All posts by Yunjie Zhang

Don’t Just Threaten; Do it Right Away

Urban Adolescents

“Make sure that everything you do, you can do. If you’re sending kids to the principal, make sure it really happens. If you’re saying you’re going to call the parents, do it, as long as there is a parent.” (Mika, in Cushman, 2003, p. 39)

We don’t like to punish kids, but, sometimes, you have to. When they run around the classroom, craw on the floor, paint on the wall, or even throw a pencil at the teacher, what should you do? Just give them a reminder then let it go? No. I don’t think so. Although we should pay more attention on positive reinforcement, doing nothing or just giving them reminders when misbehavior happens may make a teacher weak and make the classroom go out of control.

For example, in one of the classrooms I observed during this semester, there were several Continue reading Don’t Just Threaten; Do it Right Away →

Do “Smart Drugs” Really Smart?

Reaching Adolescents and How to Respond

“Over time, a memory-enhancing drug might cause people to remember too much detail, cluttering the brain. Similarly, a drug that sharpens attention might cause users to focus too intently on a particular task, failing to shift their attention in response to new developments. In short, someone who notices or remembers everything may end up understanding nothing.” (Philip, 2006, p. 179)

Using “smart drugs” is a complicated issue which to me is very similar to the use of stimulants in sports. Both smart drugs and stimulants are chemical matters that can boost a person’s intellectual or physical performance by overcoming human being’s physiology limits. Like using stimulants is regarded as cheating in sports events, using drugs that are supposed to improve one’s memory, vigilance, and attention in a test is also commonly viewed as cheating because it is unfair for those who cannot afford those drugs or those who do not want to risk harming their body. And indeed, currently, most of the smart drugs and stimulating drugs are having huge side effects which will bring long-term harm to our human body.

However, we also admit this issue is a complex one because the technological progress have been overcoming a lot of our physical limits during human history and will continue to change our bodies, thoughts, and values in various ways. For example, surrogacy and test-tube baby are medical breakthrough that are bringing hopes for many families; Continue reading Do “Smart Drugs” Really Smart? →

Still Love Your Kid if He is a Gay?

Friendship, Love, & Sexuality

“In a way, I think of it like being Spider-Man, you know? Like he’s so strong and brave, but he can’t really identify as Spider-Man because he knows it will hurt everyone he loves. And I think I war between that. You know, like a part of me wants to be, you know, the person, that my mom wants me to be, but then I realize that I’m a greater person when I’m not the person she wants me to be. So it’s kind of like a war between myself. ‘Cause I know if I don’t go through with the hormones and the surgery, I know I would just be miserable. But my mom and my family would be happy. You know, it’s just kind of like a war…” (Sadowski, 2008, p.139)

It is a touching story. When Matt, a female-to-male transgender youth, (by 2004, he was still biologically female) told her mom that she wanted to become a guy by doing hormone surgery, her mom’s first reaction was shocking, then angry, and finally turned to be very sad. She tried all kinds of methods to stop Matt from doing the surgery. She even said that Matt was too selfish that she made her family sad. In order to make her mom happy, Matt postponed her surgery plan but subsequently she became very depressed. Matt said that she was not that selfish to make her family sad; instead, she was just brave enough to stand out as a herald of transgender group. Continue reading Still Love Your Kid if He is a Gay? →

Let Love Stop Tragedy

Gender Socialization & Identities

“Barry Loukaitas, who killed his algebra teacher and two other students in Moses Lake, Washington, was an honor student who especially loved math, he was also constantly teased and described as a “shy nerd.” And Evan Ramsay, who killed one student and the high school principal in Bethel, Alaska, was also an honor student who was teased for wearing glasses and having acne.”

Reading Kimmel’s article “I am not insane; I am angry” was really a sad and painful experience. From him, I learned that most of American high school shooters were long-term bully victims only because they were shy, lonely, smart, skinny, wearing glasses and having acne, and even because they loved study and were honor students. They shot just in order to revenge, to show their manhood, and to win the respect.

It reminds me of one of my high school classmates who was also bullied for the same reasons. He was short, not good looking, having a lot of acne, and extremely shy. He barely Continue reading Let Love Stop Tragedy →

In What Age Should Chinese Students Start Studying in the U.S.?

Newcomers & Perpetual Foreigners

Research has shown that English proficiency that enables quality engagement with academic subjects takes up to seven years to acquire, even when a student’s English appears functional under other circumstances. (Suárez-Orozco, Qin, & Amthor, 2008)

As the rapid economic growth in China, sending children to study in the U.S. has become popular and affordable for many Chinese families. According to the report of US Department of Homeland Security (2014), by January 15, 2014, China contributes almost 29% of the total number of 991,915 active nonimmigrant students in America, up to nearly 300,000. At the same time, the percentage of younger age (13-16 years old) international Continue reading In What Age Should Chinese Students Start Studying in the U.S.? →