Living off minimum wage

Is it possible to live off minimum wage with children and continuous bills that are never ending. Probably not. This week in sociology, we watched a movie of two people getting minimum wage jobs, renting a place to live (in a bad neighborhood), getting to work with one bus pass or walking etc. I have never really realized how hard it is for minimum wage workers to live above the poverty line. There are multiple struggles and hurdles that keep them from staying above. I could not believe how much a hospital bill costs, and I could not imagine if someone had to go to the emergency room. This extra costs hurts these minimum wage workers by not allowing them to go to work that day and maybe not being able to pay for rent or food for a while. It is really sad to think that people are actually living each day or week or month off of their paycheck. In our society, I do not think we give minimum wage people enough opportunities to pull themselves up and stand clear of the poverty line. We also read an article of a woman trying to live off of the minimum wage as well, and it did not work. Imagine if she had children. She even tried working two jobs, and was still continuously struggling. I really feel like we have to try and help these minimum wage people who work so hard, but can never accomplish or get ahead in their lives. It makes me really upset that people have to chose whether to go to work with a fever or an arm that is hurting, or go to the emergency room and get treated. People should not have to chose that, they should be able to get the help they need without worrying about how much it will cost.

Social Classes

During this past week in sociology, we have been watching a really interesting movie about classes in America. It is interesting to see what we define as normal in our social class, and to see what others define as normal in theirs. My parents have always told me that I can be anything I want to be when I am older. The movie portrays otherwise, and it was really eye opening. Even if some people move up in social class, people do not necessarily let them in and think of them as their equals. Poor people could work so hard in their life to move up in social class, but they may never truly fit into their new lifestyle. It was also very shocking to see the lower class people almost kind of give up in getting a better life. People who grow up poor either want a better life, and may get it, or they stay in a class they have always known. The movie also portrayed the wealthiest people in America. Some of the people they interviewed were some of the rudest and most materialistic people. They judged people on the car they drove or what their last name is. This shows that in America, people judge others everyday on things that may or may not seem important to you or me. I really liked this movie, and I am excited to finish it in the next couple of days.

Jail is a revolving door

This week in class, we learned about one of the most shocking and disturbing things that our society deals with daily, jails. When I think of a prison, I thought of a place a lot like how Law and Order or any of those cop shows portray it as being; They are dirty, the guards are mean and violent people, and the prisoners hurt one another. I thought this was television making an over exaggeration, but I was wrong for the most part. Some jails in America treat people with no respect and think locking them up for a few months will solve the crime problem. We read a disturbing article about how guards in a jail would not care if their prisoners were sick, because they thought they were just going through withdrawal. The guards treated these people inhumanly, and did not recognize they were citizens as well fighting for their lives. It is really sad to think that in a country that other countries look up to, that we are treating people horribly and do not care about them. Instead of sending drug dealers or other criminals back to the same neighborhoods they grew up in (they are surrounded by the same exact things), we should give them counseling and help them find jobs. This is what some jails are starting to do, but I honestly think that it is ridiculous that jails are just starting to do that. Jail is suppose to be a place where criminals go so they can fix their mistakes and think about what good they can eventually do in the outside world, instead, it turned into a place where they are treated like caged animals. Criminals are leaving jail and going right back into another usually within months, but I think if we really continue with the counseling and helping these people get back on their feet, it will make a significant difference. Because anyway, in the land of the free, our jails should not be overcrowded and new ones should not be continuously being made.

Who are the saints?

This week, we read a really interesting article about saints and roughnecks at school. The saints were the kids at school who were always thought of as being the 'good' kids and the most respectful. These kids were well liked by others and they were upper class. Whereas the roughnecks were lower class, and teachers continuously looked down upon them. Everyone always thought the roughnecks were up to something, when in actuality, no one ever gave them a chance to be the people they could have been. In this story, the community was very deviant to the boys. Deviance is relative to time and place, and it is also someones perception. Since the teachers perceptions of the saints were that they were amazing kids, the teachers never thought they were doing something wrong. The teachers and the community perceived the roughnecks to be bad kids, so they automatically got in trouble for the same things the saints did. I really think this occurs a lot in communities and in schools. Sometimes, kids dressed a little different or have a certain group of friends are categorized as bad or good kids. This is very deviant of schools and communities, because people have no idea what kind of kids or people they are and want to be. It is really hard in life to go somewhere and not get judged by your clothing or how you look. Every can be have wrong perceptions of people, but I think that in this case, the fact that teachers and the community already decided the fate of the young roughneck boys is very wrong. When the community always put them down and always thought they were going to get in trouble, the boys thought they really had no future and that was who they were. Maybe if the community gave every person the same kindness, those boys could have ended up with a better life (most ended up dropping out of school or in jail).