Working with undergraduate students in person has given me better insight into what's going on for young adults at this time. While they are struggling more with reading and writing overall, which we hear about often, there is another part I don't really see written about.
As another instructor put into words while we were discussing it, these students are generally "softer" but not in a way that is weak. Sure, there are more mental health struggles (I mean, look at the world they've grown up in), but this is separate and different.
What I've witnessed and other instructors echoed in their recent experiences is what Brené Brown refers to as vulnerability. Vulnerability that is courageous, and proposed solutions to today's social problems that are "both/and" rather than "either/or."
As a trend, they're tired of the division. And they're bringing their hearts, not just their minds to finding a way forward. I have come to see this as a strength. We don't need more clever ideas. We need more people who care.
So, the stick figure on the chalkboard was drawn by a young man right after class ended. We were having a class discussion about heavy topics, capitalism & the economy and authority & the state. Students engaged as small groups in a Power Council Meeting activity. Each group had to decide on one policy proposal to respond to an economic crisis. They did an amazing job.
As another instructor put into words while we were discussing it, these students are generally "softer" but not in a way that is weak. Sure, there are more mental health struggles (I mean, look at the world they've grown up in), but this is separate and different.
What I've witnessed and other instructors echoed in their recent experiences is what Brené Brown refers to as vulnerability. Vulnerability that is courageous, and proposed solutions to today's social problems that are "both/and" rather than "either/or."
As a trend, they're tired of the division. And they're bringing their hearts, not just their minds to finding a way forward. I have come to see this as a strength. We don't need more clever ideas. We need more people who care.
So, the stick figure on the chalkboard was drawn by a young man right after class ended. We were having a class discussion about heavy topics, capitalism & the economy and authority & the state. Students engaged as small groups in a Power Council Meeting activity. Each group had to decide on one policy proposal to respond to an economic crisis. They did an amazing job.
You can see the erased chalk all around the stick person. Remnants of a bunch of words I had written on the board pertaining to the lesson and students' responses. This young man drew the stick person underneath in the middle of all that. It struck me.
"What is he doing there?" I asked. "He's just hanging out," he replied. It was cold that day, so I asked if the guy in his drawing was at least warm. "No, but he's trying to stay warm," he said and looked down.
We said our goodbyes. Then I started erasing the board. And I thought about the metaphor of this little person trying to just stay warm beneath all these big words and ideas. So, I erased all around him. Then snapped a picture to remember the moment.
There was something so pure and poignant about it. That's what I see in a lot of these young people. They understand that life doesn't have to be this hard if you, we simply go back to the basics.
Jennifer J. Reed, Ph.D. is an assistant lecturer of sociology at The University of Akron. She was a teen mom in Appalachian Ohio, completed her doctorate at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and is a gramma of 10.
...
"What is he doing there?" I asked. "He's just hanging out," he replied. It was cold that day, so I asked if the guy in his drawing was at least warm. "No, but he's trying to stay warm," he said and looked down.
We said our goodbyes. Then I started erasing the board. And I thought about the metaphor of this little person trying to just stay warm beneath all these big words and ideas. So, I erased all around him. Then snapped a picture to remember the moment.
There was something so pure and poignant about it. That's what I see in a lot of these young people. They understand that life doesn't have to be this hard if you, we simply go back to the basics.
Jennifer J. Reed, Ph.D. is an assistant lecturer of sociology at The University of Akron. She was a teen mom in Appalachian Ohio, completed her doctorate at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and is a gramma of 10.
...
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