What make somebody deviant in society? Is it the way they look? How they act? Where they come from? The answer to this question is actually simply that deviance depends on perception.
If you are viewed by anybody else to be deviant, then you are. The example we used in class was from an episode of Seinfeld. In the episode, Jerry was scratching the side of his nose, but his girlfriend, from her perspective, thought he was picking his nose. Was Jerry being deviant? Yes. Since his girlfriend perceived him to be deviant, he was. In class, we did a reading called Saints and Roughnecks. In this experiment, a sociologist spend over a year observing two groups of male students at the same high school, and tried to determine which was more deviant. The group called the Saints-the preppy, white, wealthy, super involved, good students-were always described by teachers and parents as very good kids. Oppositely, the Roughnecks-poor, minority, poorly dressed, disinterested in school, below average students-were always described as troublemakers, as lazy and lacking drive or potential. In reality, both of the gangs of boys were fairly equally deviant, the Saints being a little more so than the Roughnecks. Both groups of boys drank, vandalized public property, stole, and caused general mayhem, but since the Roughnecks had the appearance of being deviant, they were the group that was always perceived to be that way.
At my own school, I find that a majority of the school is Saints. Being an affluent high school in the suburbs, the students that fit the appearance of deviance are few and far between. Almost all of the students that are deviants are Saints-they appear to be good kids, and do their deviant activity behind closed doors.
Another concept we discussed in class was social class, and how it affects people in America. We defined social class to be a ranking measured by someones income, their wealth, their level of education, as well has some other factors. The higher level someone has of these traits, the higher social class they belong to. Social classes range from the bottom level impoverished, to the top rung, elite capitalists. In America, we don't like to think of ourselves as a culture with a social hierarchy, but in reality, ours is one of the most skewed in the world. The levels of income in our country range from those making less than $10,000.00 a year, to the top 1%, making over $500,000.00 annually. In our country, the top 50% of Americans own over 98% of the wealth.
To demonstrate the realities of the income bracket in America, we played a game of monopoly, where one player played as the old-money capitalist, starting with over $3,000.00 and owning several of the properties, and another player played as the working poor, starting with about $100.00 and no properties, and the rest of the players ranked within that range. By the end of the game, it was impossible for anyone to come close to catching the capitalist, who ended up over doubling their wealth, and the working poor usually ended up in bankruptcy within a few minutes of starting the game. This game was able to illustrate the fundamental ideas within the American social class system, where those with money can just keep making money, and those without continually struggle.
We also looked at how certain aspects of one's social class can affect generations after them. One of these factors was of education. If a child is brought up in a house where one or both parents has a bachelor degree, or higher, that child is much more likely to go to and graduate from college, since there was an emphasis on education in the household. On the other side of the spectrum, a child in a home where both parents never finished high school and both work in minimum-wage, manual labor jobs, that child is very likely to also never finish high school, since college is almost a financial impossibility, and there was most likely little to no emphasis on the importance of education in their home.
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Service Trips #3-5 at Holmes Middle School
Trip #3~
On Thursday November 13, 2014, I went to volunteer to tutor at Holmes Middle School in Wheeling for 2.5 hours after school. I have actually volunteered here since sophomore year, and each year have had the opportunity to work with a different group of kids. Each time I go, I help the kids with their homework or any projects they may need help with. This trip, I really took notice of how the kids at this school, which is in not a especially nice area, put little to no emphasis on their school work. The students I work with are seventh grade girls named Naomi and Kelly, and neither of them seems to grasp the importance of doing well and trying hard in school. I remember when I was in seventh grade, I was already thinking about where I wanted to go for college. These kids, both of whose parents never finished high school, don't even think about high school yet, and seem to already know that they will probably not be able to go to college, and have already decided that school is not of importance to them. I think it is very startling to see how kids that are raised in homes where education is not put on the front burner have completely different outlooks on school and their futures than children who grow up in homes where both parents graduated from college. So, whenever I go to tutor these kids, I try to not just help them finish their homework, but try as much as I can to instill somewhat of an emphasis on education in their minds.
Trip #4~
On Thursday November 20, 2014, I volunteered again at Holmes Middle School, again for 2.5 hours, with the same students, Naomi and Kelly. This trip, I noticed another factor that differentiates the lives of these kids from my own. This middle school is in an area whose residents are predominately Mexican, and many of the children at the school are native Spanish speakers. Through talking to the kids, and listening to them talk to each other, I've noticed that, since a majority of kids speak Spanish at home and are therefore fluent in the language, most of the students that are not native Spanish speakers try especially hard with their homework for Spanish class, and many of them speak enough of the language to be able to converse with the students that are fluent. I find it very interesting that even though many of these kids don't put a very large emphasis on schoolwork, they try hard in that specific subject so that they can fit in with the larger group of students who do speak Spanish.
Trip #5~
On Thursday December 4, 2014, I again volunteered at Holmes Middle School for 2.5 hours. This trip, I again helped my students Naomi and Kelly finish with their homework and, once we had finished, taught them how to play the game Clue. These students, who normally put up quite a fight when I try to get them to finish their homework, and are very reluctant when I try to teach them new things, were suddenly very interested in the prospect of learning a new game. I thought this was very interesting, and illustrated to me that while students who are brought up in different environments may have very different outlooks on education through school, they are all still very willing to learn when I is something that interests them, or is fun.
On Thursday November 13, 2014, I went to volunteer to tutor at Holmes Middle School in Wheeling for 2.5 hours after school. I have actually volunteered here since sophomore year, and each year have had the opportunity to work with a different group of kids. Each time I go, I help the kids with their homework or any projects they may need help with. This trip, I really took notice of how the kids at this school, which is in not a especially nice area, put little to no emphasis on their school work. The students I work with are seventh grade girls named Naomi and Kelly, and neither of them seems to grasp the importance of doing well and trying hard in school. I remember when I was in seventh grade, I was already thinking about where I wanted to go for college. These kids, both of whose parents never finished high school, don't even think about high school yet, and seem to already know that they will probably not be able to go to college, and have already decided that school is not of importance to them. I think it is very startling to see how kids that are raised in homes where education is not put on the front burner have completely different outlooks on school and their futures than children who grow up in homes where both parents graduated from college. So, whenever I go to tutor these kids, I try to not just help them finish their homework, but try as much as I can to instill somewhat of an emphasis on education in their minds.
Trip #4~
On Thursday November 20, 2014, I volunteered again at Holmes Middle School, again for 2.5 hours, with the same students, Naomi and Kelly. This trip, I noticed another factor that differentiates the lives of these kids from my own. This middle school is in an area whose residents are predominately Mexican, and many of the children at the school are native Spanish speakers. Through talking to the kids, and listening to them talk to each other, I've noticed that, since a majority of kids speak Spanish at home and are therefore fluent in the language, most of the students that are not native Spanish speakers try especially hard with their homework for Spanish class, and many of them speak enough of the language to be able to converse with the students that are fluent. I find it very interesting that even though many of these kids don't put a very large emphasis on schoolwork, they try hard in that specific subject so that they can fit in with the larger group of students who do speak Spanish.
Trip #5~
On Thursday December 4, 2014, I again volunteered at Holmes Middle School for 2.5 hours. This trip, I again helped my students Naomi and Kelly finish with their homework and, once we had finished, taught them how to play the game Clue. These students, who normally put up quite a fight when I try to get them to finish their homework, and are very reluctant when I try to teach them new things, were suddenly very interested in the prospect of learning a new game. I thought this was very interesting, and illustrated to me that while students who are brought up in different environments may have very different outlooks on education through school, they are all still very willing to learn when I is something that interests them, or is fun.
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