I made a rookie mistake on Sunday, I made a reference that I thought my youth would get, and they responded with blank stares and a resounding, "Who's that?" I forgot one of the main rules of public speaking and teaching, "know your audience." It was an innocent blunder, one that actually got its origins from another mishap, as all good blunders do. I had written a multiple choice question on the white board and one of the options was "other," however thanks to my stellar handwriting, it looked more like "otner." Because of this, I decided that "Otner" was my bff, however, since I wasn't creative enough to give him a last name, I said he was simply Otner, no last name, like Cher. Their response, "Who's Cher?" Now, one of the older youth was at least able to say that Cher was in the movie Burlesque, which cleared up the matter much quicker than my explanation of Cher from "Sonny and Cher" of "You've Got Me, Babe" fame. I really was on a roll, and not a good one.
As I was recounting the event over lunch, I asked, "Why didn't you say 'Madonna,' or 'Pink,' or 'Adele'?" Good question. My response, "Cher was the first person that came to mind." Oops. Probably should work on being more current. To make matters worse, it was my dad who was providing more current examples of famous people that go by one name than I was able to provide for my youth. Bigger "oops."
What can we take from this? An important truth when working with teenagers, stay current. Stay up to date with what's popular. You don't have to love it, but pay enough attention to know that "Pink" is a much better reference to make than "Cher." Now how does one stay current? Simple, really, listen. Let them talk from time to time. Sometimes it can be a bit annoying when teenagers are too busy talking amongst themselves to pay attention to what you are trying to say, but from time to time, its good to just let them talk and you listen. You might learn something. For example, you might learn what their favorite tv show is, who that teacher is that they can't stand at school or what movie they stayed up late last night to watch. But, please, don't stop there. Turn on the radio from time to time, or take a look at the top singles downloaded on iTunes or the top videos watched on YouTube. Check out an episode or two of popular teen tv shows, you don't have to become fans of them, just check them out to somewhat know what's going on. Go to the movies or Redbox and watch popular movies from time to time. But more than anything else, care enough to know these things. These are the things that your youth are watching and listening to, these are the things they're imitating, and if you want to be effective and current enough to make a difference, you should know them as well. Care. Pay attention. Make references that they'll get and avoid that awkward, "Who's that?" moment
As I was recounting the event over lunch, I asked, "Why didn't you say 'Madonna,' or 'Pink,' or 'Adele'?" Good question. My response, "Cher was the first person that came to mind." Oops. Probably should work on being more current. To make matters worse, it was my dad who was providing more current examples of famous people that go by one name than I was able to provide for my youth. Bigger "oops."
What can we take from this? An important truth when working with teenagers, stay current. Stay up to date with what's popular. You don't have to love it, but pay enough attention to know that "Pink" is a much better reference to make than "Cher." Now how does one stay current? Simple, really, listen. Let them talk from time to time. Sometimes it can be a bit annoying when teenagers are too busy talking amongst themselves to pay attention to what you are trying to say, but from time to time, its good to just let them talk and you listen. You might learn something. For example, you might learn what their favorite tv show is, who that teacher is that they can't stand at school or what movie they stayed up late last night to watch. But, please, don't stop there. Turn on the radio from time to time, or take a look at the top singles downloaded on iTunes or the top videos watched on YouTube. Check out an episode or two of popular teen tv shows, you don't have to become fans of them, just check them out to somewhat know what's going on. Go to the movies or Redbox and watch popular movies from time to time. But more than anything else, care enough to know these things. These are the things that your youth are watching and listening to, these are the things they're imitating, and if you want to be effective and current enough to make a difference, you should know them as well. Care. Pay attention. Make references that they'll get and avoid that awkward, "Who's that?" moment
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