Final Post =(

It is funny to think that just one semester of sociology has impacted my life more than other classes at Stevenson, but it really has. I really have started looking at things with a new perspective and I am trying to change certain stereotypes I have. The person I am has not really changed, except for some of my values. I still think that the culture I grew up in really influenced the person I am today. I surround myself with people, friends and family, who I want to be with. My friends and family really make up the person I am today, and I still think that you are who your friends are. The biggest influence of my life is my family, especially my mom. She works more hours in a day than most people work in a week. She is one of the hardest working people I know, and she makes me want to become a better person and want to work for everything I have. My family's values and my friends values also influence mine to the highest extent. I did not realize that some horrible stereotypes my family and friends have, have rubbed off on me. After learning in sociology and going to the Uptown Cafe, I am really trying to change the stereotypes I have learned. Growing up in a prosperous community, I think social class has impacted our lives more than others. Before sociology, I did not really think of social class as a very important thing in America; to my surprise, it is what some people base their lives off of. I think if we stop making social class and materialistic things so important, than determining a persons social class will slowly fade away. Because of this class, I look at other social classes much differently and my view about the poor or even the extremely wealthy has changed drastically. I think people are too quickly to always put others in a certain category in America, and it is really horrible. When we watched the movie Crash, it was a little disturbing and shocking to me, because I did not realize how extreme racism still is. The movie really made me look at myself and see if I have done some of the racial tendencies some of the characters in the movie did. It is a horrible thing to say, but I have in the past and I am ashamed to say it. I really hope that I can work on not judging people based on appearances anymore. I know everyone is equal and should be treated equally, but it is hard for me to think that i still have implicit racial thoughts. Sociology has really showed me that I have to change the way I view others and the way I am viewed by others. I would never want anyone to judge me by just looking at me, and I hope that as I grow up, I will change into a better person. Because of my community service experiences and how I learned that one small act impacts others lives in a huge way, I think i will be more inclined to volunteer as I get older. In Sociology we learned that even though community service is an act that is suppose to help others, it also makes you feel better because you are helping others. I know in my life that I want to make others happy and make myself happy as well. That is why I plan on being a nurse when I am older, and helping patients in need. This is a very hard goal, but I really hope I accomplish it. I plan on being a nurse for cancer patients, and I hope that I help as much people I can even if it is in a small way. Sociology really made me change my view about how I look at the world, because it taught me that the world is not just black and white but multiple shades of gray. I hope that people will start accepting every one's differences, and then every one's values and how they view others will change as well. This class has really changed the way I view others and the way I want others to view me, and I hope I can start changing certain stereotypes I have. I really enjoyed the class and I think that this class has impacted my life more than I could say about any classes at school. =)

Crash

While watching the movie Crash in class, I really saw how everyone is related to each other some way and we all come into contact with each other at some point in our lives. It is really interesting to think that we can indirectly affect others because of our own actions and decisions we make. While watching the movie, I saw how much hate people could have just because they want to hate and blame others for something that went wrong in their life. It is really hard for people, including me, to not blame some situation or some one for something bad that could have been prevented in my life. Also, I learned that no matter how hard you fight being "racist" against some group, sometimes it does come out. It is really hard for people to accept they are racist, so they want to believe they aren't and hold it in. In someways it is worse to lie to yourself continuously that you are not what you have become. It is easy to make stereotypes, we all do it, but that is generalizing people and other peoples' mistakes. I really really liked the movie Crash, and everyone should really see it.

Race

This week in sociology we learned about race. Race is something that is just made up to classify people, but how do we classify people by just looking at them. I think that it is really interesting that we classify people based on what they look like from what we are taught as we grow up. I never really realized that I judge people and place them in certain categories, because I was always taught that that is the way things should be. I also found it interesting that if you go to other countries, they have different ways to categorize people's "race." Even though a persons characteristics do not physically change, they are stereotyped as being someone different. I wonder if people are going to make more categories of races that are starting to become more distinguished in America. There are many people, white, black, asian, etc marrying each other. How do we classify them?..are they black or asian or white? I thought it was also strange that people say if you even have a little "black blood" inside of you, you are black-evenif you do nto look black at all. When we also played that game on the computer to guess which person was black, white, asian etc., i found it really interesting that we got a lot of them wrong. People look at other people right away and assume their "race" or culture based on characteristics that they posses. I never realized race was something made up, and this lesson really opened my eyes.

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).