I have had a life changing experience, I have to just accept the fact that what I have experienced cannot be simply put into black and white. I owe a lot to the students at Anchorpoint for touching my life and giving me hope that there is a new generation that will far surpass the one ahead of them.

7 7 Works Cited Interviews Capon, Al (2008, October 17). Personal Interview (Gilroy, Ca) Capon, Al (2008, December 4). Personal Interview (Gilroy, Ca) Doe, Joe (2008, October 17). Personal Interview (Gilroy, Ca) Raeleen (2008, October 17). Personal Interview (Gilroy, Ca) Raeleen (2008, December 4). Personal Interview (Gilroy, Ca) Sean (2008, October 17). Personal Interview (Gilroy, Ca) Swakovich, Rusty (2008, October 17). Personal Interview (Gilroy, Ca) Syclone (2008, October 17). Personal Interview (Gilroy, Ca) Woman, Wonder (2008, December 4). Personal Interview (Gilroy, Ca)