Wingspread Journal

TIME FOR A CHILDREN'S MOVEMENT
Wingspread Journal, Winter 1997

WHAT IF ... WE TOLD THE TRUTH ABOUT AMERICA'S YOUTH?
A TEEN'S PERSPECTIVE

by Marcia Chatelain

Too many Americans accept the media's negative image of young people. What can be done to restore a truer picture? Sixteen-year-old Marcia Chatelain joined other young people and adults at a Wingspread conference to grapple with ways to "tell the truth."

From signs in store windows telling students they are not welcome, to negative images in our media, we create a skewed image of youth. These young people in Racine, Wis., are trying to make a difference by alerting the public to such unfair treatment.

I was guilty too.

Like so many of the adults around me, I had little confidence in teenagers. I believed the talk shows that paraded around "bad kids" and struggling parents. I accepted, without question, newspaper accounts of skyrocketing juvenile crime. I was convinced that my peers were out of control.

In response, I stayed clear of groups of teenagers, at times crossing the street to avoid them. By 15, "bad" teens were beyond help, according to my reasoning. Worse yet, I underestimated the abilities of my peers.

My freedom from misinformation came when I became a member of YouthVision, a Chicago-based campaign to promote the positive things young people can and are doing in their communities. My work with the group introduced me to the concept of media advocacy. For the first time, I critically studied newspapers and television journalism, no longer blindly accepting every "fact."

And what did I learn? I discovered that America's youth are not destroying our country. As a teenager, I had a responsibility to respond to stereotyping and exploitation of young people, from the pages of the Chicago Tribune and George magazine to my local nightly news.

My education was furthered at the "Telling the Truth About America's Youth" Wingspread conference. I learned a great deal about how negative images are successfully implanted in the public's minds and in their hearts. More important, the Wingspread conferees I met came equipped with a surprisingly hopeful truth.

Keynote speaker Mike Males, author of The Scapegoat Generation: America's War on Adolescents, said the truth about America's young people is:

1. teenagers are behaving like adults;

2. the belief that young people are increasingly resembling "superpredators" is basically untrue; and

3. for young people to have a chance for success, issues of racism and poverty must be addressed.

Based on statistical analysis, Males says that teenagers are acting no differently than adults, rarely act worse, and at times even act better. Such phrases as "kids having kids," and "kids killing kids," may make good soundbites, but are fundamentally untrue.

Susan Herr of YouthVision presented findings from focus groups conducted in Chicago about adult perceptions of young people. With only photographs of teens as a guide, adults were asked to label teens as "urban" or "suburban." Results showed that adults identified photos with drab or dirty backgrounds or of minority teens as "urban." "Suburban" kids were equated with white teens and grassy or cleaner surroundings. The group also concluded that city teens commit serious crimes, while their suburban counterparts commit acts of mischief.

At first I laughed at the focus group results. Then I got scared. As a 16-year-old city kid, I was seen as dirty and prone to commit violent crime. This experiment illustrates how important visual imagery is in formulating ideas and how easy it is to cast stereotypes.

The real question is how to get the truth about young people out to the public, and especially to policy makers who often decide the fate of youth programs. I brushed up on media advocacy from hearing Iris Diaz, who spoke of how her organization uses the media to further its agenda. For example, Diaz described how young people, upon learning of a school board's decision to advance a controversial busing plan, launched a letter-writing campaign to local newspapers. The students kept at it until the plan was suspended.

Yet the Wingspread conference was not as simple as presenting ideas or finding favorable media for promoting the truth. Questions arose that made us think hard about the facts laid out in front of us. One participant asked a series of particularly compelling questions: Can the truth set America's teenagers free? Will the truth conquer ignorance on the part of the media and the public? Or is the truth peripheral in the process of media advocacy? These questions led me to think about the strength of truth. I have not yet entirely resolved this in my mind, but believe that while the truth is helpful and necessary, we must use the truth creatively to further its meaning and understand its ramifications.

While the truth cannot be the sole redeemer of misperceptions and inaccuracies in the media, participants decided that an anti-defamation approach would be an effective strategy. Modeling the actions of the NAACP or GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) in cases where young people are stereotyped or negatively portrayed (such as the July 1996 George magazine article "Why Kids are Ruining America") could be beneficial, we decided.

We ended the conference by pondering how we could share what we learned with others. As one of the three teenagers invited to Wingspread, I learned such a great deal that I don't know where to begin. I am proud of the work accomplished and challenged by what remains to be done. I can now share the truth: the reality of what young people are doing and what they are capable of doing. I also can share in a sense of relief knowing that "superpredator" and "killer kids" are abstract notions. Furthermore, I am secure in knowing there are dedicated adults--and young people--searching for the truth, accepting it, and sharing it.

Marcia Chatelain was a 16-year-old senior at St. Ignatius College Prep School in Chicago when she attended the Wingspread Conference.

"Telling the Truth About America's Youth" was sponsored by YouthVision, the American Youth Work Center, and The Johnson Foundation, with support from The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

This article is reprinted from Youth Today, Vol. 5, No. 6, November/December 1996, supplement page 1, a publication of The American Youth Work Center, 1200 17th St., 4th Floor, NW, Washington, D.C.