YouthSpeaksOut! is a one hour public affairs show in Mendocino County, California. Hosted by high school students and produced by Dan Roberts
Today our topic is âSources of Knowledge.â We are in high school, so we spend more than 40 hours a week between school and homework. It is a full-time job and the reward is that we are acquiring knowledge and skills for the future. Other aspects of high school are certainly valuable, especially socialization and extracurricular activities. But the goal, and in fact legal requirement, is that we pursue education until we are at least 16. We all enjoy school, but there are a number of young people who look at it as imprisonment. The state has determined that we must take certain classes to graduate, including 3 years of English, 2 years of mathematics including algebra, 2 years of science including biology, 3 years of social sciences including US history, American government, and economics. Also required is one year in visual or performing arts, foreign language, or career technical training, and 2 years in Physical Education. Youth being home schooled or taking independent study may challenge classes or work out alternative plans. Last February YouthSpeaksOut did a show on âRevisioning High School Part 5â in which we discussed changes to the way in which we configure high school. This show included an inspired presentation by a retiring charter school principal about his vision for making high school more effective and relevant- this show may be easily listened to at our website www.youthspeaksout.net and is really worth your time. When talking about acquiring knowledge, formal schooling is only part of the picture. Parents are our primary teachers, starting the task 5 or 6 years before we enter a classroom. They teach mainly by setting example which the child imitates, and then âplaysâ at. Because of childrenâs natural curiosity and imagination, play-based activities develop skills and uncover a childâs native interests. As language skills develop, explanations and verbal directions become the teaching method. Parents and siblings continue to be the primary teachers, though some children attend pre-school. Most of us enter a school system at 5 or 6 and begin attending school 5 days a week for the next 12 years, about 900 classroom hours per year. We are grouped together by year of birth and taught at a rate considered normal for that age. We are tested for our skills and recollection of facts. By the end of high school we have acquired a moderate amount of knowledge and hopefully the skills to continue learning for the rest of our lives. But during these 12 years we will have had many other sources of knowledge. The average American youth who attends school for 900 hours a year will watch television for 1500 hours each year. The Kaiser Family Foundation research found that in high school the average combined use of television and internet was over 7 hours per day, or 2500 hours per year! While a significant portion of this time is on entertainment like social media, texting, and games, some of this is a source of knowledge. Most Americans use the internet as a portable library, allowing the user to research all topics, and it is open 24/7. Much praise has been given to the nearly free access to knowledge that the web provides. Clearly the majority of material on the internet is superfluous, questionable, and a distraction- but this is true of print media as well. This shift in the amount of media available to youth has amplified some educators pleas to make media literacy courses a high school requirement- from our research this is not happening anywhere in America. Media education courses have been required in Canadian high schools since the 1980s, and in most of Europe. Media literacy is the ability to analyze and evaluate material presented as fact or truth, as in news reporting, and to identify the influence of advertising and media ownership. YouthSpeaksOut has done several programs on media literacy and they are available at our website www.youthspeaksout.net. We will discuss the subject in a while. Working with our families developing land has been a source of knowledge for us, and for many youth living in this region. We are fortunate to learn how to garden, raise animals, hunt, construct buildings, and develop water and roads. Knowledge acquired while working with family and friends deepens relationships as well. Some youth have the opportunity to work part-time at a job which is beneficial on many levels, including our education. At Laytonville High School we are most fortunate to have a class in guitar construction. In a sense, everything we actively do is an opportunity to gain knowledge, if we are paying attention. Denis Diderot was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer in 18th century France. He wrote- âThere are three principal means of acquiring knowledge... observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the result of that combination.â Jean Piaget was a 20th century philosopher and educator born in Switzerland. He wrote- "The principal goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done; men and women who are creative, inventive and discoverers, who can be critical and verify, and not accept, everything they are offered." Richard Feynman was a 20th century American physicist who wrote- âYou can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you're finished, you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird... So let's look at the bird and see what it's doing -- that's what counts. I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something.â We are going to start this show by discussing how we acquire knowledge and how we have developed our ability to learn. We will also talk about the vast amounts of media available to us and how we use it- and maybe how it uses us. And then in 20 minutes or so we will ask you to call in and join the discussion at 456-9991. We host this program to increase understanding between all the age groups in our community, and all the different perspectives. And despite our diversity, we are all gaining knowledge daily. So letâs begin by going around and describing how much of our knowledge comes from school, and what our other sources of learning are.
****************************************** Weâre going to open the phone lines now. The phone number is 707 456-9991. Everyone is welcome to call, and weâd especially like to encourage the youth, their parents, teachers, and concerned friends in the listening audience. Please call in if you have questions or insights about how we acquire knowledge. How do you gain knowledge in your day to day life? How much television do you watch? How many hours a week are you on the internet? How do you tell which information on the internet is valid and which is not? Which news sources do you trust? Can news be truly objective? If you have children, do you make a conscious effort to inform them of the ways in which the media attempts to manipulate them? If you live without television, could you explain why you do? If you watch television, which programs are a learning experience? Are you media literate? Should there be classes in high school to teach youth to see between the lines of advertising and the news? Have you found that the internet has improved your ability to understand the world? Do you wish that the internet had been around when you were in high school? Have you found ways to become part of the media by posting things on the web? What do you think the state of the media will be in 5 years? 10 years? Please call in and be part of this conversation.
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