Poll: Adolescent Prejudice

[Rheden_Sol]

A definition to help;
Adolescent - A transitional stage of physical & mental human development that occurs between childhood & adulthood, so, basically, a teenager.
Prejudice - An unreasonable attitude that is usually resistant to rational influence, often held against a group of people.

I'm doing a personal interest project at school in Society & Culture on Adolescent Prejudice, and i'm collecting research on whether adolescents are prejudiced against certain types of groups, such as ethnicities, or intolerant of people's sexual orientation, or gender stereotyping (boys do this, girls do that, relating to workforce and family life) kind of thing, there are many possibilities.

Anyways, i thought, why not create a poll on the escapist? it could help!

So please, discuss it, any stories you have of outright racism or sexism, your opinion, stories of prejudice you've suffered yourself. It'd be great help to my research.

Much Obliged. =]

 

[SharPhoe]

Absolutely, whether they realize it or not. I'm not gonna lie, teens can be SUPER-QUICK to judge people they don't know a lot of the time. I'm not speaking for everyone, but that's from experience.

 

[Blackadder51]

Most teens judge very quickly. eg my friends and i were walking to school when we saw an arab in traditional clothing, as soon as we were out of earshot he mumbled "bloody terrorist"..

I didn't speak to him for the rest of the day.

 

[lostclause]

Yes but not much more so than other people.

 

[SimuLord]

Absolutely. I joined a white supremacist group at my high school back in the day (although we weren't skinheads---we were long-haired metalhead idiot kids who mostly just sat around watching Beavis and Butt-head.) I got over it when I moved out of my white-bread suburban hometown into a neighborhood full of folks from the Dominican Republic, and I've learned in my travels that white people have the least fun.

 

[Judgedread]

To be honest it depends on the people. I know that most, if not all of my friends are very open minded however, I know that the same cannot be said for everyone.

 

[LongAndShort]

Most teens are. I'll even say that I was. I've grown out of it for the most part and I think most people do.

 

[nicholaxxx]

IDRC, so that apparently makes me a minority, personally I don't really care, save for MY OWN race (but that's based on statistics and facts, not just stereotypes) but i know that others do, IE. my own friends, laughing and Anti-semetic jokes/satire, which really pisses me off because one of my good friends is jewish... whatever, this is getting to personal so I'll cut off here.

 

[Glerken]

In short, yes.
From personal experience, teens are very quick to judge people they just met.
I heard sexist and racist jokes every day.

Not all are, I'm not going to stereotype teenagers, but there are plenty of prejudice teenagers to make it noticeable.

 

[Labyrinth]

I'd say that most of us are. More than adults? That's really hard to say.

The technology age has opened up a world of opportunities to broach the boundaries of presumption. People my age are often more open to other possibilities. Of course you get dickheads, you'll always get dickheads. However most of the people I know my age are mystified by things like racism and homophobia. We just don't get why they're around.

 

[DAMG]

Who cares? It's normal, young people are not fully exposed as most adults, so their judgment is poorer. Of course, this doesn't apply to all, but it's a black-and-white answer.

 

[TheSunshineHobo]

I think the issue is more that people have a predujice towards teenagers. Teenagers are discriminated against as much, if not more, than minority groups and the elderly. That, i think, is a better and more pressing discussion.

 

[Rheden_Sol]

Absolutely, whether they realize it or not. I'm not gonna lie, teens can be SUPER-QUICK to judge people they don't know a lot of the time. I'm not speaking for everyone, but that's from experience.

That is definitely true about the realization thing. I handed out a questionnaire to some people at school, and while their earlier answers seemed like they thought themselves to be tolerant and respectful, the last few questions on "Associate the words with this term...Black, Meterosexual etc etc", the answers became surprisingly racist & sexist & such. I think it tends to be an ignorance, or subconscious thing. "Conative" prejudice, how they're inclined to behave.

 

[manaman]

Less so then adults to certain things. Race, creed, the usual.

They however are more group oriented and seem to feel strongly about others outside their groups. Goth, jocks, nerds. Well you get the idea.

That is the way it was when I went to high school.

 

[Labyrinth]

I think the issue is more that people have a predujice towards teenagers. Teenagers are discriminated against as much, if not more, than minority groups and the elderly. That, i think, is a better and more pressing discussion.

I'd say that it's a stereotype thing. We're either High Achievers or Juvenile Delinquents.

 

[MasterSqueak]

Normally adults who be prejudiced get smacked around by whoever they insult so they shut up.

But a kid or teen insults you? You so much as insult him back and you might as well be a kitten murderer. Because, of course, we must THINK OF THE CHILDREN! And if you're around his age you'll just get detention.

*Sigh*

It's not that they are more prejudiced, just harder to shut up due to the human retardation.

I think the issue is more that people have a predujice towards teenagers. Teenagers are discriminated against as much, if not more, than minority groups and the elderly. That, i think, is a better and more pressing discussion.

This too!

Kind of off-topic but on-topic too, I hate when people complain about "Squeakers" on mic's. So discriminating against people for voice is okay?

 

[Bored Tomatoe]

In general, yes. I, being a teen, can answer no for myself, I'm fairly comfortable with other people's personal preferences, as long as they don't push them on me.

 

[Flying-Emu]

Uh... no? Why do you think that there are so many adolescent homosexuals running around now? Because their peers are more accepting of it.

Then again, I live in Washington, the most liberal state in the fucking Union, so I might be an odd case.

 

[rabidmidget]

i would vote yes but that is too much of a generalization for me

 

[Labyrinth]

Really?
People I know use the word 'gay' as a synonym for 'bad'.
Don't bother defending this as a simple colloquialism; it entirely represents their feelings towards homosexuality.

A few weeks ago, I was talking to some people and they assumed that, being a loner, I must be a stereotypical nerd. This is just one of many instances in which I have been negatively stereotyped.

Oh believe me, I'm not even going to try defending them. However, I've seen that same behaviour amongst a lot of adults too.