Автор: Пользователь скрыл имя, 03 Апреля 2013 в 01:40, реферат
My report is devoted to the study of the topic “American Youth: changes in contemporary life.” I decided to investigate this question, because for me it is very interesting and useful to know about American youth itself and their way of life; to find the differences, which took place in their lifestyle; to see what American young people are interested in, what their hobbies are, what ways of holidays they prefer, what their attitude to different aspects of life such as death, war, religion and so on are.
2.4. Junk Food
A July 2002 report from the market research firm BuzzBack, Understanding Teen Attitudes and Behaviors around Health and Nutrition, found that a majority of teens would like to improve the way they eat, especially girls (78%, compared with 60% of boys), but fewer than half said they regularly tried to eat foods that were good for them. Sixty-four percent of teens consumed carbonated soft drinks, 64% ate whatever was available, and only 29% of teens thought about nutrition when they selected foods. Researchers found in 2002 that more than half of bag lunches brought to school by young adolescents had more than the recommended amount of fat; bag lunches averaged about twenty-one grams of sugar; only one in twenty bag lunches contained vegetables; and chips, snacks, or cookies were found in 40% of lunches.5
2.5. Death
At least one study found that teens' fears of death rose after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Researchers from the University of California at San Francisco found that ninth graders attending public schools in northern California felt their likelihood of dying was 15.25% before the attacks and 20.87% one month after. The teens' perception of vulnerability was higher after the attacks even in non-terrorist scenarios—for example, students believed they were more at risk of dying during an earthquake or a tornado.6
2.6. Suicide
In 2001 suicide was the fifth-leading cause of death for children ages five to fourteen, and the third-leading cause of death for teens fifteen to nineteen. According to the May 2000 report by the Council of Economic Advisers, for teens of all ages suicidal thoughts were higher among those who do not feel close to a parent. The report showed that younger teens who regularly ate dinner with their parents were about half as likely as other teens to think about suicide. Among teens ages twelve to fourteen, those who didn't feel close to their parents were about three times as likely to think about suicide. Teens ages seventeen to nineteen who didn't feel close to at least one parent were more than twice as likely to think about suicide.
The 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Survey questioned high school students regarding their thoughts about suicide. Almost one in six claimed that they had thought about attempting suicide in the previous twelve months. Of all students, 16.5% had made a specific plan to attempt suicide, 8.5% had attempted suicide in the previous year, and 2.9% said they suffered injuries from the attempt that required medical attention.
A New York Times/CBS News poll of American teenagers reported in January 2000 that nearly half of respondents knew of someone their age who had attempted suicide. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health, authors of an article entitled "Suicide and Friendships among American Adolescents" in American Journal of Public Health (2004) reported that having had a friend who had committed suicide increased suicidal thoughts and attempts among both male and female adolescents. A feeling of social isolation was an additional risk factor for adolescent girls.
2.7. The War in Iraq
According to The State of USA Nation's Youth, 2004–2005, a survey done by the Horatio Alger Association, less than half of students surveyed believed in 2004 that the United States had been right to go to war in Iraq in March 2003. A third of the students believed the United States was wrong to go to war, while nearly a quarter had no opinion. Male students were more likely than female students to approve of the war; white students were much more likely than African-American students or Hispanic students to approve of the war. Most students also expected the United States to institute a military draft, but almost three-quarters opposed that possibility.
Militarization of the youth
Among other problems connected with youth’s life is militarization of the youth. Across the country, the U.S. military is failing to meet its recruitment goals. To address this problem, the Pentagon has been rapidly expanding its programs designed to entice young people to enlist. It is now spending $3.4 billion dollars annually, an average of $14,000 per new recruit. Using flashy marketing campaigns, television spots, and even developing its own videogames, the Army is bombarding young people with images that glorify guns and violence. Recruiters use elaborate PR strategies: they set up shop at malls, movie theaters, sporting events, and concerts, and they cruise around town in decked-out Humvees that blast music popular among teenagers.
The military presence in American nations public schools is growing at an alarming rate. Educational institutions in working-class areas are prime targets of military recruiters, who particularly stalk the corridors of vocational schools. The military considers students to be easy targets who can be manipulated into signing up by promising them career training, money for college, free travel, and adventure. Recruiters are PR experts; like drug dealers and tobacco company representatives, they market a dangerous product with side effects they don’t want their potential customers to know about.
While recruiters tell students that they can receive $70,000 for college through the Montgomery GI Bill, the average payout to veterans is only $2,151. To be eligible for educational benefits, soldiers must commit to serving three years on active duty and must also pay a nonrefundable “deposit” to the military of $100 a month for a year. Considering that only 43% of the soldiers who sign up for the program receive any money, the majority who seek financial assistance through the GI Bill actually end up paying the military $1,200 and get nothing in return. And a soldier who does get the average payment of $2,151 actually receives only $951 beyond his or her own contribution. Only 15% of all recruits graduate with a four-year degree.
The skills learned in the military are often nontransferable to civilian employment, and many people find themselves in need of retraining after leaving the armed services. Veterans in the 20-34 age bracket have a higher unemployment rate than non-veterans and those who are employed typically earn 12% to 15% less. Most people would be surprised to learn that veterans make up one-third of all homeless people and half of all homeless men. While in the military, 65% of enlistees state that they are not satisfied with their current jobs.
There is a variety of other less-than-flattering statistics about the military that recruiters fail to mention. People of color represent 1/3 of all enlisted personnel but only 1/8 of the officers. Nearly 90% of women in the military report being sexually harassed, and 1/3 report being raped. In addition to the more than 3,500 US men and women who have died in the current war in Iraq, tens of thousands have been wounded and are returning home with traumatic brain injuries, loss of limbs, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and other serious illnesses related to exposure to the depleted uranium used in US munitions.
Recruiters are under enormous pressure to meet their quota of two recruits a month, which requires them to contact an average of 120 potential enlistees over that time. Since fewer than 10% of all recruits seek out military employment on their own, recruiters face the daunting task of finding the large majority of new military recruits. Thus it’s no surprise that a central recruiting tactic is a combination of deception and omission.7
Religion
Religion plays an important and positive role in the lives of many American teens, according to the National Study of Youth and Religion, a research project being conducted at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. This four-year project, which used data from the 1996 Monitoring the Future Survey, began in August 2001 and continued until August 2005.
The first report based on the project (Religion and the Life Attitudes and Self-Images of American Adolescents, December 2002) found that 31% of twelfth graders surveyed attended religious services weekly and 30% said religion was important to them. Teenagers who attended worship services and rated religion as important tended to have positive self-images, to be optimistic, and to enjoy school. According to "Adolescents' Transition to First Intercourse, Religiosity, and Attitudes about Sex," strong religious views appear to help adolescents avoid some risky behaviors (Social Forces, March 2003). Researchers found that female adolescents with a strong religious faith were less likely to become sexually active than other girls.
A 2004 publication from the National Study of Youth and Religion reported that 28% of teens thought religion should exert as much influence as it currently does on American society, and a full 41% thought religion should exert more influence. Nearly 85% of respondents in the National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health reported that they belonged to a religious group; most of these teenagers had a positive relationship with religious institutions.
What do young Americans do in summer
To make my report not so dark and pessimistic I would like to say some words about changes that took place in educational system of the USA, namely in the system of summer school and summer camps.
Summer School
Students in American schools generally attend classes from August or September until the following May or June. After that, most educational systems provide summer school.
Traditionally, if students had to attend school, it meant they had failed in their required schoolwork. They had to study in the summer so that they could move on to the next grade in school.
Today, summer school still can mean repeating failed schoolwork. But many students now choose to attend classes during summers. For example, public high school students in Nashville, Tennessee, can study during summer school for college entrance examinations.
Many summer-school courses around the nation are popular. For example, about half of the two-thousand-four-hundred students at a high school in Illinois usually attend summer classes. These students at Evanston Township High School take subjects including art, theatre, and computer science. If they are old enough, they can learn to drive a car.
In subjects like chemistry, students must quickly learn material normally taught during a full school year. But summer-school official Debbie Mohica says many students like to complete some of their required high school subjects this way. Then, they can elect to take other classes during the school year.
Colleges, universities and private organizations also operate summer school classes. Students at Harvard, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, can take courses including science and languages. Or, they can study something less traditional, like “Music and Politics”. This course examines how music can express political trend, protest or resistance.
Of course, there are many young people who have other ideas how to spend their summer break. But a Washington, D.C., area mother and educator notes that competition for honors in school has increased in recent years. She says, “Going to school can be valuable way for young people to spend a summer”.
Summer Camps
The American tradition of sending children to summer camp began more than one-hundred years ago. Frederick and Abigail Gunn started what was probably the first organized American camp. They operated a school for boys in the state of Connecticut. In 1861, Mister and Missus Gunn took their students on two-week trip. They walked to an area where they set up camp. The students fished, hunted and traveled by boat.
Today, summer caps may be outdoor ones similar to those of Abigail and Frederick Gunn. For example, a camp in Forest Lake, Minnesota, centers its activities on nature. Campers at the Wildlife Science Center study the structure of groups, or packs, of wolves.
Traditional American summer camps offer young people a chance to play many sports. These camps may be in the mountains. Or they may be in the woods, or at a lake. Other camps teach activities like painting or music. Or they teach computer programming or foreign languages. Children at all kinds of camps meet new friends. They learn new schools and develop independence.
Some children go to camp during the day and return home at night. These places are called day camps. Children as young as four years old attend day camps. Others stay at camp all day and all night. Most children who attend overnight camp are between ages of about six and sixteen.
Children stay at an overnight camp for between one and eight weeks. Parents can pay less than one hundred dollars a week for an overnight camp. Or they can pay more than seven hundred dollars a week.
Children from poor families might not have a chance to attend summer camp. The Fresh Air Fund is a well-known organization that gives children in New York City that chance. People around the country give money to support the Fresh Air Fund. Each summer, it serves about ten thousand poor children from the city. It sends them to stay with families in the country or to five camps in New York State.
Since 1877, the Fresh Air Fund has helped almost two million of New York City’s most needy children. These children do what they cannot do in the city. They breathe fresh air. They play on green grass. They swim in a lake. Some children begin to stay with the same family when they are very young and continue for a number of summers.
Summer camps have become very important to millions of families. Many American women now work outside the home. Working parents need a place where their children can be cared for during the summer when they are not in school.
Camps also help children develop independence for most children; overnight camp is the only time during the year they are away from their parents. Camps lets them enjoy being with many other children. Campers live together in cloth tents or in wooden cabins. They eat meals together in a large dining room.
But the first time at summer camp can sometimes be difficult. Children might not like the food. Or, they might not like to swim in a cold lake. They may not want to climb a hill on a hot day. Some new campers miss their parents very much.
Also, some camps ban the use of electronic equipment and toys. Children who play electronic games and use wireless telephones may miss them. These children might enjoy a camp that permits these devices. But many families say their children need to learn more about nature. They say their children need a holiday from technology.
The American Camping Association suggests that parents prepare children before sending them to camp. It advises parents to discuss what the camp will be like and what campers will need to know. For example, parents can show their children how to use a flashlight to find a bathroom at night.
But camps today may also be very different from those early-fresh air camps. For example, Pali Adventures summer camp in southern California offers several special interest camps in addition to more traditional ones. In one of these special camps, children from twelve to sixteen years of age study food preparation with a professional chief.
There are more than twelve-thousand camps in the United States. Some offer just one main activity. Children can play a single sport, like tennis, soccer, baseball or basketball. Young people who like the arts can learn more about music, dance, art, acting or writing.
Perhaps, the best known camp for young artists is the Interlochen Center for the Arts in the state of Michigan. Its music program is especially well known.
Camps that offer programs in science and environmental studies are popular, too. For example, the United States Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama, welcomes adults as well as children. Whole families can live together in a place like a real space station. They take part in activities similar to those carried out during space shuttle fights.
There are also camps for older children who like wilderness adventure. Campers take long trips by bicycle or canoe. Or, they go rock climbing or ride horses. For example, since 1948, boys and girls have explored the Rocky Mountains of Colorado at Sanborn Western Camps. These are built more than 2,600 meters above sea level.
Other summer camps in America help children learn about religion; help them lose weight, or help them develop their knowledge of technology. Thousands of young people attend computer camps in the US.
Handi Kids in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, offers camp for children and young adults with physical or mental disorders. The campers enjoy water sports, arts, dance, music and other activities.
A camp in the state of Connecticut offers fun for children with cancer and serious blood diseases. It is called the Hole in Wall Gang Camp. Actor Paul Newman started the first Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in 1988. since then others have been established in the US and overseas.
Conclusion
To make a conclusion, I want to say that this work showed me a lot of peculiarities, concerning the life of contemporary American youth. I found that a lot have changed in their way of living.
For example, the traditional character of the American family has changed greatly as well as summer school has changed from boring and tedious kind of punishment for weak students into exciting and joyful way of spending summer holidays.
Also, it seems to me that nowadays the young Americans have become more thoughtful and serious and this happened mainly on the scale of the attacks of September 11, 2001. Teenagers are aware of what’s going on in their country and are eager to take active part in political and social life.
Taking everything in consideration, I can say that many aspects of American youth’s lives have hanged, but not everything. Such eternal problems and questions like relationships between parents and their growing children, friendship and love will stay unchanged.
Bibliography
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