Youth Radio - Topic: young

"We All Want To Be Young" Video Tries To Capture Millennial Essence

rgee — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 09:55:36 -0600

The entire world is trying to figure out this crazy Generation Y. Why are youth today so Facebook-obsessed? Why do we have five different online profiles?

BOX1824 has tried to capture these answers in a new short film. The film, “We All Want To Be Young,” is the outcome of several studies done in the last five years. The film (watch below) looks at the youth of the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, and how each group evolved in their own unique ways. In the 60’s, young people had to fight for their identity as a demographic, whereas now, companies and media sources acknowledge 18 - 24 year-olds are at the top of the influence pyramid when it comes to the changing economy. For the first time, youth have an overwhelming amount of information available to them, and therefore feel the need to create identities within their growing communities.

Do these traits describe you?
- More short-term personal relationships
- A non-linear style of thinking (allowing one to have many conversations at once, and multi-task- thanks to the internet)
- Realistic
- Likely to idolize normal people who achieve big things
- Looking to combine pleasure with work

The video says that it is necessary to understand young people to understand the world, because they are the ones who will create big change. I guess the questions is, if this video is the result of several studies, did BOX1824 succeed in putting this generation into a nutshell?

It almost seems to be a contradiction to try and capture the mindset of the most global, multi-tasking, network-savvy generation into a 10 minute video. We can’t fit inside a box - we are too big, and doing too many things at once to be captured in video clips.

We All Want to Be Young from box1824 on Vimeo.

Settling for Unemployment

nishat — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 20:09:44 -0500

Stanley Mitchell, of Atlanta, Georgia, has his bachelor’s degree and is planning on attending medical school in the next few years. He is proud to be the first in his immediate family to attend college. Tony Bobby (who didn’t want to use his real surname) went to an electrical school in New Jersey before returning home to the San Francisco Bay Area in search of work. There is something similar about these two young, motivated African-American men; neither of them can find a job in their field. And neither wants to settle for jobs beneath their training level, despite the recession.

Stanley said he “tried to do the ‘studious’ thing and prepare for the world...I thought, ‘I've got a degree and someone will want me.’" But the world after college hasn’t been so welcoming. Coming from a family where no one had attended college, Stanley understood the challenges of living with no job, and thought he understood the reasons behind unemployment. “My brother dropped out in 11th, my sister in 9th, my father in the 10th. Those numbers correlate with why they can't get a job or keep a job. My brother got his GED in prison. My sister is afraid to go back to school because she’s not sure what to expect. Education has a lot to do with it,” he said.

To Stanley, that reality was motivation for him to do better. “In my immediate family, I'm the only one who went to college. My mom is employed. My sister, my brother, and my brother in law...all unemployed.” After many sleepless nights of studying, Mitchell’s achieved his goal of graduating college, but now, the benefits of the degree aren’t so clear. “Honestly, in this recession, Bachelors of anything is like a high school diploma...so it's a catch 22. You lose, or you lose,” he said.

It’s not that there are no jobs, Stanley said, but the only jobs that are available in his hometown of Atlanta are for maintenance men, waiters, etc. “I wouldn't mind having those jobs. But you don't graduate with a degree and shoot for those jobs. You shoot for the sky.”

Bobby agrees. After going to school to become an electrician and graduating in the spring of 2009, he doesn’t want to end up working at McDonalds, but he said minimum wage jobs are the only ones available. “I can’t even support myself on a minimum wage job. So for me to accept a job like that it would just be basically a waste of my time.” He said it’s frustrating, having worked hard to attain the skills and schooling needed to become an electrician, but still be chasing his dream career. “Since I’ve gotten out of school I have not been able to use my skills whatsoever.”

I met up with Tony on one of the few days he was able to find work; he was painting and installing bathroom floors in a San Francisco house. It isn’t what he trained for, but at least it’s another decent job in the trades. He got this temporary work through an acquaintance who has his own contracting company, but the job will only last a few days, without any guarantee he’ll get called back the next day.

And Bobby said little jobs like this don’t come by often, so money is always tight. “The last time I had a steady job probably was about two years ago. It was with a roofing company, and…work just got real slow, [the roofing company] had to lay people off. And you know that’s just how it goes.” And he isn’t the only one he knows in the trades with a similar situation. “I have one other friend who’s…been in the trades for about five years now… and he still hasn’t been able to find work for over a year now.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the unemployment rate for African American men older than 20 at 19 percent in March – almost double that of white men.

Underage Homeowner

brett — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:03:20 -0500

Before she was old enough to legally drink alcohol, Denise Tejada bought a house in the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the most expensive real estate markets in the country. Her brother Wilmer bought his first house when he was 21 and now he’s planning to invest in a second property soon.

Watch the video to find out how they did it.

Previously:

Old vs. Young -- the Health Care Tug-Of-War

rpereira — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:08:47 -0500

By: Emily Beaver

What’s age got to do with it?

Well, when it comes to what you pay for health insurance -- age is important.

Age-rating, or using age to determine how much someone pays for health insurance, has recently been getting a lot of press. And like much of the health care debate, age-rating is turning into a battle between the older and younger generations.

What’s the fight over? Changing age-rating practices could lead to lower insurance premiums for older adults, but higher premiums for younger adults.

Usually private insurance companies charge older adults more for health insurance than younger adults. As people age, they generally have more health problems and spend more on health care services. The system seems fair—the people who use the most services pay the highest premiums.

Well, not everyone agrees. Some people and groups that advocate for older adults say age-rating isn’t fair because people can’t help aging. And age isn’t the only indicator of health, they say. An active, 52-year-old may be healthier than a 30-year-old who lives on cheese fries, Diet Coke and cigarettes.

Health care reform legislation being considered by Congress could limit how much more insurance companies can charge older Americans. The changes would set a 2:1 ratio on age-rating, which means insurance companies would only be able to charge older adults twice as much as younger ones.

Members of the insurance industry, including the president and CEO of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, think insurers should be able to charge older adults up to five times as much, also known as a 5:1 ratio. SHOUTAmerica, a health care reform group for young people, also advocates for a 5:1 ratio. Both the insurance industry and SHOUTAmerica basically have the same reason for wanting to push the ratio to 5:1. Lowering the ratio too much could mean insurance companies have to charge young people more to cover older adults’ health care costs. That could lead to more young people deciding to go without insurance.

Young adults are already one the largest groups of uninsured Americans. While it doesn’t seem fair to penalize anyone because of age, let’s face it—lowering the age-ratio will just cause more young adults to skip coverage.

The reason many young adults are uninsured often comes down to money—they are less likely to have jobs that offer health insurance or pay enough to allow young adults to purchase insurance from the individual insurance market. They may have just lost coverage under their parents’ insurance plans but also can’t afford expensive premiums under COBRA, a government program that allows people who have lost insurance through an employer or parent to continue their insurance coverage.

Anything that causes more young people to go uninsured isn’t good for them or for older adults. Adding more young people to the insured population will lower the cost of insurance for older people. Changing the age-rating system isn’t enough—the cost of health insurance needs to go down so more young adults can sign up. Bottom line: either the government will have to offer subsidies to make insurance available to people who can’t afford it or it has to allow private insurers to offer insurance plans to young people at lower prices -- even if those prices are lower than plans for older adults.

Previously:

My Life Behind Dancing

jpatrick — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 22:57:53 -0500

Dancing is something that I love to do. . I started dancing when I was little. When I was seven I was a cheerleader for the Oakland dynamites. I have meet lots of dance choreographers. The dances that I like to do are The Jerk, Stankey Leg, Booty Dew, and Dougie. The G-Spot Boys came out with the Stankey Leg and the booty dew recently it has been a hit. Over the last few years I have had a lot of dance experience dancing in shows with different people from all over the world. My most recent dance show was at my school. It was for my eight grade graduation. My group is “The Explosive D.T.” We also did a show in Berkeley with a group called “the shock family” from Oakland. During my 8th grade year I had 3 separate dance choreographers who taught hip hop dances, they taught us in groups and we later performed for our family and friends. When I hear music it really gets me pumped up. I love dancing when I’m around my friends and family so much I believe I have started to influence my niece dances now and she gets all her moves from me. What makes me happy when I dance is to see everybody dancing when everyone else is happy it makes me a lot happier. When I go to parties I might be the only one on the dance floor and I can still have fun by myself. When I get older I want to be a professional dancer. I am interested in learning about different types of dances. Some dances that I want to learn are Ballet, African Haitian, Turf, and Ballroom Dancing. I want to be one of the best dancers in the whole world!!!!

Having Braces Young

jkelley — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 21:06:51 -0500

Having braces young is tough but, when you get older it will be more painful. Having them young is much more beneficial versus when you’re older. If you get braces when you’re younger your teeth will become straighter as you grow older. Being young with braces gives you the advantage of not paying for them. My parents pay for my braces because I’m too young to have a steady income. On the other hand if you’re older with braces you’ll be paying for them out of your own pocket. Something I’m not willing to do. Also having braces when you’re older could possibly make you unattractive to others. When I’m older I do not want to have to deal with the troubles of braces. A bad quality of braces that will affect you is that you can’t eat what you want. I’m not allowed to eat candy, popcorn, or gum. Another bad quality is if you play sports and you get hit in your mouth, your lip might get stuck to your braces ending in a swollen lip. Even with all the negative connotations of braces I’d rather get them out the way while I’m young. People have there opinions on when they should get their braces. Get them when you’re younger. Save yourself the trouble!!!