• Question: Has your view of young people changed since begining the competition? Do you think there has been an unfair sterotypeing of teenagers where as some of them are very knowledgable about science lol ;)

    Asked by alicejoanna97 to Gioia, Iain, Jo, Leo, Mariam on 22 Jun 2010 in Categories: . This question was also asked by ladiesoflollipopxxx, alisonkatie.
    • Photo: Joanna Watson

      Joanna Watson answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      My view of young people hasn’t really changed since the beginning of the competition, but I have been really impressed with how clever you have all been and also how patient and understanding you have been when we have been slow to answer your questions, or slow responding in live chats.

      Although it was quite a while ago now, I remember being a teenager really well, and remember how annoyed I used to get when people thought I wasn’t worth listening to because I was young.

      There probably is some unfair stereotyping of teenagers, because there are some bad teenagers that the media focus on, but then there are some bad adults too!

    • Photo: Leo Garcia

      Leo Garcia answered on 18 Jun 2010:

      I have received a several very interesting and thought provoking questions – and it is always nice to see young people thinking in this way. I don’t think my view of young people has changed though, but that’s because I didn’t think that bad of you in the first place!

      In terms of stereotying of young people – the best thing that you can do to counteract negative stereotyping is to act, and encourage your friends to act, in the ways that you would want people to think of you, by being knowledgeable, thoughtful and well behaved.

    • Photo: Iain Moal

      Iain Moal answered on 19 Jun 2010:

      No, my view hasn’t changed that much. I’ve always known that young people can be very smart and are usually very on the ball. My girlfriend is the oldest of eight, and I always enjoy talking with her brothers and sisters. Even the youngest has come out with blindingly intelligent comments. I do think there is unfair sterotyping of teenagers. I suspect that when people get older, they get a bit jealous of teenagers. Teenagers have everything to look forward to and are healthy and absorb information like a sponge.

    • Photo: Gioia Cherubini

      Gioia Cherubini answered on 21 Jun 2010:

      To be honest, I didn’t really have prejudices. Since I wasn’t born in this country I simply didn’t have an idea of how kids of your age are. The only thing is that I thought I would have to use a much simpler language for my answers, but I was very impressed by your knowledge of science already, so I didn’t have to adjust my language at all. You definitely know much more about science than what I knew when I was your age! And you know what? Looking for the answers to your questions, I’ve learnt a lot!

    • Photo: Mariam Orme

      Mariam Orme answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      I had a fairly good view of young people already, otherwise I wouldn’t have agreed to do this!
      😉
      But I must say that I’ve been very impressed by some of the questions that have been asked, you guys have come up with some really interesting, intelligent questions, many of which I haven’t known the answer to!

      I do think there is some unfair stereotyping of teenagers in general though.

      How about you, has your view of scientists changed since the beginning of the competition?

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