Saints and Roughnecks

This past week we read an article titled Saints and Roughnecks. It talked about two different types of kids in a school setting, but they were not that different in reality. It explained how most of the kids were into doing illegal things, but the Saints got away with it based on their higher intelligence and ability to appear innocent. The Roughnecks got caught more because of their appearance and lack of money and intelligence. What I took from this story is that it relates very well to actual society and school. There are definitely groups like this in my school that do very bad things and get caught and get in a lot of trouble for it. But for every kid like this, there is without a doubt a kid who appears innocent but still indulges in the same illegal behavior without getting caught and maintaining the false appearance.

Seinfeld episode

A few weeks ago we watched an episode of Seinfeld in class. This episode was about how Elaine's nipple was showing in her Christmas card. This episode was very good for the deviance unit because it showed how if a guy had his nipple showing on a Christmas card, it would not be a big deal. But because it was a woman that was on the card, everyone was freaking out, especially Elaine. This relates to the unit because it shows the difference between men and women and what is considered deviant to one gender, while not deviant at all to the other gender. This also shows how much society cares when it comes down to a certain gender being deviant.

Effect of Media on Children

This week in class we have been learning about the effects of advertising and media on children. I could not agree more with the lesson in that kids are being shaped so much by the world around them, and advertisers are really forcing certain stereotypes and values on kids that should not be forced on them at that age. I remember back when I was a young kid, how much I was impacted by fads and listening to what the media portrayed as the "cool" thing to do or wear. Without the media and technology being so advanced, I really think things would be a lot different. When it comes to gender and the way kids are influenced by media, I really think the media and advertisers have way too much influence on the way kids perceive themselves and how they should grow up to be. This relates to sociology and our lesson because as a whole, kids are being influenced in a very broad way. It's not just a few kids who are being exposed to this kind of advertisement and control, it's almost all the kids in our society today. It becomes a sociological issue because of the massive number of kids being effected by media and advertisements.

Neglected Girl

Last week in class we learned about the neglect of children and how it effects how they grow up and become who they are. In particular we learned about a girl who was neglected by her mom and lived in a small room for years until she was rescued. This girl was living in a 10x10 room with a damp mattress to sleep on, and bugs infesting most of the room. She had parasites and bugs in her hair when she was found, and her vision was almost completely nearsighted because of only being able to see 10 feet in front of her for most of her life. After she was found, she was taken away by child services, which in my opinion was a good thing. According to the video, because the girl was neglected, her brain function was that of someone who was many years younger. Being neglected by her mother almost completely rendered this girl a vegetable in a way. Hopefully years of therapy and proper upbringing can turn her into a normal girl. This story really had an impact on me because of the nerve of the mother to not at least call child services herself. On the other hand though, this story really shows nature vs. nurture because of the fact that this girl had virtually no nurture at all. Without nurture this girl was basically a primate and this video segment really made me think how important nurture really is when bringing up a child.

Tuesdays With Morrie

This week in class we watched Tuesdays With Morrie, and it was a very good movie. Beyond having some humor and a good cast, it truly had a message that was important to understand. Beyond all the obvious messages that Morrie tried to portray to the audience, there was one that took a little thinking. I think that the main message was that one should always have respect for elders. In today's generation, with more and more disrespectful people growing up, less and less kids have respect for elders. I think this movie teaches that eventually everyone will become an elderly person (hopefully), and that people in general, not just kids, should have respect for what they will eventually become. This relates to sociology because people in our culture celebrate youth as opposed to being old. This leads to less people appreciating the wisdom of older people. People need to realize that they should listen to the words of older people because they have already experienced life and have more experience with life than younger people.

Community Service

Last week me and Frank went to Elgin for our community service hours. It was really tough work and I was really proud that I was able to help those people out. On our way there we kind of got lost, but we ended up getting there on time. Doing the community service was great and all, but the best part of the trip was easily something I observed while walking to a dumpster to throw stuff out. I saw a group of older people working on the other house and they seemed to be having a nice conversation. However, right when I walked past, this older white guy was handing out business cards to each of the people he was talking to.There happened to be an Japanese looking guy in the group so I started to laugh to myself thinking about our lesson about how the Japanese look at business cards and act very respectful about it. Then the funniest thing happened. While everyone else just took the business card and crumpled it away into their pockets, the Japanese guy took it with both hands and smiled and nodded his head at the card. The moment I saw this I said to myself "Wow I cannot believe I just saw that." because it was really crazy learning a lesson in class, and seeing a real life example of it literally days later.

Toilet

This week in class we learned about people's different types of cultures and how they all interact across the world. It was particularly interesting while learning about toilets and how there are so many different ones across the globe. One of my favorite examples was one of the toilets in Japan, which was basically a hole in the ground. This relates to sociology because most people are used to using their own toilets or customs, but when in a different country, they are forced to use a new culture's ways and traditions, or in this case, toilets. My relation to this topic really doesn't have anything to do with toilets, but it does have to do with experiencing a new culture from a different part of the country. A few years ago I visited Boston, and I noticed that whenever someone wanted to cross the street, they simply did it. Most people disregarded cross-walks and just jaywalked everywhere. I know people do this in the city of Chicago too, but in Boston it was about 100 times worse in my opinion. This just goes to show you that a culture or custom can be radically different even across the U.S., not just across the entire globe.