The NEW mode of communication
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Maybe it’s just because i’m getting older or maybe it’s because kids are getting deafer…
...but i think there’s something up with the way high school kids in NYC communicate with each other.
It all happened in one day. I walked out of my building to a relatively quiet street. There were no cars or loud construction. There was just the peaceful ambient sound of far away traffic as pigeon wings and they flitted about the street. Pretty darn quiet. But these two high-school-aged girls were walking by YELLING a conversation at the top of their lungs. It was as if they were competing for air time. From what i could tell, neither was listening to the other. They just kept getting louder and louder. And they weren’t in a fight! They were really working with the gist of what each other was saying rather than actual content.
I was bewildered. It seemed like such an unnecessary strain for such a poor level of communication. They seemed to be talking about stuff that was rather personal too. I guess it can’t be *that* personal if you’re willing to yell it to a whole neighborhood. “And then i found out that he’s not my real father but my mom’s gay best friend!” Just kidding. In any case, I was a little annoyed because, even with headphones on, i couldn’t block them out.
I got on the train to school. About two stations later, this group of high school kids entered. 4 guys, 3 girls. They were doing the EXACT SAME THING! Yelling at each other, no one was listening but everyone “communicating,” and there were so many more of them and in a small enclosed space. My ears were ringing. Then one of the girls got excited about something and grabbed the other girl and SCREAMED IN HER FACE!! I mean, full on screamed. I’m amazed that she even knew enough about what was going on in the “conversation” that she knew it was scream-worthy.
So, am i getting old and crotchety or is this just really strange high school behavior? Or is it a NYC thing? Or is it a combo of both?
Dunno. But isn’t “crotchety” such a fun word?
(P.S. Maybe you could just turn down the hearing aid?)
Posted by on 04/28 at 11:41 AMThey just want to be noticed. And it’s getting harder and harder for kids to get noticed these days. So they have to act out in more violent, more bizarre, more LOUDER ways.
That’s my guess.
I’m sure we all did something like this when we were teenagers. I do remember fabricating wild stories with my best friend to talk about loudly in the lines at amusement parks, just to see if anyone was listening...("Yeah, and then she got pregnant by her FATHER....")
I think girls tend to act it out more in the “conversation” way while guys are much more physical about it.
Most of it is just normal teenage “Do I make a tangible, visual, meaningful difference in my world?” but sometimes escalated into violence or anti-social behavior when they don’t get the feedback they need (from family, teachers, mentors, etc.)
It IS annoying, though.
Posted by on 04/28 at 08:10 PMI’m wondering if this is something to be blamed on the “bad-cell-phone-connection” problem. Maybe kids just constantly yet into their cell phones and can’t get used to “normal” communications in person. “CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?!”
And you know what? I’d never thought I hear my own sister say she was getting old and “crotchety”. ;) I think I’ll blame this whole yelling thing on the effects of Pokemon on American society. The whole flashing epilepsy thing must have really affect American youth’s brains.
Posted by on 04/28 at 08:53 PMi think it’s something that is (at least somewhat) unique to new york youth culture (it seems to cross racial lines, btw). kids coming home from school just like to yell....not really for attention, but maybe because they feel cooped up after spending a day in an over-crowded school with bars on the windows.
i can’t say i’m a fan of it, but it’s part of the beautiful fabric that is new york.
Posted by on 04/29 at 12:00 PMdude, i work in a junior high school. the kids nowadays just must have louder voices. i used to get mad because they’d be yelling in my classroom but i finally realized that they have no idea what an indoor voice is - even if all the students are “whispering” the noise is deafening! *sigh*
hmmm, my last sentence made it sound like i don’t get mad anymore - not true! you see how well you do in a classroom with 36 volume-challenged students! =) hahaha…
on a side note, i’m totally lookin forward to the students in japan!
Posted by kimi =) on 05/01 at 12:57 AM