Tai's World

It’s been too long, once again, since I have updated my blog. I have yet to really talk about my field placement, so I figure this is probably a good time to do it . . two months in.

As mentioned earlier, I am working at an adolescent girls’ group home in CT. One of the biggest things I have learned over the past few months is how out of touch I am with pop culture. Admittedly, I haven’t had a working TV for years, don’t really make it to the movies often, and my taste in music doesn’t necessarily coincide with that of mainstream tastes.

So what have I realized in the past few months? Well, among other things, I barely understand significant amounts of slang being used by the girls in the house, though they enjoy explaining their word usage to me. Media images and messages seem far more explicit (in every possible sense) than I would have expected. (And, here, I’d like to insert the fact that I’m commenting on this as an observation, not a judgment call of any type – I truly believe that some “shock value” allows art to push limits and further the boundaries of the observer’s experience). It’s also amazing (though not surprising) how much technology has become part of the adolescent social experience. Texting, IMing, and Facebooking permeate every second of their existences, and the number of misunderstandings and dramas that result from electronic communication compound their already-convoluted conversations with peers.

On the other hand, I have also been reminded of some things that seem quite universal. Among them, the girls seem to really enjoy having snacks made for them when they arrive home from school, or aren’t feeling well. And though I often seem not to understand the slang and messages contained within, the girls also seem to enjoy teaching me about their latest favorite songs, artists, movies, and so on.

All in all, I can say that now I’m (slightly) more hip than I was two months ago. Among other things, not a bad take-away from the first two months of my field placement!