It's awesome that they put this together (more than I could ever manage with a recorder and question sheet), but I nearly lost it laughing more than once. A paddy wagon? Are paddy wagons even used outside the northeastern US?

I don't want to just attack the video, because I think it's really cool it was even put together. But being not too far removed from the age-group presented on the video (I assume most are between 14-18), the stories which involve myself or associates being accused of an action generally weren't too far from the actual truth.

It's like the Chris Rock skit: if you're pulling money from an ATM at four in the morning, you're up to no good.

EDIT: I hate when people give vague accounts of a story when it's supposed to be first hand information. I can still give you every detail of every encounter I've had with law enforcement from when I was in high school (which were minimal. A couple of times for speeding and a handful for parties that were broken up). These stories are at least five years old and in some cases, older.

If anyone from the video is reading, you would do yourself an enormous benefit by filling in the "or somethings" with what actually happened. When you leave a lot open for interpretation or assumption on the part of the audience, you may not like the result.

I can appreciate TFI's comment that the more details, the better for your believability. Unfortunately, the details and their articulation are not the point. The feeling of being watched, accused, and distrusted is the point - not whether someone was truly innocent or truly guilty. If you're guilty of lying to Mom about going to the library, and on the way to your friend's party you're accosted by a police officer who thinks you owe her an ID (Washington has no 'stop and ID' law requiring you to give up an ID) then your indignation is still genuine, and not at all diminished.

Whose job is it to keep you accountable? If you're high on the hierarchy, there are fewer people who can 'ride herd' on your behavior. For teens, that means that most adults they know (teachers, parents, employers, police) and almost all their peers are potential agents of surveilance and control. As you get a little older, the number of people who watch your behavior gets smaller until you lose your competence, or your regard for what others think about you. Thus, the archetype of the mean old lady who says what she thinks of anyone, and cares little for any backtalk. She's outlived any need to give a crap what you think of her.

But when you're young, it seems that everyone has advice and judgement and consequences for you. Especially if the person in question has a badge.

This all applies to anyone without a private place to hang out - but most especially those who don't have privacy due to economic reasons.

"The greatest hoax played on the masses is that their individual voice is nothing amidst the cacophany of world events." - enpen, an Olyblogger (2006)

lol

I can't help but say this, but if you are runnin around lookin like the uni-bomber, and tapping on the state patrol's office window, I'd be inclined to call the police, if I were a cop I'd sure as heck ask what you were doing. It's called being proactive, you fit a description that is shady, if you want to be treated differently try dressing more appropriately.

Ok, first rule of school: Don't bring white substances to school, you will be asked what the heck it is. If you weren't asked I would be worried

Here's another: Pocket-knives are a no-no at school, you cannot bring them into a weapon-free zone. If you want to blame someone blame the clintons. It's the cops job to call you on it when another student notices you with a knife.

Ok, guy that complains about not being able to hang out anywhere without being hassled. Go to someone's home! WTH is with kids in Olympia wanting to stand on the street corners? Jeebus I'm feeling old! When I was in high school ( 8 years ago ) when we wanted to hang out, we went to a movie if we had money, if we didn't we went to a friends house.

Now I'm further into the movie and he's talking about sleeping in bushes and under bridges. Is this a homeless teen video, or a teen video? One minute we're talking about kids getting arrested for hanging outside of school the next minute we've moved to sleeping under bridges.

Trust is something that is earned, not freely given, by many people. Youth will always have a harder time earning trust particularly with people they don't know. Everyone remembers their youth and how many stupid decisions they made, or how many they observed. Your job as youth is to stick it out until you hit the adult phase.

If you are tired of being harrassed by cops, change the group you hang out with. Change the venue that you hang out at. If you don't want to change these things that's great, but you will be watched. You fit a stereotype and as long as you fit that stereotype you will be scrutinized.

Oh, and I like the concept, the young woman who talked initially in the video makes sense. Putting out the message of "Gosh, look at the crap we put up with." Isn't going to get you a whole lot of sympathy from authorities. If you want to change the perceptions society has of you, try showing what you do that is good. What makes you unique, what do you do to keep yourself out of trouble etc. Many teens went through this, many teens avoided this ( ie kept their natural hair color, didn't smoke, didn't hang out with kids who did etc. ) This is what teens go through, consider it a "growing experience".

I'm going to have to side with Norm here for the general proposition that  you're not oppressed or suffering as an entire group.  I commend the artist endeavor, as I'm a fan of documentaries.  Bravo.  But honestly, only certain youth face adversity.  Those are the poor, marginilized, underrepresented, or non-whites.  There are plenty of youth who have it well off.  With all due respect, stop acting like the world should give you a handout, or else it's a self fulfilling prophecy.  Ask any oppressed society and they will tell you the way they made it out was not complaining but taking action.  But again, you're not oppressed.  If you want to see someone who faces discrimination, go ask a Native American or an immigrant.  Now they face daily challenges.  I saw one black youth in the film.

• Secret & Underground World News (Secret Communiqué)
• http://secretcommunique.blogspot.com/

Norm, et al.: I'd just like to point out (again) that it is not really helpful to root out every perceived inaccuracy in a video like this, but to look for the deeper message that the Rose was trying to convey by making it. She, and many like her, feel dismissed (oh, the irony), mistrusted, abused, and discriminated against. You can either accept that at face value, or you can spend time quibbling about pocketknives and sugar in a baggy. To me, it seems clear that society is not constructed for teens. In fact, it is constructed to be difficult for teens. That's the message.

Is it something about blogging that always makes you guys so freakin' suspicious about everything, or are you just born that way?

on the head.

From a production stand point the vid is done very well.

The content, is nothing really new. When I was a teenager, I thought many of the the same things.

And I agree with what Norm posted.

But Secret really got it right. Capital High, where many of these kids go to school, are really spoiled kids from upper middle class homes. Many of them get things handed to them on a silver platter. And most have never experianced some of the real problems of todays youth that come from poor communities.

I would like some kids from the poor communities of LA, or NY, to watch this video and see what they think. I bet they would find it laughable and more like whining than anything else.

"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself." Leo Tolstoy.

...in what I'm hearing from you guys is that just because it was the same when you were a teen, nothing should be any different now. Wouldn't you have liked it if there had been safe and supportive places to be when you were a teen? What Rose's video tells me is that this is an important way in which our society is broken (and has been broken for a long time). Kids like to party, so why don't we figure out a way for that to happen that is not so risky? If teens could actually go somewhere just for them, and felt comfortable in doing so, then there wouldn't be so many driving deaths, drug od's and other petty crime. But this would require the community actually getting it together to create a truly interesting space that was specifically devoted to teens, instead of expecting them to live between the cracks in society.

It seems to me that this could be done in a much better way, and the excuse of "it was hard for me too" doesn't really move us forward.

The police in Olympia (and thousands of other small towns) face a dangerous double-edged sword so far as this kind of thing goes. We ask them to protect us and then, in the same breath, ask that they keep their noses out of our business. I imagine that it must be an extremely frustrating situation at times... and no one should be expected to tolerate such hypocrisy.

It hasn't been that long since I was a teenager. I went to a local high school and I hung out with the same motley crowd represented in this video. There's nothing "innocent" and "harmless" about their behavior. Teenagers are rebellious. They want to push the boundaries. They want to break the rules and not get caught. They enjoy cursing, smoking, drinking, loitering, having sex, arguing, playing video games, and bragging about encounters with the law. (Even I will admit that it's fun to know that you did something wrong but for no one else to be able to prove that you did it.) The one thing they hate is being faced with the consequences of those actions. Hell, it makes sense. Consequences suck.

Bottom line: The vast majority of police officers really are just trying to do their job. I think it's asinine that certain citizens feel it to be their duty to make that job as difficult as they possibly can, regardless of their age. It doesn't make you noble. It doesn't make you cool. It makes you a pain in the ass.

My comment about the girl in the pink hair (and evaulating "herself" and her company) really has nothing to do with being solicited for prostitution per se. I was only saying that if multiple people make the same comment or come to the same conclusion, it's probably time to do a self-examination (if you care about the commentary).

For instance, if I shaved my hair and came "Goose Stepping" into the BroHo, I'm going to be "stereotyped" as a neo-Nazi. I'm really not a neo-Nazi, but everyone would keep saying Hey, you neo-Nazi. Now, if I want to try and "educate" everyone about my racial preferences, I should keep up the look and prepare to defend myself at every stop along the way. If I'm tired of being called a neo-Nazi, I would probably look in the mirror and figure out why people are calling me a neo-Nazi.

We talk about perception shaping (or being) reality. Well, this is that concept in action. When you walk around wih bright pink hair and a tattoo on your face, you're going to draw a few looks and get a few unwelcome comments. Is it right? No, but you're living in denial if you think society won't judge you by it. Unless you have a superior skill set (e.g. professional athlete, published academic, in a band) or are planning on working in a skate/snowboard shop, having an appearance radically out of the ordinary is usually not going to do you any favors.

And about rape and "blaming" the victim: I don't think people are blaming the victim, but they question the wisdom of the situations people put themselves in. Do you think it would be safe, Crenshaw, to walk around parts of Los Angeles by yourself at certain times of the night (and the day)? Now, if you're mugged going through Compton, Inglewood, Norwalk or any other urban area in Southern California, it wouldn't be "your fault." Ultimately it is the fault of the person who mugged you. With that said, you could have done yourself an enormous favor by using your head in a pragmatic way and saying, "You know what? I bet it's not safe to take this off-ramp." The situations we put ourselves in can largely be avoided with some critical thinking.