Wally Skalij/Getty Images: Shuttle passing Crenshaw Ave, Inglewood CA
As I sit here reflecting on 2012 while setting goals for 2013, my thoughts seem to rest on the German word Zeitgeist and how our culture and worlds are changing.
Looking at Google's 2012 Zeitgiest one can't help but notice we're moving away from Google searches of newspaper headlines, exposes, novels, and texts, towards a world of sound bites, technology and visual images.
"The Zeitgeist (spirit of the age or spirit of the time)
is the intellectual fashion or dominant school of thought which
typifies and influences the culture of a particular period in time."
"Zeit·geist (ts t g st , z t -). n. The spirit of the time; the taste and outlook characteristic of a period or generation"
"(Historical Terms) the spirit, attitude, or general outlook of a
specific time or period, esp as it is reflected in literature,
philosophy, etc. "
Below are four different Zeitgeist 2012 impressions: Google's, The New York Times', YouTube's, and mine. With mine, however, I intentionally left out one component that I hope you'll help me with...but more about that later. First, enjoy Google, The New York Times, and YouTube's Zeitgeist 2012:
Google's Zeitgeist 2012 represents an "aggregation" of over one trillion searches typed into Google Search over 2012. Filtering out spam and repeat queries Google came up with 'top searches' the world performed over 2012. These 'top ten' lists, according to Google reflect the world's current Zeitgeist.
According to Google, "2012 was a year of big moments, from global games to historical elections and everything in between." Based on their analysis, Google's 'most searched' categories were:
Searches (Whitney Houston, Gangnam Style, Hurricane Sandy, iPad 3, Diablo 3, Kate Middleton, Olympics 2012, Amanda Todd, Michael Clarke Duncan, and BBB12)
Images (One Direction, Selena Gomez, iPhone 5, Megan Fox, Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Harry Styles, Minecraft, Nicki Minaj, and Katy Perry )
Athletes (Jeremy Lin, Michael Phelps, Peyton Manning, McKayla Maroney, Junior Seau, Sarah Burke, Tom Daley, Lance Armstrong, Mario Balotelli, and Ryan Lochte)
Events (Hurricane Sandy, Kate Middleton, Olympics 2012, SOPA Debate, Costa Concordia crash, Presidential Debate, Stratosphere Jump, Penn State Scandal, Trayvon Martin shooting, Pussy Riots)
People (Whitney Houston, Kate Middleton, Amanda Todd, Michael Clarke Duncan, One Direction, Felix Baumgartner, Jeremy Lin, Morgan Freeman, Joseph Kony, and Donna Summer)
Feature Films (The Hunger Games, Skyfall, Prometheus, The Avengers, Magic Mike, John Carter, Ek Tha Tiger, Paranormal Activity 4, Taken 2, and Dark Shadows)
TV Shows (BBB12, Avenida Brasil, Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, The Voice, American Idol, Game of Thrones, Homeland, Revenge, Cheias de Charme, and Carrossel)
Performing Artists (Whitney Houston, Michael Clarke Duncan, One Direction, Donna Summer, Lana Del Rey, Carolina Dieckmann, Dirk Bach, Carly Rae Jespen, Michel Telo, and LMFAO)
Consumer Electronics (iPad 3, Samsung Galaxy S3, iPad Mini, Nexus 7, Galaxy Note 2, Play Station, iPad 4, Microsoft Surface, Kindle Fire, and Nokia Lumia 920)
Videos (Gangnam Style, Somebody That I Used to Know by Walk of the Earth, KONY 2012, Call Me Maybe featuring Justin Bieber, Obama vs. Romney Epic Rap Battles of History, A Dramatic Surprise on a Quiet Square, Why You Asking All Them Questions? Crystallize by Lindsey Stirling, Facebook Parenting: For the Troubled Teen, and Felix Baumgartner's Supersonic Free Fall)
Compelling evidence of how graphics are invading our homes, schools, papers and lives, The New York Times has collected infograhic representations of 2012 events. Here are a few of my favorites. Check the link above for their complete compilation.
[NOTE: As these are large graphic representations, I couldn't reproduce them here but they are WELL WORTH a LOOK.]
In short, over the past few years there have been some significant cultural changes that have resulted to a large extent from the explosion of the Internet and social networking.
As a result, comic books and graphic novels are becoming
core elements of our culture (with The New York Times now including
graphic novels in their Book Reviews). According to sales figures (calculated
by Comichron), year to date 2012 comic book and graphic novel sales (as
of September 2012) stood at 16.16% over 2011 Sales. Graphic novels host vibrant sections in book stores, libraries and classrooms, and their content extends way beyond superheroes, high school teens and detectives.
Visual literacy is also an integral aspect of our culture and is a central theme in the new Common Core Curricula mandated for schools across the
country. Information is now being relayed through visual images, and we
must help our kids learn to create, "read" and comprehend visual images as
well as, and in conjunction with, traditional text. We must understand how color, font and images
relay information, how to compose visual messages, and how to read charts and
infographics. [Over the next few months, I hope to blog more about
visual literacy and infographics and hope you join and contribute to the
dialogue.]
Whether we like it or not, visual and verbal communication in
short bursts over text messages,
twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook, are now key elements of
communication, and we need to understand how best to use, compose and interpret them.
That said, here is my ZEITGEIST 2012 (minus one component I need your help with- can you guess which one it will be? Check for details below):
OLYMPICS 2012 (Compliments of Sports Illustrated):
Photo: Peter Read Miller/SI
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
WORLD EVENTS:
PBS "Storm of Debt and Downgrades"
PBS: "China Looks to the Future"
PBS: "Beached Concordia"
AP/Ng Han Guan: North Korea's Kim Jong Un
AP Photo/Altaf Qadri: Mynamar's Aung San Suu Kyi
Thetimes.co.uk: Athens riots
AP/Manish Swarup: Tibetan protester in New Delhi
NASA/Reuters/Robert Markowitz: Last Shuttle flight
Pete Souza/White House Photo via Getty Images: President Obama on Rosa Parks bus at Henry Ford Museum 4/18/12
Reuters/Esam Al-Fetori: Benghazi- US Consulate burns
The Atlantic: damaged Aleppo's Salaheddin neighborhood, Syria
Reuters/Yves Herman: Milk Protest, Brussels
Reuters/Mohamed Abd El Ghany: Anti-Mursi Protesters in Tahrir Square, Cairo 11/27/12
Scout Tufankjian/Obama for America: "Four More Years"
Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images: Loser's Concession Speech
Reuters/Phillip Andrews: The Winner
HURRICANE SANDY:
Reuters/Eric Thayer: Hurricane Sandy:Seaside Heights, New Jersey
Iwan Baan/Getty Images:Sandy hits NYC
AP/John Minchillo: Sandy hits Ground Zero
IMAGES OF SPACE 2012: from the International Space Station, Curiosity rove, Solar Dynamics Observatory, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer - they are mind-boggling, breath-taking inspiring, and worth your time and viewing:
ENTERTAINMENT:
This is where I need your help. I am leaving this open intentionally. Please leave YOUR IDEAS of 2012's epic ENTERTAINMENT EVENTS AND PERSONALITIES (in the comments)- from music, television, shows, movies, plays and art - those that YOU think best represents 2012. I will compile and post the most mentioned songs, artists, events, films, TV shows, plays, etc. in the space below.
Check back next week to see how we've addressed this component of 2012 Zeitgeist!
Your ENTERTAINMENT choices: As of January 28th, Gangnam Style has won in the comments with honorable mention for Justin Bieber and "Me So You So Me" Here are some links.
First, Gangnam Style (note that the English translation is just too racy for me and so be forewarned):
And for the older 'classic' fans "Me So You So Me":
And if you want more resources, here are additional links to THE BEST images of 2012:
As always, thank you for your visits, and please leave your impressions of Zeitgeist ENTERTAINMENT 2012 in the comments.
[Note: In compiling this post I have taken images from various sources and have tried my best to acknowledge original sources. If you have any further citation information for the images above, please leave the information in the comments and I will address them appropriately.]
Mister Rogers Defending PBS to the US Senate in 1969
I admit that in my house we occasionally made fun of Mister Roger's sappy low-budgeted show, and laughed as Eddie Murphy spoofed 'Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood' on SNL, but there was something warm and comforting about watching Mister Roger's Neighborhood. More importantly, there were kids from disadvantaged and troubled homes who needed his soothing, reassuring love and constant commitment.
This clip shows Fred Rogers passionately championing public television and the need to promote "Expressions of Care" while demonstrating that angry feelings can be "reasonable and manageable." My daughter (in her 20's) who grew up watching Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow, and the occasional Mister Rogers, wrote the following reaction: "As a child watching his programming, I didn't quite realize how profound that man was, but man did we loose a leading light when he died."
Just look, listen and feel his passion! It is breathtaking. Where are our champions today?
Let's talk about bullying. It's time to model and teach our bullies more appropriate expressions of conflict while empowering their victims to speak up and not feel embarrassed. Gifted kids should not need to hide their gifts for fear of ridicule. New kids, kids of different ethnicities, sizes, and colors. Rich kids, poor kids, just plain different kids should not feel they have to hide who they are. My kids, for example, should not have had to attend Johns Hopkins University's CTY (Center for Talented Youth) to feel like they belonged. Their schools and clubs should have been able to. Schools, athletic teams, social clubs need to focus on social as well as academic or athletic goals. We need to teach our kids to how to effectively communicate needs and desires and to feel compassion for those who may not be like them. There are two blogs I came across that do just this, you may want to take a look at them:
Now let's talk about graphic novels, and violence: Fredrick Wertham published Seduction of the Innocent (1954) which protested the harmful effects violent imagery in mass media and comic books had on children. [Ironically, the early superhero comics were about standing up to bullies and fighting for the voices of the 'little guys'.] Wertham called television "a school for violence" and his book helped spark a U.S. Congressional inquiry into the comic book industry that led to the "Comics Code." Comic book publishers were to submit their works to the CAA (Comics Code Authority) and those "acceptable" publications would receive a seal of approval. This almost killed the comics industry until recently. Now authors, publishers and readers are finding that comics are not just for adults and there are some truly wonderful, nonviolent fiction and nonfiction publications for kids of all ages.
Yes, there are still violent graphic novels published. There are also very violent novels, movies, plays, music and music videos published and produced as well. It is up to us to promote the positive messages and argue the negative ones.
The Answer as I see it: We need to validate angry feelings while modeling and nurturing appropriate acceptable means of expression. And while Rodgers' puppetry, educational /video clips, even his clothing are now way outdated, his message should not be. We need to promote "expressions of care" in the way we behave, in how we communicate, in the shows we watch, the books we read and the songs we sing.
What we can do as parents and teachers:
It is really important to validate feelings.
If your child or student is angry, insulted, upset, embarrassed, overanxious, etc. acknowledge those feelings - even if you feel they are unwarranted.
IF unwarranted, first, calm him or her down. Once calm, talk in a soothing voice pointing out concrete examples of why he or she may be overreacting. Listen carefully to what they are saying. Continue to acknowledge their feelings while discussing other possibilities.
For a young child, help him or her express feelings. You may want to role play responses (with puppets, dolls, legos, train characters - whatever they will best relate to, find 'fun,' and least threatening).
Brainstorm possible solutions and ways to respond. For a young child who is reluctant to talk about this, you may want to role play with puppets or dolls. When role playing help show your child how to use their words.
When brainstorming, or as a followup, you may want to discuss favorite book, movie, television characters who have dealt with similar issues. Discuss how they resolved the problem. Did it really help? Why? Can the strategy work for your child?
These discussions should be held privately with your child or student. They can then be discussed later, more generically in the classroom as a whole - possibly using story characters (so students involved are not embarrassed or further upset).
If the problem continues, you may want to seek further help from school or medical professionals.
If you see bullying, name calling, shoving, break it up. Don't let it go. Talk to the parties involved.
In your classroom do a lot of group work, mixing up students - helping them learn to work (and hopefully) respect each other a bit more. Supervise group work carefully, monitoring dialogue between frequently targeted kids whenever possible.
If you find your child has been bullied, talk to him or her about it. Talk to the teacher or responsible adults (coaches, playground/cafeteria supervisors - where appropriate).
These are only a few suggestions. I'd love to hear what you do. Let me know how you are promoting expressions of care with your kids. Let me know how you are dealing with violence and bullying. Let's learn from each other while supporting each other - while shaping future Fred Rogers'!
