Blog Entry 3- All Because of Culture

     As we grow older we tend to forget what its like to grow up and be teenagers, especially during a certain time or era. We tend to forget how culture and society influences the younger generation. We tend to forget how society affects the younger generation whether good or bad. This chapter explores culture, its role in society and social world and how cuture influences us as human beings. As time progress we learn a better understand of culture and how it impacts our lives and how it allows us to interact with people of different groups. For many people culture is defined as having the knowlegde of arts and music while other refer to it as a way of life. Culture is having the collection of values, beliefs, knowledge and norms along with the language and behavior shared by people which is socially passed on from generation to generation. Culture is learned as we grow up and it is not biological. It operates from individuals to large and larger groups ultimately influencing how people live. For example, my cultural background has always taught me that it is a sign of respect to look at someone in the eyes when they are speaking whereas other cultures might see it as a sign of disrespect. Evey culture differs from what they believe is normal and odd, but one thing is for sure culture in definition is the same to everyone, our values, beliefs, language and our food. As time goes on culture becomes redefine as newer things are introduced. Culture can change as generations develop.

   When I first started to read the article "Teenage Wasteland," I couldn't help but think of an episode of Law and Order Criminal Intent where a group of young adults made a suicide pact as a way out of the life they lived. A young couple much like the couple in the article was part of this pact to end their lives together while others just wanted to end their miserable lives. Much like the author of this article I found myself asking the question "What made them choose this route instead of looking for other alternatives?". I also felt bothered as how the media and adults referred to them as "burn outs". I felt as though these adults and others should have been paying more attention instead of judging them because of their peers and how they dressed and behaved. A major factor of suicide in the teens of Bergenfield was alcohol and drug abuse as well as their families being destroyed by estrangment, death and divorce and their failure in school. Their society failed to help them became better instead of wasting their time trying to pass the time and overcome boredom. Instead they were labled. A lable that followed them even after their death, even after they have taken their own lives they were not respected by society. As adults we sometimes tend to forget how much words can affect our young generations and I believe if these teens were offered some kind of moral support somewhat like the author was doing in trying to figured out why the teens were cutting themselves, the suicide pact between theother teens would of probably not happened.

      The article "Teenage Wastelands" and Chapter 3 relate to each other in my opinion because they both speak about cultural shock (the experience of being disoriented because of a lack of knowlegde about an unfamiliar situation) and what a culture implies to be appropriate behavior. The "burnouts" of Bergenfield were not define as 'appropriate'. The teenagers who committed suicide were expected by their community and society to act and behavor a certain way. The norms as described in chapter 3 told people what they should do and what NOT to do. These teenagers were expected not to take their own lives, to go to college and find a good job and move out of their town, but no one took the time out from labeling them to ask them how they were doing after experiencing a death or divorce in their family. They were simply put off as the bad crowd even after their pact.

     I can somewhat related to the "burn outs" from this article because in high school those were the people I hung out with the most. Although I was considerably book smart and "wise beyond my years" as teachers often referred to me I was drawn to sit at the lunch table with the kids who were lable as burn out or good for nothing and trouble makers. Afterschool I often found myself hanging out with them on the corner store eating a cup of noodle soup to keep warm in the winter or flavor iceys in the summer. I much rather be with the outcast then the nerds in the library or the pretty popular girls at the mall. I preferred to be with the bad kids because to me they were fun to be around. Teachers believed they were a bad influenced to me but I believe I was bad to them. I enjoyed getting into trouble with them and having debates, which to much of my suprise they were not dumb at all. They were just not fulled entertained by school and society was not of any help either.

Blog Entry 2- No Excuses !

In "Experience Sociology" by David Crouteau and Willam Hoynes, Chapter 2 I read about many different theories. I read about sociology being an activity that uses the framework of science to seek results of the social world's phenomena. Many of the research done were uses as a basis of communication to the public which address problem practical to the social world. Different theories were put to the test by gathering data and information to prove and disprove them. Chapter 2 discussed how sociologist use media to bring their findings in basic and applied research and to highlight the aspects of society which otherwise would remain unnoticed and create common errors. The section on the media coverage of domestic violence stood out to me the most because it is something I witnessed and experienced myself. I thought it was very true what the section said on how the media projects domestic violence as being "private family problem" when in reality it affects more than just the families.

The article, "Association is Not Causation" by Richard J. Gelles and Mary M. Cavanaugh relates to my readings in Chapter 2 due to the article basing their information about the links to family violence to research done just as read in "Experience Sociology". The article spoke about the use and misuse of alcohol and drugs leading to family violence such as child abuse and neglect and domestic violence. Although some research aim towards determining that use of alcohol and drugs are in fact the cause violent tendencies others aim to disprove this idea. In fact the article stated that "evidence from cross-cultural research, lab studies and blood tests of men arrested for wife beating and survey research all indicates that although alcohol may have been associated with intimate violence, alcohol is not a primary cause of the violence." The article also speaks of how society and culture plays a big role of how individuals react to alcohol preferably, and whether or not it acts the brains then the results should be the same and have the same consequences throughout different societies.

I believe there's no excuse for child abuse or wife beating and families should not keep quiet about it and the media should not make it seem as though it only happens to one certain group of individuals. This is something that affects not only the family and community but society as well and people should get informed. I have yet to understand why people with partners, whether husbands or wives, and child find the need to inflict pain upon them when intoxicated with drugs or alcohol. I believe there is NO acceptable explanation for ANY kind of abuse.

Blog Entry 1- My Perspective

   I always struggle to answer the question, “Who am I.” I believe with each passing day I am something different, and as time progresses I become someone new. The fact that I am a daughter, sister, granddaughter, niece, cousin, friend, and a girlfriend does not change. Sometimes I am a talker while other times I am a listener. I can be a hardworking student as well a procrastinator. There are times I get stuck talking about myself, my values and beliefs. I believe in many things and believe many different factors define who I am.

  My family is my number one frame. I have learned many life values from both my parents. I learned about the importance of education to get places in life, the importance of spending time with your family and appreciating what you have and the importance of living life to the fullest. I believe my parents are the biggest contributors to the person I am. They have influenced me to better myself since I was able to walk and talk and pushed me to the limit. My grandparents have always been the foundation of my life. Thanks to them I understand the significant of morals, beliefs and life value, and good food.

   My purpose in life is to leave my mark in history, to become someone who impacts the life of many and inspired them to do well for the benefit of life. I aspire to be a per-kindergarten teacher because during these young stages in a child’s life is what defines who they will become in a later life, and by nurturing their hunger for learning they will strive to be the best they can be. As I read “Introduction to Sociology” by Peter L. Berger I was intrigued when I read this following quote. “Any intellectual activity derives excitement from the moment it becomes a trail of discovery. In some fields of learning this is the discovery of worlds previously unthought and unthinkable….” I can relate this quote to my goal of teaching young children because if you  give a young child a box of Lego’s or clay and watch as they make something completely unique, as when you give a toddle a plain box and watch as a world of imagination is unleashed.

   When relating my life to the sociological imagination as such as social events (or historical) that shaped me and the way I see the world would have to be the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001. I was in elementary school the morning of the event and remember looking out the window just as tower two collapsed and the gasp and terrible silence that filled the school. Soon everyone was getting picked up by their parents while mine were vacationing leaving my younger sister and I in the care of my aunt. The recent shooting in Newton, CT was one that also touched very closed to home for me as a future educator. I think I would have done the same as the teachers who put their students’ lives in front of their own. I guess that is “Who I am.”