Blog #5 – Class Presentations (week 10)

            Last week we started our class presentations on different cultures. A few groups presented but the one that stuck out in my mind was the group the presented on the Amish culture. They talked about the food and dress and how the people in the community separate themselves from our culture. It was also interesting to see how they depend on the land and continue on living how people used to back before technology became the big thing. They brought up how teens have the choice to go out and experience our culture then they can decide to go back and be Amish or to live out in the community and be forever shunned by the Amish community and their family.

            Tonight I was trying to watch something on TV and I came across the show Breaking Amish. I thought I would see what it was about. It is actually an interesting show if you watch it for the culture and the issues that the youth face. In the episode I watched they decided to go back to their Amish community dressed in “English” clothes as they put it. Meaning dressed in clothes from our culture. Their family would lock them out of the house and not talk to them, slam the door in their face, or shun them. One girls family moved and she didn’t even get to see them when she went back home. It shocked me because I didn’t think the family would react the way that they did towards their children. They acted the way they did because if they accepted them the whole family would be shunned by the community and their religion.

            In the Amish culture what the youth in breaking Amish would be doing is celebrating somthing like Rumspringa. Allthough the members in breaking Amish have already had rumspringa before when they were younger. Rumspringa is where the youth at age 16 have the choice to stay Amish and join the church or venture out into the word and experiment with English clothes, cell phones, cars, sex and rugs. If the youth chose to stay out in the community then they are shunned by their family as I watched in the TV show Breaking Amish. I was confused as to why the families didn’t allow their children to come back into the home after they ventured out. I did some research and all the site I visited stated that they were accepted back into the home. Although they are only accepted back in if they chose to be Amish and wear Amish clothing and go by their culture. The youth in the TV show went back home dressed in clothes that we would wear, and were shunned.  I got most of my information from this website: http://www2.etown.edu/amishstudies/Rumspringa.asp

           In this video two members of Breaking Amish are talking about life in New york and how it was for them first moving. The one also touches a bit on Rumspringa:

            I think that it would be interesting to be an Amish youth. I think I would fit in more in their community than I do in my own. I love nature and the land, and I have always been fascinated in how things took place before technology. I would be able to survive without technology; I only use it now to stay in contact with my family back home because it is available to me. I would learn to adapt without it just like we were able to adapt so quickly to it. I think others may not be able to give up technology though. If I could go back and live when my grandmother was a child I would. I think it would be a neat experience. I enjoyed learning about the Amish culture, and was interested in what I learnt. I also cant believe that I have one more blog to write then I’m done.. Wow how time flies. It seems like only yesterday I was sitting down trying to figure out how to work this site.

Blog #4 - Guest Speakers (week 9)

            Last week we had three guest speakers from the LGBTQ community come in and talk to our class. I thought this was amazing because I had just handed in a research paper the day before and I chose to do mine on LGBTQ individuals. During their presentation I felt like I could understand what they were saying and I also got to know much more about their community. I also got a chance to experience a few different activities that made me think. They would ask us a question and if we agreed we would stand at the front of the class and if we disagreed we would stand at the back of the class. It was interesting to see people’s responses and their reasons why. The one question that got me thinking was “I would be okay with someone assuming I was gay or lesbian”.  I stood somewhere near the front for this question but as I stood there I wanted to move closer to the back. My personality is that I don’t care what others think of me that is why I first went to the front but then I also don’t like when people think that I’m someone I’m not. Then I got thinking if I don’t care how people look at me why it would be such a big deal if my sexual orientation is different, especially since it’s something we have no control over.  The more I thought about it the more I realized that it truly is how you were raised and what you were around as a child. I was never around anyone that is a part of the LGBTQ community, but I was raise to accept anyone no matter what they were like or who they liked. My dad would always say things like he’s gay or he’s queer and it led me to think that it was bad to be that. Since I’m ”Straight” I never thought any different of it but it does still have its impacts. It’s not a bad thing, it’s the way we are born and why should they be the minority and get ridiculed. Then again it’s the world we live in and it needs to change, and I believe it will.

            For my research paper I stumbled across this website and used it for a resource: http://www.itgetsbetter.org/ I found it interesting that the guest speakers touched on this website and the progress its making. When I first found this website I sat there for at least 4 hours straight watching videos of people telling their story. They are very touching and inspiring stories and they show just how strong these individuals are because of all the trouble they went through in today’s society. Even today they are being judged against; they have a few more rights than they used to though. I loved all the videos that I seen on the site. There was even a video of a man telling his father he was gay and he kept asking his dad “do you still love me?” it was interesting to watch his reactions when his dad reassured him that he is still his son and the person he always was. These following videos are just two of the many that I though showed a real message, and are truly inspiring:

 

            This is related to the field that I will be working in because we will be working with these youth even if we know it or not. We have to learn to use neutral language so that we don’t offend anyone and cause hem to shut down and not talk to us. I think we will treat them differently but that is only because you don’t treat every two children the same way; they each have their individual needs. No matter what their sexual orientation they all have their story. Then when you think about it their case will be treated just like any other, based on their needs. Last week I learnt quite a bit and I had a fun time doing it.