Carley+Willhite


 * Record of Assignments**
 * Name of Student:** Carley Willhite

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 * Adolescenc **** e **

** W : What you want to know (curiosities/inquiry questions) **

 * Do video games influence aggressive behavior in adolescents?**

** L : What you learned about your inquiry questions **
Rough draft of inquiry presentation. Decided to completely change my topic to narrow it down after this draft and class discussions.

** Resource #1 **

 * Read:**
 * This article basically talked about how celebrities, TV, and music affect teens, generally in a negative way. For example, celebrities are often times looked up to; often times those celebs are in an out of rehab. Sometimes, those teens think that it’s ok to partake in drugs and alcohol because a certain celebrity they look up to has. TV can also influence teens to drink and smoke as well because often times, these things on TV are portrayed as something fun and ok to do. Music can also affect adolescents.It can affect the ear drums of early developing teens because they tend to listen to music way to loud, which in turn causes hearing loss. Teens who listen to popular music also tend to use vocab that they hear, whether that be good or bad language.


 * Respond:**
 * What I found most interesting about this article is that teens are “twice as likely to have early sexual intercourse as those who are rarely exposed to sexual content.” I was really surprised to read that because I wasn't sure how much pop culture could actually influence these sorts of behaviors. I feel like if teens are exposed to sexual content a lot, they begin to think that it is ok and causes no harm. Personally, I have seen quite a few movies with sexual intercourse, and these movies for the most part show no consequences after the matter. I think it is giving adolescents the wrong idea. As for the music aspect, I am not shocked in the least bit that teens are picking up on bad language and sexual references. It's kind of scary to think that this type of foul language is becoming more and more popular as time goes on. Not only that, but many kids either blast their music in their headphones or in their cars. I am not surprised that these teens are having hearing problems.


 * APA Citation:**
 * Kristen Campbell November 29, 2010. //How Pop Culture Affects Teens.// Retrieved from: http://kcuablog.wordpress.com/2010/11/29/how-pop-culture-affects-teens/


 * Read:**
 * The journal I decided to read was called " A TV in the Bedroom: Implications for Viewing Habits and Risk Behaviors During Early Adolescence". This journal discussed the associations between televisions in an adolescent's room, the media usage, and the behaviors of these people. A sample was taken of more than one million, 14 year old adolescents. Some of the concerns based around this was that these kids could be watching TV much more than kids without a television in their room, how much these kids socialized, and wanted to see if there was any evidence for these adolescents to have an increase in sexual activity, aggression, awareness of body image, and substance abuse. Some of the results concluded with more TV usage due to boredom among adolescents, more exposure to programs and movies, more likely to perceive similarities to characters on shows, and less parental guidance on what their children watched. There was reported behavioral problems such as an increase in trying cigarettes among adolescents and sexual activities for those who had TV's in their room.


 * Respond:**
 * After reading this journal, I was really surprised at the number of results present due to a TV placed in an adolescents room. It is interesting that it can affect so many different aspects of these kid's lives. I was not surprised that these adolescents watched more TV because of the convenience of the TV placement. I feel like this in turn can cause isolation because they are so focused in on what they are watching. With that in mind, parental activity has decreased under these circumstances. I feel like due to this, kids are able to get away with watching movies/shows that are inappropriate. I think this exposes a lot of provocative material and substance abuse to adolescents.


 * APA Citation:**
 * Retrieved from: []
 * I was not able to go back and get the author and publisher for APA citation, the server has been down and says they have notified a technician.

** Resource #3 **

 * Read:**
 * The journal I read was called " Associations Between Violent Video Gaming, Emphatic Concern,and Prosocial Behavior Toward Strangers, Friends,and Family Members". This journal discussed how there is a possibility that violent video games may cause cognitive issues and the lack of empathy towards others, whether that be towards family, friends, and strangers. It was suggested " that violent video gaming would have the greatest negative association with prosocial behavior enacted toward strangers, since violent video games portray characters that are unfamiliar to the player." According to the journal, the cause of this has a lot to do with the increase in realistic graphics, special affects, and even the narratives. Because of this, video games have become much more appealing. A group of adolescents were chosen to participate in this study to see if violent video games actually affect their behaviors towards others. In conclusion, violent video games were linked with low empathetic concern.


 * Respond:**
 * After reading this journal, I was not surprised to read that violent video games can cause cognitive issues and a lack of empathy. Now a days, video games is an ever-increasing activity. From personal experience, I have seen adolescents become incredibly angry at video games to the point where they are yelling and throwing a fit. Therefore, I am not surprised that it can cause kids to become less empathetic towards others. With the amount of graphic content programmed into these games, it is not shocking that it can resemble everyday life. With adolescents still learning and developing cognitive skills, I think this can have a big impact on the way they handle empathetic situations.


 * APA Citation:**
 * Retrieved from: []
 * I was not able to go back and get the author and publisher for APA citation, the server has been down and says they have notified a technician.

** Resource #4 **

 * Read:**
 * The article I decided to read was called "Video Games can Spark Aggression". This article discussed how there is no given proof that violent games can actually cause violence in adolescents, but there is possible evidence that they can spark some aggressive behaviors. It was stated that," Significant and repeated exposure to violent video games is not healthy for young people, especially young people who are otherwise maladjusted." The article noted that teens who generally have a stable home life, friends, healthy, and have never been bullied tend to not have aggressive tendencies due to video games. Violent games can in fact be monitored by the teens parents. Since society keeps coming out with more and more graphic games, it is becoming harder and harder to control. Parents can help prevent them from playing those and talk to them about avoiding those types of games.


 * Respond:**
 * Before I read this article, I was pretty positive that there was a lot of evidence showing that video games do in fact spark violent acts among adolescents. After reading it though, I found it really fascinating how there really is not any proof confirming this. Thinking back, it makes sense that there is not much proof because it would be incredibly difficult to confirm something like that. I do believe in fact that there is evidence and correlation between the two. Similar to the article, I think these types of games can have a bigger impact on a teen who has a poor home life, has mental instabilities, have been bullied, and have anti social tendencies. I strongly agree with the article on the standpoint that parents do need to monitor what their children are playing. From what I have witnessed from violent games, they have become incredibly graphic and bloody. It is very realistic. With the way society is and it's increasing progressiveness, teens are so used to violent video games that parents seem to have become very relaxed on what their kid is playing. To prevent some of these possible aggressive correlations, parents need to either limit or ban them from playing these games.

Bushman, Brad. 2013 March, 20. Video Games Can Spark Aggression. Retrieved from http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/video-games-spark-aggression-article-1.1293112.
 * APA Citation:**

** 5. Sexuality Activity **
([])

I read a section out of the research survey,//The 2011 National Climate Survey,// called //Effects of a Hostile School Climate (pages 45-48)//. This study basically talked about some of the main effects of victimization on LGBT students in school. Some of the main findings were that LGBT kids who have high levels of in-school victimization based on sexual orientation tended to have a much lower gpa, had lower self-esteem and high levels of depression, less likely to pursue any post-secondary education, and were three times as more likely to miss school in the past month due to safety concerns. Often times, these kids would be physically harassed at some point due to their sexual orientation. According to the survey though, verbal assault was more commonly used because physical assault was more severe in nature.About "55.2%" of LGBT students also claimed that they have been harassed via cell phone, computers, etc. I found it really interesting how high that percent was, and how it is still constantly growing. I was actually not surprised to read that verbal assault was more common than physical assault. Because it is seen as more severe in nature, I think people hold back. Verbal assault is still absolutely terrible and is incredibly sad how it can have all those affects listed above. I think today, we are starting to accept LGBT kids more and are preventing bullying in school much more than we ever have. With that said, hopefully this can help cut back the amount of victimization on LGBT students and allow them to be seen and treated the same as everyone else.
 * Describe your resource:**

[]
 * Link to your specific resource:**

** A. Site details: **
Beavercreek High School Football Stadium I observed at Me at a football game next to a couple adolescents. This is where I completed my observations.
 * Name of site: Beavercreek High School football game
 * Link to site: []

__ ** B. Describe your setting ** __
I chose to complete my observation project at my old high school. Beavercreek High School is located in Dayton, Ohio, approximately an hour away from Cincinnati. This high school is a rather large school; the typical graduating class is a little more than 600 students a year. The grade range is from ninth to twelfth grade. Surrounding the area is a very family-oriented community with little to no crime. Most of the school is actually surrounded by neighborhoods and woods. Beavercreek High School is a very diverse school with many different cultures and a mix of races.Often times, foreign exchange students are sent there to experience what American schooling is like. Overall, there are only a few conflicts among the students every year. Different races are generally interacting with one another and there is not much tension (if any) between anyone. There is also not much separation among them. Where I plan to do all of my observing is at four different football games at this school. The field consists of a "home","away","band" and "student" stands, with the "home" stands being the bigger side. People are able to go underneath the "home" stands to get to and from the bathroom and concession stands. The "student" section is located at one of the end zones, and the "band" section is located at the opposite end. The same goes for the "home" and "away" stands. Football games are generally packed with students, parents, and sometimes teachers. It is a very safe environment.

__** C. Describe what you did at the site (free-write/journal formatting) **__
On September 6th, I went to my first visit at a Beavercreek High School home football game. My day consisted of going to the pep rally about 45 minutes before the game, watching pre-game, watching the football game, and watching the marching band play at the end of it. For this visit, I decided to observe adolescents while sitting on the "home" side of the stands. Generally, this is an area mixed with students, parents, and maybe a teacher here and there. The stands were packed as usual. My goal for this visit was to just sit back and watch the interactions of adolescents among adult figures. Sitting in different sections of the "home" stands, allowed me to have an accurate view on adolescents and how they interacted around adult figures. One of the first things I noticed today was that there really weren't that many adolescents in the "home" stands. For the ones that were there, were either running up and down the stairs, standing in the very front blocking everyone, or sitting a couple rows down from what looked like their parents. I only saw about two teens sitting with their family and that was it. All of these kids had at least one friend with them. Three different times, I witnessed female teens going up to their parents and asking for money, or if they could hang out with their friend/s after the game. I listened in on quite a few conversations between parent and kid. For the parents that said "yes", their son/daughter would run off happily again. For the ones that said "no", there was much more drama. I witnessed this multiple times. The parents would say "no not tonight" or "some other day", and the adolescent would throw a fit and say things like "that's not fair, you don't let me do anything". Most of the time, the mother was the one arguing back and forth with the daughter. Just sitting in the stands, I could feel the tension between parent and child. They were both on two completely different wavelengths.
 * __ 1st visit: Interactions around adult figures __**

On October 4th, I went to my second visit to a football game. My day again consisted of going to the pep rally, watching pre-game, attending the football game, and watching the marching band play afterwards. For this visit, I decided to hang out behind the "home" stands to observe the behaviors of adolescents with one another. This area is the spot where adolescents like to typically hang out. I also went to observe the adolescents that like to hang out in a large/shady grassy area behind the "band" stands. The area in which they hang out is not very well lit, and is located right next to the middle school. Going behind the "home" stands was a rather interesting experience. Looking around, you could see all the cliques formed in little pod-like groups. All of them looked like they belonged from the "popular" crowd at school. I did not see anybody who looked nerdy, or didn't belong there. The groups of friends were for the most part, intermingled between males and females. There was not one teen who was by themselves. A majority of the girls were walking around with iPhones in hand; there were only a few guys with their phones out. There was lots of screaming and kids running around behind the stands. It was incredibly loud underneath there. It was a rather chilly night, so at least a jacket and jeans would have sufficed, but I noticed a lot of guys and girls (especially guys) wearing shorts and short sleeves/tank tops. Many girls had boyfriends as well. They were all touchy-feely with one another. They were either holding hands, hugging, kissing, or leaning up against the fence with the guy's arms wrapped around the girl's waist. Most of them looked way to young to have a boyfriend or girlfriend. I did not see any lesbian or gay couples walking around and there were little to no interracial relationships. I could tell the maturity levels of girls exceeded the maturity levels of the guys. I listened in on conversations, and girls would constantly rat on the guys for saying "stupid" comments. One guy tried climbing up and over a fence, and a group of girls called him out and called him things like "idiot" and "stupid". Girls were also very gossipy compared to the guys. I can't remember a specific piece of gossip said because there was so many. After I observed behind the stands, I walked over and walked around to observe the adolescents behind the "band" stands. This is a grassy area with dim lighting, and is located by the middle school. The middle school is located right by the football field. The teens over in this area were much different than the ones under the "home" stands. I observed kids playing football in the grass, but only five males, not a really big group. There were not really any cliques or many intermingled people (males and females). There were a few couples here and there, but they were sitting down and did not really talk much. The teens on this side dressed the same way (except with darker clothes) in the sense that they wore no jackets or pants when it was cooler out. They still had physical action though, but mostly hugging, kissing, and holding hands. Since cliques were not really present, adolescents were for the most part in groups of two or three. I thought it was interesting that a lot of these teens were goth/edgy type of kids. I suspect that they did not feel like they fit into the large crowd underneath the "home" stadium.
 * __2nd visit: Interactions with one another__**

On October 11th, I went to my third football game. My day consisted of going to the pep rally, watching pre-game, and attending the football game. Today, I decided to see what it would be like if I stood in the student section during the game. This section is strictly for students, so no adults are allowed to be in that area. I wanted to see how adolescents interacted in the stands, solely made up kids their age. About 200 kids can fit into these stands, so it was very packed. Observing the teens in the "student" section stands was kind of what I expected. The stand was jam packed full of adolescents. A majority of students were wearing school colors, which are orange and black. Many of them were wearing bead necklaces, face paint, and creek clothing. There was a lot of school spirit. When the cheerleaders came around, all the students did the cheers to support the team. It was difficult to tell if there were cliques in the crowd because of how packed in we were. I did not see anyone sitting by themselves not talking to anyone. Everybody was really loud, talkative, and constantly pushing and moving around. Even more teens were on their cell phones snap chatting, taking pictures, facebooking, and texting, than the kids underneath the "home" stadium. While attending a game on October 14, I decided to observe something a little different for this visit. I wanted to see how pop culture persuaded the interactions and behaviors of adolescents. I thought this would be a fun observation considering I am in the pop culture group in class. Today, I was observing the types of clothing worn by the teens and whether or not tv shows, video games, etc were being advertised on them and their reactions to music. I went back to the "student" section since a large mass of them were here so I could easily see how they would react to pop culture. I observed the following:
 * __3rd visit: Interactions in Student Section__**
 * __4th visit: Pop Culture Observation__**
 * 1) Reaction to music- Pop music is often played during our football games. Every time a song came up, the whole student section went crazy. They all jumped up and down, danced, and sang as loud as possible. It showed me that music is able to help pump of teens and get them excited. This happened throughout the whole night. When cuss words were bleeped out, the kids decided to still sing them anyway which kind of made me wonder if music can influence poor language among teens.
 * 2) Clothing- I was curious to see what type of clothing was being warn by teens and whether or not pop culture was being advertised on them. A majority of kids were wearing creek shirts and face paint to show support. Typically, the "popular" girls of the school wear creek jerseys. I noticed a handful of those girls wearing the jersey's of either their boyfriend or guy friend on the team. It was also noted that some were wearing shirts from their favorite band/s and videogames. This was mostly seen being worn by males. I saw quite a few Lil' Wayne, Halo, Drake, Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed shirts.

** Physical **
I could really tell that the males hit puberty before the females. Many of the males looked like they hit a growth spurt because they generally towered over the girls, including myself. The five boys playing football in the grass demonstrated the athletic competence concept and how they want to show off their physical strength. As for the girls, many of their breast sizes have increased as a sign of sexual maturation.
 * What did you notice about the physical differences between boys and girls (pp. 283-288)?**

I was not really able to observe the moods of adolescents very much. It was noted that if the two out of three girls I witnessed did not get their way, their mood would change from being happy, to (rapidly) hostile and angry. The text states that "teenagers who spend weekend evenings at home often feel profoundly lonely". This makes me wonder if the two girls have felt this at some point in their life and want to avoid that. Teens tend to want to be more independent.
 * What did you notice about the adolescent’s mood (p. 289)?**

A majority of the time, the adolescent's were not around their parents and were off with friends. As noted in my observations, some teens did not like to be told "no" which caused an uproar between the parents and child. According to the text on page 290, "As children become physically mature, they demand to be treated in adult-like ways." I think in this case, that is exactly what was going on. Teens (like the ones I witnessed) want to be able to make their own decisions without their parents having any input. Another connection made with the text is that "Parent-daughter conflict tends to be more intense than conflict with sons". Granted I only saw three different females and no males ask their parents for something, but what I did witness was a lot of tension and anger between the two daughters that did not get their way. Parent's tend to be more strict with their daughters than males.
 * What did you notice about the adolescent’s relationship with adults (p.289)?**

Girls Boys
 * What did you notice about the role of body image in adolescent behavior (p. 290)?**
 * Most girls were thin/average for the most part. Did not see many overweight females.
 * Most wore makeup from what I saw.
 * Wasn't able to hear anyone talk about their body image.
 * Most girls at least "looked" confident by the way they dressed. Wore clothes that fit in with peers (spirit wear, no jackets/jeans because nobody else wore them).
 * Bodies were more on the muscular side
 * Generally rather tall (growth spurt)
 * Wore clothes that fit in with peers such as no jackets/jeans because nobody else wore them and don't want to be seen as "weak".
 * Didn't hear any complaining about their image.

Males and females want to fit in with their peers. Generally, they all wore similar clothing. For example, the girls I saw wore either tight shirts, spirit wear, or a tank top. The guys also wore spirit wear or some sort of t-shirt. Both sexes did not wear jackets/jeans to keep them warm. I think this is because they did not want to stick out, and for the males, they did not want to be seen was "weak". According to the text, "adolescents feel most comfortable with peers who match their own level of biological maturity". From what I witnessed, that statement is absolutely true. Teens looked like they fit in perfectly well with their pods of people and had about the same maturity level due to the way I saw them act with one another.
 * What did you notice about peer relationships ( pp. 290-291)?**

I was not able to notice much about eating habits during my observations. I could not judge adolescent eating habits off of my visits.
 * What did you notice about eating habits (pp. 291-292)?**

I didn't see any lesbian or gay couples walking around during the football game. About 2-3% of adolescents identify as being gay, lesbian, or bisexual. This is a relatively small percent which is perhaps why I did not witness any. On page 351, finding another homosexual partner can be very difficult which is another reason why I did not see any. A lot of times, teens have not come out of the closet yet and are still trying to figure out who they are and what they like. I noticed that sex drives were rather high due to the way boys and girls acted toward one another. I saw girls punching or hitting guys as a way to show affection. As for boyfriends/girlfriends, they were physical in the sense that they were always touching, whether that be by holding hands, hugging, kissing, and hands on waist. I did not note any actually sexual activity. I did not see any teen pregnancies either.
 * What did you notice about issues around sex (sex education, sexual references, sexual activity, teen pregnancy, etc.) (pp. 293-299)**

I did not notice any substance abuse or substance related references during my visits. There are plenty of security around and a few cops who keep it under control. I was more focused on the visual aspects of adolescents.
 * What did you notice about substance use or substance related references (pp. 299-300)?**

** Physical Cognitive **
Girls: I think what I noticed the most about teen girls' physical appearance is that a majority of them were wearing make-up, had their hair brushed (either put up or down), and wore clothing that flatters their body. I was not able to catch any conversations on their personal critiques on body image, but I am sure that is part of their daily life. Many of the girls were wearing tank tops, slim fitting t-shirts, or for the most "popular" girls, a football uniform. It was interesting to see who was perceived as the most popular and the less popular, based on clothing. The girls that I saw on the grassy area by the "band" stands wore clothes that looked like they were from Hot Topic. I found this interesting that I saw none of them hovering with the group of people under the stands, and I think it is because they feel like they don't belong in with those group of girls. (Not to be creepy) but it was noticed that many of the girls' were in the stages of development. I could tell this because breast sizes were starting to increase more as well as maturity level. Compared to the guys, most of the girls seemed to be more mature than them, and would call them out for "stupid" comments or actions their boy friends would make.

Boys: What I noticed most about teen boys' physical appearance is that they tended to wear t-shirts and a pair of shorts. I did not see any of them really dressed up and none of them were wearing any of the football jerseys. I found it fascinating that even though it was chilly out, none of them had at least a jacket to wear. I could over hear conversations of people asking a guy if they were cold. They would generally reply with "no it's not cold out here", but you know they were because they had goosebumps on their arms. This shows that they want to fit in with their peers and don't want to be seen as "different" or "weak" because they are wearing something that a majority of the crows is not wearing. Another physical aspect I noticed was that they were rather immature. One kid tried climbing up the fence to impress his friends since he was dared to. All of the girls were yelling names at him and telling him to get off. Even the comments they made were immature towards each other. I was shocked to see how tall some of these boys were; many of them towered over the girls. I also noticed guys starting to form muscle on their arms which is showing an increase in their development as well.

** Emotional **
Girls: It was interesting to watch how emotional girls got when they did not get their way. This is referring back to the parent and child arguments in the stands mentioned earlier on. Girls want to be able to be treated like an adult and don't want anyone, especially their parents, to impose on their decisions. They want to be independent. The transition from being completely happy to one moment, to being unsatisfied the next, happened incredibly fast. I was surprised to see their emotions switch that quickly. I think the text said part of this is because of high hormone levels. When the one girl got her way to hang out with her friend after the game, she was as happy as can be and just ran off again.

Boys: I did not really notice any emotional events occur with the boys. The only thing I really noticed is that the guys made decisions "in the moment" and did not think about the possible consequences that could arrive after the matter. Ex: boy climbing up fence. The boys were not as gossip-like as the girls and did not get emotionally involved in drama.

** Social **
Girls: The girls were very cliquey among one another, but they did seem to surround themselves with people who are the most similar to them. One pod would be in one spot, and another pod would be a couple feet away, so they were dispersed and seemed to not be interested in the other cliques surrounding them. The girls who were in the grassy area and were not considered part of the "popular" crowd, were not cliquey at all. Girls were all about hitting guys to get attention, and if a boy did something immature, they would not be shy to call them out. Girls had a tendency to get louder when they were around a group of guys as well. A majority of the girls were also on their phones facebooking, texting, taking pictures,etc. The girls who had boyfriends were physical in the sense that they were hugging, kissing, and holding hands. They seemed to love the attention. The girls were into gossiping.

Boys: The boys were all about showing off to their friends. For example, the one guy tried to climb up and over a fence because he was dared to. He did not want to be seen as a chicken, and wanted everyone to know that he was strong enough to do it. There were guys even playing football against one another as a way to show their strength and power. When girls would come up and punch or hit a boy in the arm, they would just stand their and take it. If it hurt, they would not dare let you know that it did. It was really something else to watch that happen. The guys did not seem to clique up as much as the girls, but I could definitely tell that they surrounded themselves with guys they thought were most similar to them. When it came to relationships, the guys were just as physical as the girls, except they were the ones who had their hands around the girls waist. Boys did not gossip a lot, if any.

** Revisiting Your Curiosities **
[Answer your original questions as best as you can, given the course material and your observations. You must make at least 4 references to the text with page numbers.] After looking in the book, I found some information that was somewhat relatable to my observations. The text states that violent media "increases the likelihood of hostile thoughts and emotions and of verbally, physically, and relationally aggressive behavior" (pg. 210). Observing the kid cutting in line for a new game at Game Stop and getting shoved and cussed at, showed me that those teens, most likely than not, play these violent video games. Aggression such as shoving and pushing and verbal assaults is a possible correlation between teen aggression and violent games. Even at the football game I observed at and Game Stop, I saw many kids wearing violent game shirts such as Halo, Assassin's Creed, and Call of Duty. I suspect that means they are into these games and could have possible aggression. Most of the teens wearing these shirts were male. According to the text book again, it says that "boys devote more time to violent media than girls, in-part because of male-oriented themes..." (pg. 210). That finding correlates well with my observations of mainly male teens wearing that type of clothing. Even when I was observing the line at Game Stop, it was all males. On page 211, it says that parents are the ones who have the most responsibility over their children and need to protect them over violence in the media. As I was observing at Game Stop, I noticed that there were no adults or parents around with these kids. The fact that they are letting teens walk around alone or buy a newly released violent video game alone, shows that maybe their home life is not very structured or strict; maybe they don't have a healthy home environment. Without a healthy environment, the teen's development could be negatively skewed which leads to more problems. Violence in media such as video games "not only creates short-term difficulties in parent and peer relations but also has lasting negative consequences" (pg. 210). From my observations and the course material, I believe that their is a correlation between violent video games and adolescent aggression.
 * W : What you want to know (inquiry questions) **
 * 1. Do video games influence aggressive behavior in adolescents?**


 * 2. Research Question:**
 * Do video games influence aggressive behavior in adolescents?**

For my creative presentation, I decided to make a poster to present my findings. Since my topic was about violent video games, I used a background which consisted of a war-like scene. Adding color to the text boxes also allows the poster to be appealing to the eye and more intriguing. The first aspect I wanted to add in my poster was my own observations of my topic. I thought this would be a great way to give people some current, personal experience on the topic. With that said, I then added in "Assumptions Initially Made". This box allowed me to present what I thought initially and from what I observed before I go in and do research on the subject. Next, I was able to research the topic and trends and was able to reflect and see how accurate my first thoughts were. Then, I thought it would be beneficial to add in a couple studies on violent video games and adolescent behavior, and report their findings. I thought this would be a good way to show the audience that there is research being conducted out their so they know I am gaining accurate data. I thought this box would be helpful in showing the audience some trends of violence that has been noted among teens and violent games. Along the way, I found some interesting facts that I thought would add a little "kick" in my poster. Last but not least, I searched the top 2013 video games in the world; I didn't even type in violent video games. I was going to choose the first 5 to show an example and it just so happened that the first 5 were all violent games. I thought that would add a nice touch in my presentation.
 * 3. Creative Presentations**

I personally do not want to become a teacher, but if I ever decide to want to work with adolescents as a speech therapist, I will be able to understand teen behaviors and actions more than I ever have.
 * 4. What new questions emerge for you as a future teacher?**

Late Adulthood

Describe your Older Adult Project:
 * Over Thanksgiving break, I was able to sit down and talk to my grandmother, Marilyn Willhite. My grandmother is 82 years old and lives in a small house with her husband Charles Willhite. Grandma is about 5 feet 8 inches tall, and has had both of her knees replaced. She constantly discusses how she needs a rail built from her garage step to her door because she has fallen multiple times there. When my father asks what day would work best for you to put it in, she comes up with excuses of why we shouldn't out one in. Her right leg has the most difficulties because it is shorter than the other one, and the surgery did not do justice. Therefore, she carries a cane or a walker. She is stubborn when it comes to using either one of those though. Grandma is still able to drive short distances. Multiple comments were also made by her about how wrinkly she has gotten and how much bigger she has gotten as well. Because of this, grandma does not like to get her picture taken at all.
 * From all the years I have experienced with my grandma and grandpa, grandpa is the one that does not talk very much. When she came over, she constantly talked, whether she has a mouth full of food, was cooking, or simply just sitting down. I think this is due to the boredom she faces in her own house everyday. The constant talk of politics and pills from my grandfather all day long exhausts her, I can tell. The whole day, Grandpa was getting on her to go to the doctor for her leg pain and she just puts it off. Grandma is a big story teller and believe it or not ,has a great memory for her age. She remembers things that happened even as a child and loves to point out how times have changed, which is often times difficult for her to grasp. An example of this that reoccurred not only on Thanksgiving, but pretty much every time we get together, is how one of our family members is gay. Almost every time she comes over, she brings up how he is alone and gay. That's all she ever says about it. I think it shocks her more than anything. That is the same with people of colored skin or people who look "different" than "normal" people. For example, she always calls out people who have long hair, overweight, tattoos, etc. She is not discrete at all when she talks about them and often times ends up embarrassing us when the person she talks about turns around. Something I noticed on Thanksgiving was that she was constantly asking to help out in the kitchen. Even though my parents told her they had everything under control, she still persisted on and helped prepare the meal and even assisted in cleaning up.

Describe your experience:
 * After reading the text and speaking with my grandmother, I noticed that there were quite a few connections that could be linked to the book. Between pages 484-485, the concept of "aging in place" really relates to grandma. Before we were able to get her and her husband to move into a smaller, more manageable house, they lived in a three story house (pretty much) their whole lives. Grandma has fallen down the stairs numerous amounts of times which was one of the main reasons we wanted them to move. It took my family several years to convince her that this house was to much of an upkeep and she can't keep getting hurt all the time. Grandma was incredibly stubborn and was holding onto the safety of her house, neighborhood, and memories. This made it even more difficult for her to grasp the concept that it simply was not safe for her anymore. Change in general for her tends to be very difficult. Another concept that was found within my grandmother is the discussion about how "Older adults attach great value to religious beliefs and behaviors" (Berk 478). She puts a lot of her time into her religious beliefs. This includes going to Catholic church every week, praying everyday, and praying the Rosary. According to the text, it is common for older adults to watch services on television. I find this very interesting because my grandma told me about the service she saw on the night before Thanksgiving. She is not overbearing or forceful of religion to other people though. I think religion is one of the factors that what keep her sane and thriving.
 * One of the biggest connections from this book is on page 480, and discusses how social support can relieve stress on older adults. My grandma always thanks my family for doing simple things for her like taking her to the doctors, mowing her lawn, and fixing things around the house. My family and I always invite my grandparents to attend church with us, and invite them to go out to eat, as well as other activities to get them out of the house. We always visit them every week to make sure things are going alright and to simply talk with them. I know my grandmother really appreciates that since her husband generally talks about politics and pills. Without family support, grandma would not have trusted anyone to move out from her old house into the new one that is located 5 minutes away from us. Social support also constitutes in giving them control over their own lives. For example, grandpa is not allowed to drive anymore because his eye sight and other factors can cause dangerous conditions, but we allow grandma to drive and allow them to have the freedom to go where they want still. That is the same for the house they live in now. We told them that they have to move, but they can be the ones to pick out the new houses to look at and we will drive them to go look at different ones. Now that they found a house, they enjoy decorating it and fixing it up to their liking. This can also relate to the concept on page 492 of "Relationships with Adult Children". My father and grandparents are very close and they would both do anything for each other. They always call each other every week and my dad tries to see them at least once or twice every week as well. They rely on him to fix things that are broken (for example) and are extremely appreciative of it. As a kid, my dad was not nearly as close to them as he is now. As the years have gone on, they all have gained an understanding of each other and a type of responsibility from my dad to give back to his parents.


 * My grandmother is the lady sitting in the front on the left.**