Insights Into Teens: Episode 172 “What does it mean to be Woke”

INTRO THEME]
[INTRODUCTIONS]
Insights Into Teens: Episode 172 “What does it mean to be Woke”
My responsible and aware co-host Madison Whalen

Summary
“Woke”. It’s one of the most divisive and misused terms in society today. A term that’s been used to define political philosophies, stifle the education of certain topics, explain away business philosophies and put down people you disagree with.
In today’s episode of Insights Into Teens we’ll talk about what Woke is, what it really means and why it’s so misused as a word.
But before we get to that I’d like to invite our listening and viewing audience to subscribe to the podcast.

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[TRANSITION]

[SEGMENT 1]

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2021/05/homeroom-antiracist-education/618796/
https://bit.ly/3r6213U

A excerpt from a letter to The Atlantic from a concerned parent:

I write as a concerned parent of a fifth grader at a private school that appears to prioritize “social justice” over academic excellence.
The school has brought in a consultant and now the kids are reading all this new woke literature, and at the expense of the classics we all grew up on, like To Kill a Mockingbird and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Most of the teachers and parents I talk with just want school to be school—not some kind of Maoist social reeducation. Who is this all for?

I’m a left-wing New York City Democrat.
I believe strongly in equal rights for all people.
And I think we’ve still got a ways to go when it comes to equality.
But I don’t want school to make my son feel bad just because he’s white.
It’s not like he owned slaves.
His great-great-great-grandparents were starving in Ireland during the time of slavery.

https://mercatornet.com/wokeness-is-stalking-your-kids-heres-how-to-protect-them/78522/
https://bit.ly/3PDsr7l

An excerpt from an individuals blog title “Wokeness is stalking your kids, here’s how to protect them”

In recent weeks, the following incidents took place, all involving people I know personally who live near me.

A middle-schooler was unable to focus at school where a female student who identifies as a boy identifying as a dog kept barking in class.
The teacher refused to say anything about it.

A girl refused to use the school washroom all day because she didn’t want to use the gender-neutral washroom with boys.
Using the girls-only washroom, which is out of the way, would single her out among her peers.

A mother was baffled when her teen started spouting words like “colonialism” and “patriarchy” while dressing down her father for not clearing his plate from the table.

A grad-year student looking into post-secondary options found the first required course for the local college’s fine arts program is “Intro to Critical and Cultural Theory,” a Marxist-based philosophy that subtly encourages aggression and division.

An elementary student borrowed a library graphic novel of Little Women in which Jo comes out as a lesbian and shares a kiss with another girl.

A Catholic high school teacher asked students to introduce themselves using their preferred pronouns.

Examples of wokeism are also taking place in the workforce:

A new employee taking diversity/inclusivity training was required to answer Yes to the question, “Does refusing to use a person’s preferred pronouns constitute harassment?”

A hairdresser had two customers an hour apart tell her how they “can’t say anything” in the face of woke ideology such as these scenarios.
They feel as if their opinions have been nullified.

[AD1: SSE]

[SEGMENT 2]

https://dailyutahchronicle.com/2020/08/09/poma-wokeness-and-the-teenage-psyche/
https://bit.ly/3Xt3T2I

Empowering our Youth

Thanks to technological and social changes today’s younger generation has the ability to use their voices for change more so than any generation before
Some parents are concerned about how involved their children have become in social issues, especially when their children’s opinions begin to differ from their own.
Today’s parents need to take caution when trying to tell the young minds of today to stay quiet about the things happening in a world they are destined to inherit
Any discussion between parents and their teenagers should be done respectfully.
That respect should be a two way exchange.
Parents don’t need to be afraid of their children being “woke” nor should they constrain a teen’s ability to speak up.
Empowerment is something all parents should seek for their children

What does the word “Woke” mean

According to Merriam-Webster the definition of “woke” is to be “aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice).”
It is a term coined by minority communities to express awareness of different issues.
A lack of understanding of the term and of today’s youth lead some to see the word as example of teen slang
While others view it as a way to belittle those with differing political views.
In reality the term is an expression of neither of these negative views.
Those that believe it is fail to understand its significance.

Despite being misused and often misunderstood the term Woke provides a common space to talk about issues on social media and in our communities.
“Wokeness” shouldn’t be dismissed as simply a phase of growing up or an act of rebellion.
Political awareness and activism is beneficial to not only the participant but also the communities and issues they’re involved with.
Political awareness does not mean political correctness
There is room for differing points of views and opinions
Being “woke” means an openness to other ideas, a sense of compassion to the plight of others, a desire to understand an issue from more than just your own perspective
For today’s youth “wokeness” is about taking a stand for what is right and navigating an ever evolving, sometimes scary world.

Parents and leaders of today need to approach “wokeness” with an open mind — and understand that it isn’t just obnoxious slang.
Parents shouldn’t feel worried but rather feel proud that their children are using their voices for good.
They should not dismiss the value of political discussion because of a fear of disagreements or arguments.
Parents must develop a connection and trust with their children so these important discussions, can take place.
If they don’t take place now, when the parents have a chance to help guide their children then it will happen elsewhere under different circumstances in a way that parents aren’t a part of.
The parents of the “woke” teen need to truly “see” their children for who they are and understand that it’s okay if they think differently.
Simply put, a parent with a “woke teen” holds the ability to cultivate and embrace their children’s unique perspective.

[AD2: ENTERTAINMENT]

[SEGMENT 3]

Healthy Activism

Parents should also discuss healthy habits for their teens’ political and social involvement.
It can seem like evolving technology continues to attack the “good ol’ days.”
Safety should be a priority, and teens have grown far warier of the consequences of being too open with opinions and information online.
Political and tech-savviness become even more crucial when teenagers head to college, where many young adults first get involved in social activism.
To prepare for new social environments, parents should teach their children to responsibly engage in politics.
Young adults need to learn that they have a voice and responsibilities that come with it.

Parents misunderstanding “woke culture” leads to condescension and misunderstandings between parents and children.
This dismissive attitude blatantly disregards many issues that young adults today face.
There’s no reason why young adults shouldn’t use their voices.
Thousands of young adults who may be wrongfully brushed off as “woke” are making strides to provoke change and awareness for a variety of issues.
Parents can and should be a healthy part of that movement and those discussions
Adults need to understand that there’s no shame in learning something new from the youth of today.

[TRANSITION]

[CLOSE]

Closing thoughts shoutouts

[OUTRO AND CREDITS]

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00:00:02:14 – 00:00:52:07
Michelle
Insightful podcasts by informative host insights into Things, a podcast network. Welcome to Insights into Teens, a podcast series exploring the issues and challenges of today’s youth. Your hosts are Joseph and Madison, as well as a father and daughter team making their way through the challenges of the teenage years.

00:00:52:09 – 00:01:08:25
Joseph
Welcome to Insights into Teens. This is episode 172. What does woke? What does it. Or be totally blew it. What does it mean to be woke? Clearly I’m not woke again. Even read the script.

00:01:09:00 – 00:01:10:03
Madison
Or just cut it out and.

00:01:10:03 – 00:01:13:24
Joseph
Post.

00:01:13:26 – 00:01:20:07
Joseph
I’m your host, Joseph Whelan, and my responsible and aware co-host Madison Whalen.

00:01:20:12 – 00:01:21:09
Madison
Hi, everyone.

00:01:21:10 – 00:01:23:08
Joseph
So at least I got your name right? That’s something.

00:01:23:08 – 00:01:26:08
Madison
Right? Yeah. You know, sometimes that’s all you really need.

00:01:26:14 – 00:01:28:22
Joseph
So sometimes that’s the most you can hope for.

00:01:28:23 – 00:01:29:24
Madison
Yeah.

00:01:29:27 – 00:01:32:24
Joseph
So how are you doing this week?

00:01:32:26 – 00:01:37:15
Madison
All right. You know, been chilling ever since I’ve been off school.

00:01:37:23 – 00:01:40:04
Joseph
Yes. You have enjoyed your time off.

00:01:40:06 – 00:01:40:25
Madison
Yeah.

00:01:40:27 – 00:01:44:24
Joseph
That’s what the summers for. Relax, recharge and get ready to go back.

00:01:44:26 – 00:01:46:04
Madison
Yep.

00:01:46:06 – 00:02:00:02
Joseph
So this is the next what we like to call controversial topic in this series of nine hard hitting topics. I guess as hard hitting as we get here on insights into teens.

00:02:00:07 – 00:02:01:04
Madison
Yeah.

00:02:01:06 – 00:02:31:06
Joseph
So woke it’s one of the most divisive and misused terms in society today, a term that’s being used to define political philosophies, stifle the education of certain topics, and explain away business philosophies and put down people you disagree with. On today’s episode of Insights into Teens, we’re going to talk about what woke is, what it really means and why it’s so misused as a word.

00:02:31:08 – 00:02:56:04
Joseph
But before we get into that, I do want to just offer a real quick public service announcement and suggest that you if you don’t already do so, subscribe to the podcast. You can find audio versions of this podcast, listeners insights in the teens and audio and video versions of all the network’s podcasts can be found listed as insights in the Things Anywhere you need a podcast these days.

00:02:56:06 – 00:03:11:17
Joseph
I would also encourage you to write in and give us your feedback. This series of episodes is a great example to call in and tell us how wrong we are or how right we are and exchange some ideas with us. We would definitely welcome that.

00:03:11:24 – 00:03:12:13
Madison
Yep.

00:03:12:16 – 00:03:30:19
Joseph
You can email us at comments and insights into things dot com. You can hit us on Twitter at insights. Underscore things. You can find links to all of our social media on our official website at WW dot Insights in the things dot com. Are we ready?

00:03:30:21 – 00:03:32:19
Madison
Sure.

00:03:32:21 – 00:03:39:20
Joseph
Here we go.

00:03:39:22 – 00:04:07:00
Joseph
So you did most of the research on this one here. When the first source that we used was the Atlantic.com, and it’s an excerpt from a letter to the Atlantic from a concerned parent. And they say, I write as a concern. Parent of a fifth grader at a private school that appears to prioritize, quote, social justice over academic excellence.

00:04:07:03 – 00:04:31:27
Joseph
The school has brought in a consultant and now the kids are reading all this new woke literature and at the expense of the classics we all grew up on. Like To Kill a mockingbird and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Most of the teachers and parents I talk with just want school to be school, not some kind of Maoist social reeducation.

00:04:31:29 – 00:05:02:12
Joseph
Who’s this all for? Another one says, I’m a left wing New York Democrat. I believe strongly in equal rights for all people and I think we’ve still got a ways to go when it comes to equality. But I don’t want school to make my son feel bad just because he’s right. It’s not like he owned slaves. His great, great great grandparents were starving in Ireland during the time of slavery.

00:05:02:14 – 00:05:40:24
Joseph
I think these two letters from really two very different camps kind of illustrate what the problem in society is today. It’s that you have to be one extreme or the other. There’s no moderation. You know, you you either jump in with both feet and you charge headlong into these things without really thinking them through because these really aren’t the most intelligent statements that adults could be making about these topics, you know?

00:05:40:26 – 00:05:55:09
Joseph
So I think that’s kind of sort of where we’re going with the podcast today to highlight where some of these problems really are, what the what what’s our next source tell us.

00:05:55:12 – 00:06:27:16
Madison
So pardon my pronunciation of this. Our next source comes from you. Can you help me with that? Mercato Mercato or Netcom? And basically, this is an excerpt of an individual’s blog that titled, quote, Wokeness is stalking your Kids and here’s how to Protect them. In recent weeks, the following incidents took place all involving people I know and personal and know personally who live near me.

00:06:27:18 – 00:06:54:00
Madison
A middle school teacher was unable to focus at school where a female student who identifies as a boy identifying as a dog kept barking in class. The teacher refused to say anything about it. A girl refused to use the school washroom all day because she didn’t want to use the gender neutral washroom with boys using the girls only washroom, which is out of the way, would single her out among her peers.

00:06:54:02 – 00:07:29:07
Madison
A mother was baffled when her teen started spouting words like colonialism and patriarch Aki while dressing down her father for not clearing his plate from the table. A grad year student looking into post-secondary options found the first required course for the local college’s fine arts program is, quote, Intro to Critical and Cultural Theory A more Marxist, a marxist based philosophy that subtly encourages aggression and division.

00:07:29:10 – 00:07:43:27
Madison
An elementary student borrowed a library graphic novel of little women, in which Joe comes out as a lesbian and shares a kiss with another girl. A Catholic high school teacher asked students to introduce themselves using their preferred pronouns.

00:07:44:00 – 00:08:06:16
Joseph
Now, let me take a second that kind of comment on a couple of these things here. Some of these are kind of the extreme of I want to say it’s a it’s really just idiocy. Right. So. So if you got a if you got someone who’s who’s identifying as a dog. Okay. That’s just a cry for attention there.

00:08:06:18 – 00:08:24:03
Madison
Yeah. And I actually have an instance with this. My math teacher ended up mentioning something about this. Some of the other students in my class and I ended up overhearing it and she was talking about like, I have no problem with kids who want to identify as different genders, but I crossed the line when you want to identify as an animal.

00:08:24:05 – 00:08:38:13
Joseph
Yeah, I mean, you’re that’s really someone that’s if you stop to think about it and you talk about it with them and you see what they’re doing, chances are they’re probably mocking the entire situation in there.

00:08:38:18 – 00:08:39:00
Madison
Yeah.

00:08:39:04 – 00:08:44:16
Joseph
And if they’re not, that really is a cry for help and they probably need some assistance.

00:08:44:17 – 00:08:44:28
Madison
Yeah.

00:08:45:05 – 00:09:16:27
Joseph
Because if they’re identifying as a different, you know, animal race, they’re probably trying traumatized and they’re probably hiding from something. Yeah, it’s not some kind of political thing. And the problem I think we run into is all of this becomes political because everything today becomes political. Yeah. And there’s legitimate motivation behind a lot of these things. That has nothing to do with politics.

00:09:16:28 – 00:09:18:02
Madison
Yeah.

00:09:18:04 – 00:10:00:15
Joseph
And that’s sort of lost in a lot of what we’re talking about here today. So a couple of examples of woke ism are also taking place in the workforce. A new employee taking diversity and inclusivity and inclusivity Training was required to answer yes to the question, Does refusing to use a person’s preferred pronouns constitute harassment? A hairdresser had two customers in our apart tell her how they quote can’t say anything in the face of woke ideology such as these scenarios, they feel as if their opinions are being nullified.

00:10:00:18 – 00:10:18:26
Joseph
And again, this is one of those things where it really is. It’s not one side or the other. People who take anything to an extreme are really distorting the entire matter for their own purposes.

00:10:18:27 – 00:10:20:13
Madison
Yeah.

00:10:20:15 – 00:10:56:23
Joseph
You know, we just did our our episode on Pride Month last week and we talked about some of the complaints that people had from the right side where they they don’t think that kids should be going to drag shows that are sexually charged. And I don’t think that’s unreasonable. But in the same breath, they don’t want kids going to drag time, drag queen story time, which the one that I attended had nothing to do with anything that would have been inappropriate to kids.

00:10:56:25 – 00:11:17:29
Joseph
So the generalization that people tend to have when they come up with these specific examples where they want to pick out that 1% of the things that do happen and ignore the other 99% is just another form of extremism where you’re distorting the facts to suit your own agenda.

00:11:18:06 – 00:11:19:02
Madison
Yeah.

00:11:19:05 – 00:11:44:00
Joseph
And you know, a lot of times these anti-woke people say, Well, I don’t want you indoctrinating my kids. Well, what do you think you’re doing when you’re distorting the facts of things and when you’re trying to hide historical facts and when you’re trying to ban books that you don’t agree with, that’s just another form of indoctrination. You don’t want people to indoctrinate your kids as long as it’s indoctrinating your own philosophy.

00:11:44:00 – 00:11:45:15
Joseph
And that was really what they should be saying.

00:11:45:21 – 00:11:46:09
Madison
Yeah.

00:11:46:11 – 00:11:50:11
Joseph
And and that’s just hypocrisy.

00:11:50:13 – 00:12:18:09
Madison
Yeah. And like, I’m not going to ignore the fact that like, like there’s really extreme parts on both sides, like you mentioned, like, yes, they’re like identifying as a dog is just weird and it’s something that no one should really be accepting because you can’t like that’s not something that can really happen. And at the same token, they can also normally not really be seen as a political statement and normally shouldn’t be seen as a political statement.

00:12:18:11 – 00:12:34:09
Madison
And yes, some of like the fears can be somewhat founded, but again, it’s normally a very small minority that just seems to sound louder because like it’s seen as being like really bad or whatever.

00:12:34:12 – 00:12:54:28
Joseph
Yeah. And the problem that you have is when you take things out of context, like if you take a quote out of context and you twisted to try to make your own point, you can look like you’re making your own point and try to support your own point of view. But because you’re taking it out of context, it’s really just a lie.

00:12:55:00 – 00:13:19:11
Joseph
And is that how we want to indoctrinate our kids, to teach them to lie in order to get what they want? Yeah, you either have morals or you don’t. And you can’t pick and choose. You either play by the rules or you don’t. And the people that want to distort the rules and change the rules to win the game are no better than the people that they’re coming out against.

00:13:19:14 – 00:13:27:20
Joseph
And I think really cooler minds need to prevail here. And you have to have reasonable people get together and discuss these things.

00:13:27:23 – 00:13:29:18
Madison
Yeah.

00:13:29:21 – 00:14:08:19
Joseph
So we’re going to take a break. We’re going to come back. We’re going to talk about empowering our youth and we’ll talk about what the word woke actually means, what the dictionary definition is, and how far off and distorted it’s it’s being made in the popular mainstream media. We’ll be right back.

00:14:08:21 – 00:14:39:20
Joseph
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00:14:39:22 – 00:15:10:17
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00:15:10:19 – 00:15:35:03
Madison
Welcome back to insights into teens today we’re talking about what does it mean to be woke and now we’re going to talk about empowering our youth and this information comes to us from the source of daily Utah Chronicle dot com. So thanks to technological and social changes, today’s younger generation has the ability to use their voices for change, more so than any generation before.

00:15:35:05 – 00:15:59:20
Madison
Some parents are concerned about how involved their children have become in social issues, especially when their children’s opinions begin to differ from their own. Today’s parents need to take caution when trying to tell the young minds of today to stay quiet about the things happening in the world. They are destined to inherit. Any discussion between parents and their teenagers should be done respectfully.

00:15:59:22 – 00:16:16:03
Madison
That respect should stay. It should be a two way exchange. Parents don’t need to be afraid of their children being woke or. Nor should they constrain a teen’s ability to speak up. Empowerment is something all parents should seek for their children.

00:16:16:06 – 00:16:23:02
Joseph
So what does woke me.

00:16:23:04 – 00:17:02:01
Joseph
It’s not working. I prepared this. If it’s not working on because I have a wrong one. So, okay, we’ll skip that. We’ll come back. We’ll come back to that. So what does work mean? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, definition of woke woke is to be, quote, aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues, especially issues of racial and social justice.

00:17:02:03 – 00:17:27:16
Joseph
It’s a term coined by minority communities to express awareness of different issues, a lack of understanding of the term and of today’s youth leads some to see the word as an example of teen slang, while others view it as a way to belittle those with differing political views. In reality, the term is an expression of neither of these negative views.

00:17:27:18 – 00:17:35:18
Joseph
Those who believe that it’s those that believe it is a failure to understand its significance.

00:17:35:21 – 00:17:58:13
Madison
So despite being misused and often misunderstood, the term woke provides a common space to talk about issues on social media and in our communities. Wokeness shouldn’t be dismissed as simply a phase of growing up or an act of rebellion. Political awareness and activism is beneficial to not only the participant but also the communities and issues they’re involved with.

00:17:58:15 – 00:18:29:10
Madison
Political awareness does not mean political correctness. There is room for differing points of views and opinions. Being woke means an openness to other ideas, a sense of compassion to the plight of others, and a desire to understand an issue from more than just your own perspective. For today’s youth, Wokeness is about taking a stand for what is right and navigating in an ever evolving, sometimes scary world.

00:18:29:12 – 00:19:08:13
Joseph
Parents and leaders of today need to approach wokeness with an open mind and understand that it isn’t just obnoxious slang. Parents shouldn’t still worried, but rather feel proud that their children are using their voices for good. They should not dismiss the value of political discussion because of a fear of disagreement or arguments. Parents must develop a connection and trust with their children so these important discussions can take place if they don’t take place now, when the parents have a chance to help guide their children, then it’ll help it happen elsewhere.

00:19:08:15 – 00:19:37:13
Joseph
Under different circumstance, it is in a way that parents aren’t part of. The parents of a woke teen need to truly see their children for who they are and understand that it’s okay if they think differently. Simply put, a parent with a woke teen holds the ability to cultivate and embrace their teen’s unique perspective. So you hear politicians throw woke around all the time now.

00:19:37:14 – 00:19:45:10
Joseph
Here’s an example of what we’re talking about. Woke ideology. Woke in the legislature.

00:19:45:11 – 00:19:49:06
Right Wing Nutjob
The woke in the schools. The woke in the corporations. The woke.

00:19:49:06 – 00:19:54:17
Right Wing Nutjob
Mob. Florida is where woke is to die.

00:19:54:19 – 00:19:59:17
Right Wing Nutjob
Have you seen the horror? Come to think of what you’re thinking, Miss.

00:19:59:20 – 00:20:12:04
Joseph
So obviously we had a little bit of fun with that one. But the truth is, the way that it’s being used in those examples and in society in general is wrong.

00:20:12:07 – 00:20:44:06
Madison
Yeah. And one of the things that I found interesting when it came to my research on this was that Woke was actually something that’s existed for far longer than, you know, the public has actually been using it before. Black Lives Matter before really 2020 as a whole. It was something that was coined like in the past by, you know, the colored community as a sense to bring up awareness to the racial injustices of the time.

00:20:44:09 – 00:21:06:00
Madison
And I found it interesting because it was used mainly referred to people being aware of the racial injustices and wanting to actively take part in trying to change them. And then eventually it ended up culminating into relating to other social justice issues such as the LGBTQ plus community and gender equality.

00:21:06:02 – 00:21:35:21
Joseph
And the thing is, the way that politicians tend to use this today is really one to promote fear. You know, if you’re afraid of something and they can come in with a solution and they can fix that problem and take that fear away. That’s manipulation. Hitler did the same thing, you know, And politicians in this country have a history of using conflict and war to boost themselves.

00:21:35:26 – 00:22:15:26
Joseph
You know, Reagan had all his little wars. And in Central America and South America, you had both George W and George H.W. Bush had their own wars to to increase their popularity. You had Donald Trump try to incite race wars with his, you know, fanboy image of all these white supremacy groups. Now, you’ve got someone like Iran, DeSantis, who’s trying to promote a cultural war, because everybody that can rally around some kind of cause, some kind of anger, some kind of hatred can be manipulated and can be controlled.

00:22:15:26 – 00:22:31:13
Joseph
And that’s what populate what politicians are trying to do here. And we’re smarter than that as a society, and we’re better than that as a society. We shouldn’t let people manipulate us like that.

00:22:31:15 – 00:22:32:15
Madison
Yeah.

00:22:32:17 – 00:23:02:21
Joseph
You know, you have you know, I’m going to keep bashing Ron DeSantis here because he’s the king of Woke right now. His entire campaign is about being anti-woke. But at the same time, what else is he doing? He’s banning books in schools. He’s passing legislation that’s anti LGBTQ. He’s passing legislation to dictate what higher education with the college systems can do and what they can teach.

00:23:02:23 – 00:23:30:00
Joseph
He’s doing everything he can to control the minds of the people of Florida, because the one thing that every politician, regardless of party, the one thing every politician is terrified of, is an intelligent voter. An informed voter. Mm hmm. If they can corner the market on what, quote, unquote truth is, then they can control the voting population.

00:23:30:05 – 00:23:30:27
Madison
Yeah.

00:23:30:29 – 00:23:53:29
Joseph
And I don’t want to turn this into a political debate, but the way that they’re taking what really is a positive thing. Being woke. You know, we’ll go back to the definition here. You know, woke is to be aware and actively attentive to important facts. Why wouldn’t you want your kids to be aware of important facts and important issues?

00:23:54:05 – 00:23:54:16
Madison
Yeah.

00:23:54:22 – 00:24:02:06
Joseph
Why wouldn’t you want your kids to be aware of racially charged issues and social justice?

00:24:02:09 – 00:24:23:04
Madison
Yeah, and that’s the one thing that I found a lot of people have been like, not only have politicians been using it, you know, as a sense as to bring a sense of fear to their voters, but it’s also commonly used as an insult against people. Yeah. Which I definitely find strange. It’s like any time somebody like calls another person a wall.

00:24:23:06 – 00:24:27:16
Madison
Like, I just think of that definition and I’m like, Well, that’s not really a bad.

00:24:27:18 – 00:24:55:20
Joseph
That’s like insulting you for being intelligent. You should be dumb like me. Like, it makes no sense. And it follows the philosophy he has of banning books and dictating what can be taught in schools. It’s all about control and controlling that knowledge. And you not being woke means that you’re ignorant of things. Means that you don’t know things, means that your eyes aren’t open.

00:24:55:23 – 00:25:28:25
Joseph
You’re not and can’t. Like I would encourage you, I’m not telling you to take my opinion or anybody else’s opinion. Go do your own research. Go use different sources to do your research on. Don’t just look at one news site when I, you know, peruse my news. I look at probably four or five different news sources, many of which conflict with each other, because while a lot of what they tell you in the media, a lot of what the politicians tell you is is really self-serving.

00:25:28:27 – 00:26:01:03
Joseph
Fake news is real. Right. So you’ve got a lot of media sources out there. Their job is to get ratings, to sell advertising or to sell newspapers or whatever it is. Their job isn’t to bring the truth. So the level of journalistic integrity that used to be part of the news has rapidly decreased. But the information is out there and you can do the research.

00:26:01:03 – 00:26:28:09
Joseph
Any anyone who’s listening or watching the podcast do your own research. Don’t listen to what someone else tells you. I would even say question what your teachers tell you because teachers can be wrong too. We’re human beings. Everybody can be wrong. You know how many times you brought home homework that had errors on it, that had factual information that was wrong.

00:26:28:12 – 00:26:53:22
Joseph
And every time that happens, I find out who the teacher is and I email into the teacher and ask them why this is incorrect, because they’re supposed to be teaching you. They’re not doing it maliciously like politicians are. But people make errors that people make mistakes. If you stop questioning these sources of knowledge and sources of authority, then you’re you’re just a mindless lemming at that point in time.

00:26:53:22 – 00:27:17:06
Joseph
Just get in line and follow behind the next person who doesn’t want to think. We we have the right we have the obligation as citizens to think for ourselves. You know, you’re not voting yet. You will be in a few years. And when you vote, when anybody votes, you need to be an informed voter.

00:27:17:08 – 00:27:37:28
Madison
Yeah. And that’s why, like the thing is, I’ve seen like people commenting on videos about saying like various things, I guess like kind of align with their political alignment and like, I go and Google those sayings, I Google the facts that they have. And a lot of the times they’re not even saying true facts. They never provide their sources.

00:27:37:28 – 00:28:04:21
Madison
They kind of just make up stuff to going to, you know, work with their view. And really I just feel like people should be doing the research before they say anything really, or like try not to, like, constantly have like false facts put out there without actually looking at the research because you could be completely wrong. And a lot of times that happens.

00:28:04:24 – 00:28:35:19
Joseph
And part of the problem is a lot of times the sources that are out there that we rely on seem very legitimate, seem very reliable. But even the news is putting information out that’s incorrect that they wind up correcting afterwards. You’ve got journalists that have their own agendas. You’ve got newspaper publishers that have their own agendas. They’re not out there for your benefit.

00:28:35:19 – 00:29:00:22
Joseph
They’re not out there for the betterment of human society. They’re out there to make money. And anybody who has an agenda that’s different than yours potentially is trying to manipulate you. And that’s just, you know, a fact of nature. So be smart enough to do the research. Don’t just trust a single source and and be smart enough to question these people.

00:29:00:25 – 00:29:22:04
Joseph
Anybody who’s that desperate and that agita it to get you upset about something and they get you agitated about something is trying to do it so that you can’t think what a clear head to be will be aware of things and be intelligent about things.

00:29:22:06 – 00:29:23:20
Madison
Yep.

00:29:23:23 – 00:29:38:29
Joseph
Now, aside from that, there are other things that we can do to try to help the situation along here. When we come back, we’re going to take a quick break. When we come back, we’re going to talk about healthy activism. We’ll be right back. And hopefully I won’t push the wrong button this time.

00:29:39:02 – 00:29:48:00
Madison
Hopefully not.

00:29:48:02 – 00:30:20:01
Michelle
Insights into Entertainment, A podcast series taking a deeper look into entertainment and media. Our husband and wife team of pop culture fanatics are exploring all things from music and movies to television and fandom. We’ll look at the interesting and obscure entertainment news of the week. We’ll talk about theme park and pop culture news. We’ll give you the latest and greatest on pop culture conventions.

00:30:20:03 – 00:30:50:08
Michelle
We’ll give you a deep dive into Disney, Star Wars and much more. Check out our video episodes at YouTube.com. Backslash Insights into things are audio episodes at podcast insights into entertainment dot com or check us out on the web at insights into things Icon.

00:30:50:11 – 00:31:34:00
Madison
Welcome back to Insights. In a teens today we’re talking about what does it mean to be woke. And now we’re going to have a bit of a talk about healthy activism. Parents should also discuss healthy habits for their teens, political and social involvement. It can seem like an evolving technology continues to attack the good old days. Safety should be a priority, and teens have grown far where aware of the consequences of being too open with opinions and information online, political and tech savviness become even more crucial when teenagers head to college, where many young adults first get involved in social activism.

00:31:34:02 – 00:31:46:23
Madison
To prepare for a new social environment, parents should teach their children to responsibly engage in politics. Young adults need to learn that they have a voice and responsibilities that come with it.

00:31:46:25 – 00:31:54:04
Joseph
Parents misunderstanding woke culture leads to condensation, not the kind of condensation you can get from humidity.

00:31:54:06 – 00:31:55:18
Madison
Yeah.

00:31:55:20 – 00:32:27:15
Joseph
And misunderstandings between parents and children. This dismissive attitude blatantly disregards many issues that young adults today face. There’s no reason why young adults shouldn’t use their voices. Thousands of young adults who may be wrongfully brushed off as woke are making strides to provoke change and awareness for a variety of issues. Parents can and should be a healthy part of that movement and those discussions.

00:32:27:18 – 00:32:34:26
Joseph
Adults need to understand that there’s no shame in learning something new from the youth of today.

00:32:34:28 – 00:33:14:16
Madison
And I do want to say something real quick on that last note. So I did this HOBY leadership program a couple weekends ago, and it was something that I was the only representative on my school, and it was kind of a seminar about leadership. And the first person that went up to the first speaker that we ended up seeing actually ended up saying how he thinks that the youth of today are smarter than people of older generations because he ended up having like this.

00:33:14:19 – 00:33:49:06
Madison
He had his own experience at HOBY where he this one speaker, he who was who he ended up watching was basically talking and complaining about his generation and like all the bad things that were happening. And basically he was one of the few people that ended up standing up to that. And he ended up realizing how much smarter the younger generation is compared to the older generation because we have access to so much more information at this point.

00:33:49:06 – 00:33:58:19
Madison
And, you know, I definitely don’t think that parents should shame kids for thinking differently because you can really learn a lot from people who are younger than you.

00:33:58:22 – 00:34:30:01
Joseph
And I agree, 110% thinking differently is how things get better. If you don’t think differently, then nothing changes. Nothing evolves. No inventions come out, no new policies change, no new laws change. And you just you go on numb through through life. It’s when you get those revolutionary thinkers who want to challenge the system and want to challenge the status quo.

00:34:30:03 – 00:35:05:10
Joseph
That real change happens. And we had done a podcast a while back on complaining and basically the conclusion that part of that discussion was nothing changes if you don’t complain and only people who are willing to change things and have the motivate and the intelligence and the willingness to take on ingrained systems are the ones that are going to complain and make that complaint a productive outcome.

00:35:05:13 – 00:35:39:03
Joseph
And you can’t complain if you’re ignorant, if you’re not woke. Right. So if you’re if you’re woke, then you’re in tune with what’s going on. You’re observant of the things around you. You’re questioning the authorities, you’re questioning the media. You’re not believing what the politicians are trying to sell you. You’re smart enough to go out, do the research and figure out things for yourself rather than have somebody else think for you.

00:35:39:05 – 00:36:10:02
Joseph
When you’re not woke, you just don’t want to think for yourself. You’re content to let someone like a Ron DeSantis or someone else think for you. And that’s okay. Not everyone can be extraordinary. And if you want to be incredibly average and an underachiever and not do anything interesting or successful in life, that’s your choice, too. You can do that.

00:36:10:05 – 00:36:29:29
Joseph
Fact The vast majority of the population are like that. But the world needs people who are extraordinary. And the only people in the world who are extraordinary are people who are woke and aware of things. It’s important to keep that in mind.

00:36:30:01 – 00:36:31:16
Madison
Yeah.

00:36:31:18 – 00:36:44:09
Joseph
So who do you think? And we’ll kind of finish up with an impromptu question and answer. Do you think your work?

00:36:44:12 – 00:37:11:19
Madison
I’d say so. If you know the past however many minutes we’ve been on for having kind of clued you into that already, I would consider myself woke. And I don’t consider it an insult. I don’t consider it like my political association. I really just think of it as I’m willing to make change in the world because I, I the world is still screwed up.

00:37:11:21 – 00:37:30:07
Madison
It really is like there’s people who are trying to revert things to the past, and the things that they’re trying to avert are things that are going to harm a lot of other people. And really, we shouldn’t be doing that. We need to be moving forward, not taking like ten steps back.

00:37:30:09 – 00:37:49:15
Joseph
We’ll say. What would you say to somebody who is anti-woke and is trying to drive culture into that anti-war state like we heard from, you know, a big candidate for U.S. president?

00:37:49:17 – 00:38:18:13
Madison
Well, I basically want them to understand that that’s not really what woke is supposed to be. A lot of people that kind of are anti-woke are really using it in the wrong way. And if you notice a lot of like figures that are anti-woke or are against the idea of wokeness normally never define a woke like they normally it’s kind of just supposed to be an implied thing.

00:38:18:16 – 00:38:36:16
Madison
And really a lot of it that kind of just means that they are allowed to shape people’s ideas of what work actually is so that you don’t have to do the research on it. Just take my word for it. So I’d kind of just try to let them know that, no, that’s not at all what work is. You’re kind of getting it wrong.

00:38:36:16 – 00:38:44:25
Madison
And like, I’d provide them sources for like what woke actually means and why. It’s really not as bad as they make it out to seem.

00:38:44:28 – 00:39:17:15
Joseph
So if woke is this dirty word, and there’s a large segment of the population that thinks woke is this newest evil on society. But we know obviously from our research and our discussion here that that woke is a good thing. So if the word woke triggers these people. What word would you use to describe what woke is that would be less controversial.

00:39:17:18 – 00:39:59:00
Madison
If I had to use another word to describe its definition, I’d kind of go along the lines of wanting to make change or something along the lines of the intuitive. Like those are visionary, something like that. Like along the lines of somebody that wants to see change and will make sure that changes, see through someone who’s willing to what who’s who is willing to watch the world change for the better.

00:39:59:03 – 00:40:02:10
Madison
That’s kind of how I would define it, I suppose.

00:40:02:14 – 00:40:26:25
Joseph
Okay. I think that works. Do you think you could make a compelling enough argument to someone like around the centers to understand that one, he’s using the term incorrectly and to his philosophy is is not conducive to the betterment of society.

00:40:26:28 – 00:40:48:08
Madison
I mean, I feel like I could change the minds of somebody who is anti-woke, but I’m not sure if I could change the minds of someone like Grant Centers because like, you could tell somebody something and say that it’s like that. It’s, you know, actually a good thing. You could provide the source sources, you can apply the definition.

00:40:48:10 – 00:41:16:09
Madison
And some people are still going to remain ignorant. It’s going to be really hard to break that shell. And one thing that I’ve kind of learned is that you can only push for so long as an individual. You can only really do so much for certain people, or you can change the minds of plenty of other people. There’s always going to be at least somebody that will stick to their grounds and will not and aren’t willing to change.

00:41:16:09 – 00:41:38:26
Madison
Because a lot of changing this mindset is really about the individual person who should who, you know, should be the one to change. And a lot of people aren’t really willing to do that because, again, being anti-woke kind of makes you seem a little ignorant to a lot of things and not at all being an insult for anybody.

00:41:38:26 – 00:41:58:02
Madison
That’s anti-woke. But like, I could certainly change a lot of minds who are kind of on the cusp of it. But to people who are so far, I get so far on the line of being against it, I feel a lot of that really just comes down to them wanting the change.

00:41:58:05 – 00:42:33:26
Joseph
So do you do with someone like that, somebody who is unwilling or unable to change, somebody who’s holding society back or potentially taking up a leadership position that could have a detrimental impact on society? What do you do with someone like that? Do you just ignore them? Do you, you know, work to counter them? Like obviously we’re talking in this case specifically about a politician and do you work to get them out of office or do you try to cooperate with them?

00:42:33:27 – 00:42:45:02
Joseph
Do you do you try to do something to alleviate the problem because you can’t eliminate it or do you just ignore it and hope it goes away?

00:42:45:04 – 00:43:13:13
Madison
Well, it can certainly depend on the amount of power that somebody has. You’re talking about an actual politician that has these detrimental views that can affect millions of people who have opposite views of them. Then I’d say it’s probably in your best interest to be at least voting them out. I wouldn’t say you’re going to be able to reason with them necessarily because they a lot of it is more or less just for them to kind of inflate their popularity and to get people on their side.

00:43:13:15 – 00:43:45:03
Madison
So you really can’t do much in the way of convincing them otherwise. You can certainly try, but I’ve kind of I kind of am trying to grasp with the idea that it’s that’s not the most realistic thing to do. So really, the best you can hope for is to just vote them out of office. When it comes to somebody more personal or somebody that has less influence, but still has like these harmful views, I’d say at that point you can probably try to reason with them.

00:43:45:03 – 00:44:20:26
Madison
But even then there’s going to be people who are more stuck up about it. And another thing that I learned at HOBY that somebody ended up mentioning was that there’s going to be at least 40% of of people that aren’t going to like you and like there’s nothing you can really do to change that. However, the majority of people are probably going to like you, and really you should focus on the majority of people who agree and are ready and willing to make that change rather than like the few people that like are not at all willing to change their minds.

00:44:20:27 – 00:44:35:04
Madison
I’m not saying to ignore them completely, but like definitely focus on the majority that of support that you’d have rather than the small minority of people who still want change their minds.

00:44:35:06 – 00:44:45:27
Joseph
Okay. I think that’s a pretty selfless Sophie. So I think we’re going to take a quick break. We’re going to come back. We’re going to get your closing thoughts and then we’ll finish up the business of the podcast.

00:44:45:27 – 00:44:46:18
Madison
All right.

00:44:46:20 – 00:44:53:14
Joseph
We’ll right back.

00:44:53:16 – 00:45:21:13
Madison
Okay. So to everybody out there, I just my hope for this podcast at least, is that at least some people watching have changed their opinions on what woke actually means or at least understood and more clearly what it actually means and to hopefully no longer be using it in such a harmful context. I don’t want to be changing anybody’s views entirely.

00:45:21:13 – 00:45:45:12
Madison
I want everybody to respect everybody’s views, even if they’re different. I just hope that this podcast at least enlighten people on a seemingly political trigger. Word that like is constantly missed used at least to bring light to its true meaning and hopefully even change the minds of few people.

00:45:45:14 – 00:46:14:07
Joseph
Okay. That was a very altruistic justification for this podcast and I think that it suited sort of it. That was all we had today. Before we do go, I do want to get once again, I want to invite you to subscribe to the podcast. I would also ask you to give us a, you know, rating, give us a thumbs up, give us a review on whichever podcast catcher you use.

00:46:14:10 – 00:46:45:09
Joseph
You can find audio versions of this podcast listed as insights in the teens, video and audio of all. The network’s podcasts can be found listed as Insights into things, and we’re available on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, etc. etc.. I would also invite you to write in and give us your feedback. Tell us if we’re totally off our rocker with what we talked about here today or, you know, agree with this and tell us how you try to make a difference in the world.

00:46:45:14 – 00:47:10:29
Joseph
A positive change. You can email us at comments and insights into things dot com. You can find us on Twitter at insights, underscore things on Facebook where it insights into podcast on Instagram, where it Instagram dot com slash insights and the things we do stream five days a week on twitch at twitch dot TVs plus insights into things.

00:47:11:02 – 00:47:29:06
Joseph
If you are an Amazon Prime subscriber, you do get a free monthly twitch subscription. We’d appreciate it through that our way. Or you can reach out to us through our website at WW that insights into things that come and use.

00:47:29:12 – 00:47:48:29
Madison
And don’t forget to check out our other two podcast insights and entertainment hosted by you and Mommy which you guys should hopefully be having a few new podcasts going on. But we have a decent selection enough already and then judging it tomorrow are not entirely monthly podcast, but we just put out a new episode of it hosted by you and my brother Sam.

00:47:49:06 – 00:47:52:19
Joseph
Wow. You’re sure your marketing is getting better? I’ll give you that.

00:47:52:20 – 00:47:55:04
Madison
Thank you. I appreciate it.

00:47:55:06 – 00:47:57:06
Joseph
That’s it, folks. Another one on the book.

00:47:57:08 – 00:47:57:26
Madison
Of you on.