Week #2 play deprivation, and juvenile incarceration

From when I was a little kid I loved to play and I felt that it had been a huge factor to how I turned out today. I was always out and about playing with the kids in my neighborhood and with that it taught me how to social and get along with a lot of different people regardless of their race or other differences. When I first started watching Ted Talks video, Stewart Brown shows a picture of a polar bear walking up to a dog. We all know polar bears are extremely dangerous and responsible for human deaths, but it doesn’t look at the dog as a meal, but as a play companion. The pictures continue to show how the dog and bear react to each other and how Stewart Brown describes play “overriding the carnivorous nature” causing the unlikely pair to become friends and playmates(Ted Talks 2008). With the story of the bear it shows how important play was to the animal. It showed to me that his choice to play was more import to him then eating that night.

Stewart brown stated that people tend who are not fully developed in adult life because they were “play deprived” which might lead them down the wrong path(Ted Talks 2008). He says another story that the Texas tower shooter Charles Whitman through studying him had “severe play deprivation” as a child. He continued to say that after the end of his study it was his and many other scientist felt that the cause of his out burst and shooting rampage was by his childhood play deprivation (Ted Talks 2008).

When it comes to juvenile incarceration most juveniles that they interviewed showed signs of physical abuse or suffering in their lives. The corrections councilors and staff believe that most of the reasons these juveniles end up behind bars at a young age is because of abuse from family members, being abandoned by a parent or because of drugs and alcohol(Juvenile Correction Facilities (2005)). On of the statistics that stuck out in my head was that 96% of all kids in the center have substance abuse and over 60% of the kids have a criminal history in their family(Juvenile Correction Facilities (2005)). They give you a lot of examples throughout the show of how these kids past have affected their current life. For example Ashley was on of the females inside the corrections facility. Her past neglecting from her mother and being abandoned by her father had leaded her down the wrong path. She was molested and would constantly get high because her family would just leave drugs leaving around. She tried to commit suicide on multiple occasions and made her extremely violent and angry(Juvenile Correction Facilities (2005)). Another story was Conrad. Conrad was a 16 years kid who was abused mentally and physically by his mom and was forced to do drugs with his mother. When asked about why he does this he stated he liked being a “loser” (Juvenile Correction Facilities (2005)).

Both of the two have good reasons for why kids do what they do. Brown made many good examples of why kids need play to develop and make them better adults when they are older, while other factors steaming from family ties might cause kids to commit crimes. Either way both of the two videos show the importance of how the child’s development steam from their environment. Whether its from the environment the kid surrounds themselves with playmates, or the abuse they receive from a family member or a close friend, it will effect how the child develops and turns out later in life.

TED Talks."Stuart Brown says play is more than fun." May 2008. Online Video Clip. Accessed on January 24, 2011. //www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/stuart_brown_says_play_is_more_than_fun_it_s_vital.html>

Films for the Humanities and Sciences."Juvenile Correction Facilities" 2005. Online video clip. Arizona Universities Library Consortium. FMG Video On Demand. Accessed on January 24, 2011. http://digital.films.com/play/BURGYK

intro post week #1

Age in my mind is just a number I feel it is all about the person’s maturity. I know people who are 15 and have maturity level of a 30 year old and I know 30 year olds who have the maturity of a 15 year old. I’m not saying that 15 year olds should be having sex with 30 year olds or be living on their own, but they should be held more responsible for their actions. Parents try to shield their kids from things because they feel they are too young to understand or too young to hear or they are afraid to explain the consequences their actions might bring. Heck my mom still tells me I’m too young for certain things and I’m 23 years old. My point is every kid is vulnerable to the horrors in this world. It used to be that you only hear about college kids doing drugs and drinking, and then it became popular in high school. Now you hear of kids that are in middle school and elementary school experimenting with drugs and sex. A few months ago at work I stopped a girl for shoplifting and she was 12 or 13 years old, she was pregnant and stealing to support her crack habit. When I tried to get a hold of her parents they didn’t care. All they cared about was how much money they could throw at me to make the charges go away. They were too busy trying to be her friend and painting me to be out the bad guy for arresting her and calling the cops. I don’t know about you but when I screwed up around the age of 15 my parents kicked my butt. If I got a bad grade, my dad would take stuff away from me. If I talked back or cussed my parents would either whip me with his belt or wash my mouth out with soap. It was a bit aggressive, but it made me the man who I am today and I’m thankful they did it. I see these parents who come into my office and see how they are buddy buddy with their kids and the kids think that it’s ok to do bad deeds because their parents don’t care or will take care of it and that just wrong.

Whether people realize it or not kids are growing up at a faster rate then most of us did and parents need to help guide their children and not shelter them. Instead of trying to protect them from all the horrors and let them get themselves into a situation where they are not prepared, parents need to help explain certain situations and help them prepare for the real world. If they are not explained or shown the examples of pear pressure and how to walk away they might find themselves in situations they don’t know how to back out of which might lead to further issues down the road. Yes kids are young, but they are exposed to the same things we all are, and unless they are explained right from wrong at a young age then they will not learn what they are seeing is wrong.