JimmieJ Public Discourse MLS 590

Being raised in a military household taught me many lessons in life that I feel have made me the man I am today.  During my mid-twenties, with spare time on my hands, I decided to become a mentor through Big Brothers Big Sisters.  This decision would be life changing in more ways than I ever imagined. Mentoring youth in need is more than a noble cause, but rather an opportunity to provide a young boy or girl with insights and knowledge as they grow up and navigate the world.   My mentoring experience partnered me with a 6 year old boy, Chris, with no father figure in his life.  Male relatives were present for Chris, but his mother was seeking something different in his life.  When I met both of them for the first time, I do not believe any of us were ready for the experience.  I was thinking too linearly, the requirements of the program called for certain things and that was my expectation.  Chris’s mother seemed to feel the same way as we would negotiate monthly activities f

My focus is youth mentoring and the need for more adult participation.  Being a mentor and working in a high school has shown me there are skills, abilities, and experiences children could learn from a wide variety of people.

I do believe that the current formats aid in polarization.  These formats are loud and fast, contain elements of disrespect and tones of a lack of concern for fellow human beings.  This is carried over to the everyday interactions of people.  These actions that harm conversations appear to be the norm in many settings today.  I think the content of these programs is important, but I wish the conversation could happen in a much more respectful manner.  I do think the popularity of these shows is important because conversations need to take place and these programs serve as the start of the conversations.

When considering what disciplines are most visible in media today, I think it is key to recognize where you turn for media.  Not only do different networks present different messages, but different forms of media reach their audience in different ways.  Television can be harder hitting, louder and more engaging because you can visually connect with the subject.  In comparison, radio programs cannot always present themselves in the same manner simply because that could alienate their listeners.  Radio leaves much to the imagination of the listener that in today’s fast paced and engaging society is a hurdle to be cleared.  However, television and radio stations often have the same parent organization that try reach similar audiences through multiple methods which could lead to a manipulation of the messages to target intended audiences. With all that said, I believe that today’s media focuses so much on politics and economics that other disciplines can get overshadowed very easily.

To think of leading public intellectuals today was a difficult task.  I say this because I spend so much of my time trying to determine how I will convey information to an audience that quite often needs to be entertained more than they want to learn.  For me, educators carry a certain amount of the intellectual weight simply because they have an unknown audience that looks to them for information and wisdom. My parents used to was a program called the Tavis Smiley Show when I was younger.  Listening to them have conversation about the topics and issues Tavis Smiley presented as well as the people he would have on his show is something that I think helped me to grow.  It is not that he was a leading intellectual, but he would raise issues and questions that could be answered by intellectuals which I then saw discussed by my parents and others.  I feel that there need to be more of these discussions today so children learn to speak up for themselves and issues they feel strongly conn

Public life and the public sphere are alive!  When thinking about class lecture and society as a whole, the public sphere is provided for in many ways today.  Platforms to speak are not only widely available, but they are also filtering into parts of society, like high school, that they may not have originally reached. Project Soapbox  is a program that high school educators can set up for their students to participate in two minute speeches of the student's choice to address issues of society.  This is an attempt to allow young students to have the opportunity to shape their communities and voice issues important to them. The part of Project Soapbox that I find important is the need for students to deliver a speech to an audience.  I find this critical to the development of young people today because as a high school teacher I have seen firsthand the impact of social media on students over the past few years.  I feel the personal delivery gives the students more influence tha