"Teenagers get a bad rap" - Richard Lerner PhD Director, for Applied Research in Youth Development, Tufts University.
So much has been said about "terrible teens" that parents get into their roles by expecting the worst.
If a teen is in a band, his folks will assume he'll drop out of school and start doing drugs. See a guy and a girl sharing a rickshaw ride? They'll jump to conclusions about moral character.
Teens are judged by their wardrobes too; a girl in Dhaka city is already eyeballed by passers-by every time she steps out of the house, but if she's wearing Western wear, her character takes a beating as well. As harmless as it seems, stereotyping or name calling stigmatises kids and causes them to act out and rebel. If you have been stereotyped in some way and you want to fight it here's your opportunity to send your story in the form of a poetry, prose or monologue.
German Cultural Centre will provide those with the best pieces with a platform to perform your piece and share your thoughts and experience. There will be workshops prior to that which will help you prepare for it.
Send in your work (in English or Bengali) to German Cultural Centre via email by August 31, 2013. No need for hard copies. Email us your work and a brief description about at [email protected] and please title your email as "Submission for OPEN SECRET: STEREOTYPES."
