A Field Study: Teenagers

Tonight should be really interesting (read: Hey! I actually have a subject! Go me!). I'm going to type up a field study of teenagers, as I saw them tonight at the youth program thingy. Being homeschooled, I don't know very much about my peers. I live a rather sheltered life compared to some, and speak a different language (read: better vocabulary than most teens), and live in a different culture.

The first thing I did was ride a large capacity vehicle, along with my objects of study. Most of these teens were male, wearing baggy clothes and baseball caps. There were a few females- the type that seemed more concerned with makeup and/or athletic events than with living a productive life. Unlike the males, in whose pants you could store more than one person (heaven forbid), the females were wearing clothes that looked rather tight, and must've been cold, since it was snowing at the time.

I arrived at large, open area, known as a 'gym' to most who saw these structures on a daily basis. There were packs of teenagers here, and the ones riding on the bus with me immediately tried to locate their friends. Most of the males were either swaggering around with females with them (they seem to pair off quite early). There were two very large packs, both of which were playing a game with a spherical object and two hoops. (They call this "Basketball".) I presumed that this was a game too out of my knowledge to play, and didn't feel any compuction to join in. Instead, I watched both packs from the sidelines.

One of the packs was mostly males, but a few females were playing along halfheartedly as the boys scored basket after basket. (Watching them come your way in one large stampede is something I wouldn't wish on anyone.) In the other end of the gym, a smaller group, this one mostly made up of females, was playing basketball as well, although they often paused to yell at one another in play or exasperation, or so I think. Many minor groups were strewn around the place. Most of those were made up of girls with a couple of boys, or of a few boys and a couple of girls. You could tell which males were the dominants, as they had the baggiest jeans and a female on the arm. I think that these were the so-called "popular kids". A few males were sitting on top of the bleachers, either listening to music players or talking amongst themselves. I think that these were the less dominant males, as they didn't make any move to join in the games or socialize with the females. There were few female stragglers.

A few minutes of watching on the sidelines lead a one of the lesser males to sit next to me, asking "What's up?" and getting a bit too close for my liking. For this, I simply told him about my older brothers, who I knew would object strongly to his getting too close to their little sister. The male backed off and went to join one of the games.

A couple of minutes later, the adult leaders came in. It was obvious that these were the most dominant of the entire pack, as when the bald one stepped up they all obediantly jogged over to listen to his instructions. His instructions turned out to be his rules of playing dodgeball.

It was then I began to understand the ruthlessness of teens when it comes to dodgeball. They slam into others, they smack each other with hard objects, and they attempt to generally cause pain, or at least embarassment. The game lasted for at least fifteen minutes. When all of the teens that played were a little tired and sweaty, the bald leader (at least, he seemed to be the leader, since he was the one telling people what to do) spoke to the pack, giving advice for life. It was obvious that most of the teenagers seemed to respect the bald one, since he came down to their level and spoke in a language they understood (you see, teenagers are quite simple when it comes to communication. At least to me).

After this time of speaking, the bald leader said that the teens were free do go eat food, which was graciously given to all of us by other adults. The waiting was now on to see who could reach the shuttle bus first, thus getting a seat. I was one of the lucky ones to get on the first bus. It was a short ride, but I think that all of the yelling caused by the teenagers' confusion will result in a more ferocious headache.

Conclusions? Teenagers might seem simple on the surface, but underneath is a complex and very confusing society. I think that this should grant another look, perhaps in different surroundings, or in smaller or larger groups. (Even though going with a larger group might just produce more of the same.)

Current Mood: Geeky

Random Useless Fact of the Day: Even though it's snowing, I get no snow day. If there's a foot or two of snow outside, I get no snow day. Sigh.