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What follows are descriptions of two workshops that we offer
that deal with understanding young people today
You may first wish to read Mark Dillof's essay on
Youth Violence and the Littleton Massacre
Read Essay
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A
Journey into the Emotional Landscape of Young People Today
A Workshop for Parents and Educators |
If we wish to uncover the roots of despair and violence that lurk in the hearts of young people, we must understand their subculture -- their music, clothing, games, their friendships, rivalries and relationships. Only then do we have a chance of helping them develop, not just academically, but emotionally and morally.
But so much of what adolescents do seems enigmatic. Why, for example, do they wear their baseball caps on backwards, dress in grunge or goth clothing, pierce their skin, apply tattoos, take drugs, attend concerts by sexually perverse rock stars and mash dance? All of these interests have profound symbolic meaning, of which young people themselves are unaware.
Deciphering their meaning requires learning what Erich Fromm called "the forgotten language," the language of symbols, myths, fairy tales, and dreams. This workshop is an introduction to the language of symbols and myths, especially as it applies to understanding the present generation of students. Uncovering the symbolic ground of our desires, conflicts, and anxieties, allows us to be free of them. This is education in the truest sense. No knowledge could be more therapeutic, nor of greater practical value.
Our workshop will offer many helpful suggestions and exercises for understanding both ourselves and our students. It will be of immense value to parents & educators.
How to Be Hip to
Your True Self
A Workshop for Students in
Search of Liberating Self-knowledge
In this workshop, we'll examine our music, clothing, games, our friendships, rivalries, food preferences, and relationships for clues to the mystery of who we are. Another valuable clue to our identity lies in what we consider to be hip or cool. Therefore, we shall explore the symbolic meaning of grunge or goth clothing, piercing our skin, applying tattoos, attending concerts by weird rock stars, rap music, mash dancing and other expressions of our contemporary youth subculture.
The purpose of this workshop will be to attain emotional liberation. What Socrates taught 2500 years ago is still true today -- only self-knowledge can free us from our dark desires, conflicts, and anxieties, and make us truly happy and fulfilled.
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