Students in the 21st Century

The observation that I conducted was on Saturday afternoon, beginning with the mall. I entered the mall parking lot and observed how students were getting to the mall. Many of the students were dropped off by someone. I saw some students that were driving, speeding into the parking lot, music was loud or they were yelling across the parking lot. Inside the mall there were students of all ages, sex, race, and religion. During the observation, I first watched how the students communicated with their peers and response to authority. Most of the males either greeted the other male with some type of handshake or verbal slang, like “what up homie?” I observed the males greeting the opposite sex with a hug or a kiss. I was really shocked how much public display of affection that I saw. There was lots of laughter and yelling going on amongst students who seem to be with groups of friends. I also observed couples who were hugging and walking with their hands in the others back pockets. I don’t see how that is comfortable to walk around but they did it. Most of the students that I heard conversing were talking about going to the county fair for the night. Many students were saying that they wanted their SWAG right for the night. Swag is a new slang for the appearance of their apparel. I also observed some student using language that is used by individuals with limited vocabulary. I didn’t observe a lot of respect for authority. There were lots of sagging pants, big t-shirts and bandanas hanging out of their back pockets. Inside the mall there were lots of tattoos and piercings on students. I observed earrings in the nose, tongue, ear, eyelid, belly button, and even the top lip. Inside the mall there were some positive sites. Some students were walking for pleasure, keeping their conversations to a minimum. I saw some students getting manicures and pedicure, maybe a little time for relaxation. I observed a set of students getting ready for a travel basketball game and