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Unit 10 Youth Aspirations

Part I Warming up

A.

1. Over-scheduled syndrome -- the amount of free time for children dropping about 16% over the past few years

2. Cultural shift in the past few years

a. The past: children taking part in extracurricular activities (ballet, gymnastics, football) in a casual way

b. The present: a real emphasis and stress on these children to be experts / prodigies in these activities

3. Solution: parents saying "enough is enough" / cutting back / pulling children out of all their activities

Tapescript:

Market researchers estimate that the average teenager spends about $82 of their own money a week on clothing, food, and entertainment. But not all kids have time to go shopping. As a matter of fact, the amount of free time that children have has dropped about 16 percent over the last several years. Many call it the over-scheduled syndrome.

There's been a real cultural shift in this country in the past few years. It used to be that children could participate in ballet, or gymnastics, or football in a very casual way. Now there's a real emphasis and a real stress on these kids to be experts. The children are expected to become prodigies in whatever extracurricular activity it is that they choose.

Is it all necessary if the goal is simply to get into a selective college? Administration officers at Harvard University says, "No." Only one-third of the students they select are academic or extracurricular prodigies. The rest are quote "well-rounded and well-grounded."

What we're finding is that many parents now are starting to say "enough is enough," and they're cutting back. We've found parents who are pulling their children out of all of their activities. It's just too much stress on the children, too much time away from homework, time away from sleeping, time away from eating and enough, and a lot of parents now are just saying stop!

B. Read the following difficult sentences and listen.

1. First of all, throughout the ages back since the 40s, the 50s, young people have been portrayed very badly by the press.

2. This, I'm afraid, is absolute rubbish, but young people are reading these all the time.

3. They need a chance to take on personal challenges.

4. As I said at the President's Service Summit in Philadelphia this past April, the era of big government may be over, but big challenges remain for America, and they require an era of big citizenship- an era with new partnerships between government and business and labor, between wealthy, middle class and poor Americans, between cities, suburbs and rural areas and across all racial lines.

5. Our administration is busy following up on the commitments we made in Philadelphia at the Service Summit.

6. The Justice Department's new Mentoring Alliance will link children in need with volunteer mentors.

Part II British youth

Tapescript:

-- What scares me most about my future is not knowing what I want to do or where I am going.

-- Not having any money.

-- Not being able to do things I want to do.

-- Young people are witty, young people are creative.

-- I think the old ways are possibly changing and the kids who can cope with change are going to be the kids that succeed.

-- I think they need a hand. I think somebody needs to understand them a bit better.

-- They seem a lot more open-minded, they don't seem to be able to be led as much today as maybe kids of my age group -- the sixties and seventies.

-- Young people need more than anything an opportunity these days. They need a chance to take on personal challenges.

Tapescript:

The word "teenager" came into use in Britain in the 1950s when the young began to invent and adopt their own fashions, magazines, music and style. This was the birth of what we now know as youth culture.

It reached its heyday in the 60s with the advent of "swinging" London bands like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and of course the mini-skirt. Through the 70s there was flower power, hippies, teenyboppers and Punk. The 1980s brought the new romantics, dance music -- and we also started to think about the future, ecology and all that ... What about the future? Where do they see themselves going? How do they feel about living in the Britain of today?

1. What's the bright side and the dark side for young people according to this passage?

Bright side: dancing, clubs, music, fashion and fun

Dark side: fights, trouble, hooliganism; drugs and anarchy

2. What does the young Asian person say about being accepted in Britain?

not accepted ten years ago / gradually accept now / more people coming / different culture backgrounds

3. What's the purpose of setting up the organization in Britain?

a. To give advice

b. To help raise finance

c. To help raise finance ---

so as to help young people who would like to set up their own business with no money of their own

4. How many volunteers does the organization have?

Over 5,500.

5. How many new businesses will they start up this year?

About 3,700.

Tapescript:

-- What scares me most about my future is not knowing what I want to do or where I am going.

-- Not having any money.

-- Not being able to do things I want to do.

-- Young people are witty, young people are creative.

-- I think the old ways are possibly changing and the kids who can cope with change are going to be the kids that succeed.

-- I think they need a hand. I think somebody needs to understand them a bit better.

The word "teenager" came into use in Britain in the 1950s when the young began to invent and adopt their own fashions, magazines, music and style. This was the birth of what we now know as youth culture.

It reached its heyday in the 60s with the advent of "swinging" London bands like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and of course the mini-skirt. Through the 70s there was flower power, hippies, teenyboppers and Punk. The 1980s brought the new romantics, dance music -- and we also started to think about the future, ecology and all that ... What about the future? Where do they see themselves going? How do they feel about living in the Britain of today?

When you think about young people, you might picture dancing, clubs, music, fashion and fun. But there is an equally well-known dark side: fights, trouble, hooliganism, drugs and anarchy. Is this a true picture or is there another more positive side that the media do not show?

I think the young of today are having a hard time. First of all, throughout the ages back since the 40s, the 50s, young people have been portrayed very badly by the press. The press say the young ... don't believe in anything, they don't want to do anything, they don't want to work, they don't want to get a job, they don't want to provide any help for anybody else. This, I'm afraid, is absolute rubbish, but young people are reading this all the time.

We visited the City of Newcastle in the northeast of England where there is a large multi-racial community. 'There we met a young man of Asian extraction.

-- What's it like being a young Asian person in Britain today in comparison to a few years ago? Is it some easier to keep a separated cultural identity yet at the same time to be accepted ?

-- It didn't ten years ago or something, but gradually just started accepting it. It's probably because there are more and more people from different culture backgrounds coming to this country. So people in this country are accepting it ...

These days many young people find that one of the best options open to them is to set up their own business. How can they do this especially if they have no money of their own?

There is an organization in Britain, which was set up specifically to help people in this situation. It was established to give advice to and help raise finance and provide support for new business ventures.

Chief executive Jeremy White told us about it.

"What we do is ... we have over five and half thousand volunteers from all over the country. We attach a volunteer to each business, not to run the business or interfere with it but just to help the young person through that process. Learning how to deal with the VAT, how to negotiate with your bank manager, for example. And we give advice on how to do marketing and those skills that you need when you're starting up a business. In this year, we'll start up about 3,700 new businesses, for example, the window cleaners. Four young men from Birmingham, I mean they are just embarking and that business may grow or it might just keep them in employment, but that's a great success in itself."

-- They seem a lot more open-minded, they don't seem to be able to be led as much today as maybe kids of my age group -- the sixties and seventies.

-- Young people need more than anything an opportunity these days. They need a chance to take on personal challenges.

Part III Young people& citizen service

Outline

I. Topic: what we must do to make citizen service a part of every American's life

II. AmeriCorps -- a national service organization

A. Its function

B. What its members do

C. The government's support

D. Support from 77 organizations

III. Other commitments made by the national government at the Service Summit

A. The Department of Agriculture: a food recovery summit

B. The Justice Department: new Mentoring Alliance

C. The Department of Health and Human Service: new partnership with the Girl Scouts of America

IV. Making children learn commitment to community as early as possible

A. Creative ways to make service a part of the curriculum in high school or even middle school

B. The National Service Scholars Program

1. The government's offer

2. Support from communities and private service organizations

V. Conclusion: keeping the spirit of the Service Summit alive as we move into a new century

1. What do AmeriCorps members do?

a. Cleaning the environment

b. Helping at-risk children learn to read

c. Working with police to keep streets safe

d. Helping the nation reach record levels of child immunization

2. What would the American government do to support AmeriCorps?

It would provide 50,000 new AmeriCorps scholarships to organizations that offer young people the chance to serve.

3. What are the creative ways to make service a part of the curriculum in high school or even middle school?

a. Giving students credit for service

b. Incorporating service into course work

c. Putting service on a student's transcript

d. Requiring service as a condition of graduation

4. How many high school students will receive scholarships for their service work? How much will they get?

1,600 high school students / up to $1,000

Tapescript:

Good morning. I want to talk with you today about what we must do to make citizen service a part of' every American's life for his or her entire lifetime. As I said at the President's Service Summit in Philadelphia this past April, the era of big government may be over, but big challenges remain for America, and they require an era of big citizenship -- an era with new partnerships between government and business and labor, between wealthy, middle class and poor Americans, between cities, suburbs and rural areas and across all racial lines. At the President's Service Summit, thousands of Americans pledged their commitment to service. As we prepared to go forward into a new century, every one of us must join them, so that we can meet our challenges and come together as one America.

For the past four and a half years, my administration has worked to give every American a chance to serve. We want to spark a renewed sense of obligation, a new sense of duty and a new season of service all across our nation.

Of everything we've done to meet that challenge, I am proudest of AmeriCorps, our national service organization that has helped more than 70,000 young Americans all over the country to earn money for college while serving in their communities.

AmeriCorps members do real work to address critical problems- from cleaning the environment, to helping at-risk children learn to read, to working with police to keep our streets safe, to helping our nation reach record levels of child immunization.

At the Service Summit, one of the goals for young Americans announced by the President and General Powell was that every young American should be challenged and given the chance to do citizen service. To support that goal, I announced at the summit that our administration would provide 50,000 new AmeriCorps scholarships over the next five years to organizations that offer young people the chance to serve. I am pleased to say today that 77 organizations have answered that challenge by offering to sponsor 10,000 new AmeriCorps members next year alone. I thank them for their commitment.

The success of AmeriCorps proves that citizen service works. And it's, only one of the many things the national government is doing to work in partnership with citizens, businesses and civic groups. Our administration is busy following up on the commitments we made in Philadelphia at the Service Summit. This fall, for example, the Department of Agriculture will hold a food recovery summit to help organize volunteers to distribute food to the needy. The Justice Department's new Mentoring Alliance will link children in need with volunteer mentors. And the Department of Health and Human Service's new partnership with the Girl Scouts of America will teach girls about the dangers of drugs. In all these ways, we are committed to encouraging service throughout American life.

Commitment to community should be an ethic that our children learn as early as possible, so that they carry it with them throughout their lives. That's why I have called on every state to make service a part of the curriculum in high school or even middle school. There are many creative ways to do this -- including giving students credit for service, incorporating service into course work, putting service on a student's transcript, or even requiring service as a condition of graduation, as Maryland does.

In addition to the AmeriCorps scholarship program we announced at the Service Summit, last year we took additional steps to encourage our young people to serve in their communities while in high school. We said we would offer $500 scholarships to high school juniors and seniors with the best record of service in their class if their communities and private service organizations would match that amount.

Just a year later, I am proud to say that some of our nation's most prominent service organizations have answered that call. Today, I'm pleased to announce that 1,600 high school students -some of whom are standing with me today -- will receive scholarships of up to $1,000 to help pay for college.

This is just the first year of the National Service Scholars Program. I know that next year it will be even bigger. Our goal is to make this program available in every high school, so that every high school principal in America can stand before a graduating class and announce the name of a National Service Scholar. With the support of groups like those who have already committed to help, I am confident we can make it happen.

Something very important to our nation occurred at the President's Service Summit. There, people from all walks of life looked beyond their differences and came together around the common goal of serving our country, to give all our young people a chance to have a better life. This is the way we have to meet our challenges: business working together with government and labor, religious and community groups joining forces, people lending a hand to help one another. Today, we take another important step to build on that progress.

The spirit of the Service Summit is stronger than ever, and it's up to us -- all of us -- to keep it alive as we move forward together into a new century.

Thanks for listening.

Part IV Listen and relax

Tapescript:

The United States is in the midst of a boom in new business creations, one that is being carried out primarily by entrepreneurs in their teens, twenties and thirties. Never before have so many young people started so many businesses.

Technology is changing everything, says Kate O'Halloran, who helps run a graduate entrepreneur program at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. And no one, she says, is more tuned in to the latest technology than young people. Add to that the unusually long recent period of national prosperity, Mrs. O'Halloran says, and you have a youthful generation with a unique outlook on life. This new generation of twenty and thirty somethings have never really seen a war, they've never really had an economic depression. They are absolutely willing and able to take more financial risks, social risks. The stigma of having a start-up that has failed is almost a badge of honor, which is certainly unique to this country and very, very different than in years past.

Business historian Rita David agrees there's never been a period in American history where so many young people have started businesses that have made them so wealthy so quickly. But, she says, there have been periods which share some of today's characteristics. She points to the turn of the last century, the late 1800s and early 1900s as an example. It was a time of huge technological change, and you've always had tremendous opportunity when you've had tremendous change in technology. You had a huge influx of immigrants into the country, really following the notion of the American dream, which is that America was the land of infinite opportunity. It was then Rita David said that Scottish immigrant Andrew Carnegie founded a steel plant that would eventually make him the richest man in the world. It was in that period, she says, that banker J. P. Morgan provided venture capital for such new firms as International Harvester, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, and General Electric. Like today, she says, there was a sense of limitless possibility.

What always happened in the past is that you had these huge boom times, you had this huge movement of entrepreneurialism, which always trickled down to the whole population, and really moved the American standard of living up a notch. Hopefully, she says, today's entrepreneurial boom will have similar results.