By Jen Myers
The Anti-Work Movement is not about being lazy – it is about workers being valued, appreciated, and bringing attention to working conditions, said Lowell High School student Karl Awuah-Peasah .
“It was started by people getting together on Reddit,” he said. “They felt they were undervalued and not treated right in the workplace.”
Awuah-Peasah and classmate Dhruv Patel chose to dive into the topic as their capstone research paper for SOC101 – Introduction to Sociology, an Early College course they took as part of Lowell High’s partnership with Middlesex Community College.
The Anti-Work Movement, they found, is both a challenge to businesses and an opportunity for them to restructure the workplace to recruit and retain valuable employees.
On Thursday May 16, 142 students who took the Psychology 101 or Sociology 101 Early College courses – some working alone, others in teams – showcased 105 projects at the Early College Lowell Behavior Sciences Symposium in the cafeteria of the McDonough Freshman Academy.
“The students choose the topics, so it is an interesting way to learn about the interests and perspectives of this generation,” said Sociology teacher Jim Callahan. “I learn a lot by reading their research papers.”
Topics covered a wide range of topics pertinent to society including: social media propaganda, the positive impact of plants on mental health, effects of screen time on mental health, barriers to mental health treatment, the incel movement and online echo chambers, the impact of incarceration on families, medical racism, gender bias, and much more.
Thavy Vanthon focused on Tribal Rights and Displacement of Indigenous People in Cambodia, bringing to light the human rights violations the government of Cambodia is perpetrating against its people in the name of progress and development.
Between 2001-2020 Cambodia lost 2.5 million hectares of tree covering due to illegal logging and deforestation in regions where most indigenous people live, her research found.
“The government is flooding villages so they can build dams and do projects,” Vanthon said. “It is displacing people and putting their lives at risk.”
She added that the indigenous people are also lacking clean water and healthcare; they have had their voices silenced through intimidation and violence.
“In order to protect the minorities of indigenous communities in Cambodia, the country needs to strengthen legal protections, ensuring that people are fully aware of any decision-making processes that involve them and their lands, providing support and resources, and promoting development that respects indigenous rights and cultures,” Vanthon concluded.
Emerson Webb loves love. She and Hayven Pimentel chose to conduct their research on the Evolving Landscape of Love and Marriage.
They started their research in the 1940’s when life seemed much more structured. You were expected to get married to someone of the opposite sex, have kids, and stay together.
They followed the evolution of relationships through the women’s rights movement, the civil rights movement and cases like Loving Vs. Virginia which ruled that outlawing interracial marriage was illegal, the rise of individualism, and the LGBTQIA+ rights movement.
“Standards for marriage are always evolving,” said Webb. “There is always going to be judgment around relationships, but people have the option to choose what they want and how they want to do it.”
“The changing landscape encompasses diverse relationship structures, including cohabitation, same-sex marriage, and non-monogamous arrangements, challenging the structural norms of marriage and redefining the meaning of commitment and companionship,” they concluded. “As technology continues to shape how we meet and connect with potential partners, and as attitudes toward gender roles and sexual orientation become more normalized, the future of love and marriage continues to be even more multifaceted and inclusive.”
Kendrick Del Orbe’s project, The Psychological Aspects of Political Ideology: Mob Mentality, looked at points in history when political ideology created hysteria from the Salem Witch Trials to McCathyism, the Watts Riots, to the Jan. 6 insurrection.
He studied how events like the War of the Worlds broadcast and other media, coupled with politics, shape public views and how when a large group of people start believing something to be true violence is often the result.
“Situations become so hyper-inflated, so emotional,” said Del Orbe.
It is important, he concluded, for society to study and understand psychosocial factors in order to avoid crises and foster resilience, especially in the face of societal changes. Studying group behavior and reaction can help us to formulate strategies to promote well-being and reduce the harm brought by mass hysteria.
Parents all want a better life for their kids than they had, but the approach some take to parenting can be more destructive than empowering, warns Amelia Horn in her study, which sought to understand the Influence of Asian Authoritarians toward child development.
You may be familiar with the concept of “Tiger Parenting,” which had a controversial moment in 2011 with Amy Chua’s memoir “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.”
Horn’s study of this style of strict parenting, focused on immigrant Asian parents in Lowell.
“It is their way or no way and this style of parenting has a very negative impact emotionally, socially, and academically,” Horn said. “Asian children are less likely to seek mental health help because their feelings are not talked about or considered at home and that creates a wide range of ongoing problems.”
Horn said she does think parents can learn to adapt to a new way of interacting with their children and to bridge the emotional divide often seen between Asian parents and children.
“We need better ways to enable Asian families to express their emotions and get assistance without feeling guilty or intimidated,” she concluded.
LPS Notebook 