About Pricert Pavini
Pricert Pavini is a student at a Peninsula high school, who also studies at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. His teen blog speaks from the perspective of a teenager who is looking beyond today's Big Story to tomorrow's Big Crisis. He shares opinions on what his generation will need to do for the next generation to survive.
Cutting...Not Just Classes Anymore
8/21/07
Did you know there is a cure for stress, depression and isolation? It is quick, affordable and has been around for years. The only downside is the relief is fleeting and there is danger of death. It's called cutting.
Teenagers are exposed to major amounts of stress and pressure that is connected to cutting. Along with the pressures of school beating down on them, they must figure out who they are personally and find how they fit in socially. Teenagers and young adults have a hard time dealing with this constant stress because they haven't been alive long enough to form appropriate ways to deal with stress.
The neglect and isolation that comes from this creates a brutal cycle. They begin harming themselves, often cutting (being the most popular form of self-injury) in order to gain control of the situation. It's a paradox … receiving pain gives relief as well as a sense of power or control. All this is a coping mechanism.
Cutting is set off by triggers which can range from your ice cream melting, to losing a beloved parent … virtually anything which endangers the ego.
A study of self-injury done in 2006 by the Cornell University, confirmed girls hurt themselves more than twice as much as boys. Girls are more advanced than boys … especially during the early-to-mid teenage years.
Girls are more in touch with their feelings and more aware of their surroundings, thus making them more sensitive to outside influences. This is connected with cutting, and thus makes it more common.
Regardless of sex, self-injury should not be looked at as an addiction but as a way of dealing with anguish, social isolation or loss.
Although scientists and psychologists have only begun to scratch the surface of this problem, there are places for cutters to turn to when their problem is out of their hands. Hotlines like 1-800-DONT CUT are good for advice and thinking things over.
There must be a way to help teenagers deal with these core problems. Without help, it's not a long step from a slash to a suicide, and unlike a wound this simply can't be covered up with a band-aid.
Gay Marriage, Just a Shadow of the Past
7/23/07
Over the past couple decades interest has been directed towards the topic of gay and bi-sexual relationships. It is a sensitive subject, that not very many people dare to express their opinion. Yet, recently we have found that what was once taboo, is now becoming more socially accepted. People still talk about how other citizens in America hate homosexuals and bi-sexuals. It goes from regular people who simply oppose gay ideals, or to an extremist who will use physical force to hurt someone for who they are, in this case their sexuality.
Yet, at the same time, you need to look at all the progress that has been made. One example of this is a little film called Brokeback Mountain. A film which was amazingly popular and profitable. I can tell you right now, that this would not have been the case if a movie like that was released 20 years ago. It wasn't that long ago when there were laws on the books against Chinese, Mormons and, yes, homosexuals. The acceptance of homosexuals and bi-sexuals is a slow and steady process. If you truly want to win the battle on subjects such as gay marriage, you must have patience.
Regardless of all of this progress, sometimes it does seem bleak in terms of same-sex marriage and if it will ever happen. So let me ask you this, 50 years ago do you think it would have been ok for a black female to marry a white male? The answer is no, most people would of found it disgusting and wrong. A half century ago a black & white marriage was against the law. It was not until 1967, the Supreme Court ruling ended the last anti-miscegenation, allowing interracial marriage. Welcome back to the present where we see interracial couples all over the place. This wouldn't't have been possible if it wasn't for all the crusaders who paved the way for interracial marriage. It took time for this to happen, just like it will take time for same sex marriage to be accepted. If you truly want same sex marriage, whether or not it affects you directly, you must keep in mind that patience is the key tool in making such a thing happen. Freedom is a gift and it will eventually become one that everyone receives.
The Teenage Outlook of Violence
5/25/07
Local violence has become one of the leading problems that teenagers and young adults are concerned with. Violence is all around us from video games and television, to movies and other various forms of entertainment.
Yet, it becomes a far different situation when it threatens our communities and on a larger scale, our cities. Violence is just so common, how can young people not be expected to be concerned about it?
The problem with violence in our communities is that it sprouts from multiple kinds of motives. The most popular one currently is gang violence. Big time gangs such as the Bloods, Crips, and Nortenos have become more and more popular. Gangs have been around since Ancient Rome. Unlike Ancient Rome, today's gangsters are promoted, revered, idolized and popularized in our music, films and fashion. Younger individuals pick up off of these gangs and attempt to become something that they really aren't.
When this takes place, it drags this unwanted trouble into our schools. As this destructive cycle takes place, most of the teenagers not in gangs have to stand by and watch as their school becomes dominated by this gangster propaganda. The question is... Should the school administration crack down on gang colors and other suggestive themes? The line between wearing red and representing an infamous gang is not hard to tell. Yet, sometimes school officials tend to turn the other cheek in hopes that it will work itself out. The adults who run our schools are supposed to protect us, yet gangsters, or so they proclaim, wear their tags in class.
Maybe the administration is intimidated. Maybe they know the danger, but the fact is our schools are just an extension of the streets. Sadly, this becomes more and more common and with the growth of gangster appeal becoming so popular. Even kids who live in generally mild rural areas find themselves attempting to be something that they are not.
The second version of violence that teenagers often find most threatening is school shootings. Ever since Columbine, people have been fascinated with school massacres and yet at the same time terrified. Overtime the hype over the Columbine High massacre began to diminish, but just recently another slaughter took place at Virginia Tech. Much of this story focused on the killer, Cho Seung Hui.. High school and college students began to observe everything around them.
People who generally launch school-wide slaughter on one specific day are identified as quiet and odd people... Opposed to gang members who are generally identified as loud and more obnoxious. A lot of school aged kids then begin to look for who is going to end up snapping one day.
Showing up to school with a AK-47 and an agenda of killing as many people as they can. In further contrast with gang members, people who will end up going on a rampage are more dangerous because they don't proclaim and gossip about what they are going to do, they just do it one day. Of course, there are always signs of this and sometimes all that people need to do to stop this violence is keep an open ear and a helpful hand. Unfortunately, most of the youth today is ignorant to this and they don't care until it becomes a scene. I know that somewhere a crazy is following these stories. After the next massacre, you'll hear about how everyone knew the future gunman was a nut case. The warning, of course, will come too late.
These are the two most popular forms of violence in the eyes of teenagers these days. Violence was here decades ago and it will be here to stay for a long while. It is not a clean wound that can be bandaged up. We can only hope to change it slowly, community by community... person by person.
