Final Sociology Post

The semester in solciology has been great. I have learned so much about our culture and the different cultures around the world and now I am more sociologically mindful of other people around me. The community service project was a great way to recieve hands on experiences with deviance, race and even social class. This class has taught me so many things this sememster and we didnt need tests to make sure we knew the material. Going over it everyday in class, reading articles on it and watching movies relating the the issues was far more beneficial then tests would have been. Thank you so much for a great semester Mr. Salituro! ~Liv

Crash

This week in class we talked about the topic of racism.  We watched the movie "Crash" this week in order to show racism in the real world.   Even though this movie was fictional, it did a very good job of illustrating how racist people are in real life.  Included in this movie were people from all different racial groups including mexicans, african americans, persians and whites.  Also in this movie were clear examples of implicit and explicit racism.  This was especially shown through the white characters in the movie such as Sandra Bullock and the gun store owner.  After seeing this movie I am able to see the racism that goes on all around the world and how minorities, especially, are affected by it every day.

~Liv

Race: A Social Construction of Reality

This week during class we discussed the topic of race.  We talked about how race doesn't actually exist.  We made it up in order to classify people so that we would feel comfortable knowing which category people are in.  When we first meet someone and they are a mixed race we often feel anxious because we don't know where to categorize them.  In the U.S we have the one drop rule.  If you even have a drop of black blood in your body you are automatically considered black.  It was interesting to learn that just by flying to Brazil you can change your race.  In Brazil, race is determined by your skin color and how you look.  Race was very interesting to talk about because before this lesson I had no idea that race was a social construction of reality.

~Liv

Community Service- Special Olympics Track and Field

Last weekend I went with my mom to volunteer at the Special Olympics Track and Field events at Lake Zurich High School.  After going to the Bocce Ball Special Olympics I was really inspired to get more involved with these athletes.  It was really fun to watch the opening ceremonies and to see some of the athletes that I had worked with before.  At the opening ceremonies the crowd was going crazy for all these athletes and to see their faces light up with all the support they had was really rewarding.  Unfortunately after about six hours of being there the games were cancelled because of bad weather.  I am waiting for when the games are going to be rescheduled because I would love to go back and work with all of the athletes again!

~Liv

Social Class- Monopoly

This week in class we played monopoly with rules according to social class.  There was the horse, old money, the hat, new money, the car, upper middle class, the dog, lower middle class and the iron which was working poor.  I ended up being the car and I was the middle class rung on the social class ladder.  Throughout the game it was really frustrating to have to play on low pay.  The person with old money made the most throughout the game because they had the most money to start with so it didn't really matter how much they lost.  This game helped me to understand how poor people are living paycheck to paycheck.  We also watched another 30 days clip where Morgan Spurlock and his fiance Alex live on minimum wage.  This video helped me to see how hard it is to pay all of your bills even when you are working two full time jobs at minimum wage.

Social Class

This week in class we spent a lot of time talking about the social classes in America.  Many Americans don't like to believe that we have classes but the reality is that we do.  We talked about how many of the families that go to Stevenson are upper middle class.  I hadn't really noticed this until we talked about it but there are many people in schools around us that aren't fortunate enough to have the things that we do. Social classes often make people embarrassed whether you are in the very top portion or the very low portion.  When we watched the video in class we learned that even the bread you eat determines how rich or poor you are.  How we act and who we are friends with are all influenced by our social class.  We may be friends with people who are in the same class as us or who have the same size house as us.  This is a very superficial way to choose our friends but in America, thats what it comes down to.

~Liv

30 Days In Prison

This week in class we watched a show where a guy spends 30 days in prison to see what it would be like.    When we watched this we had a chance to see what it would be like if we ever were arrested.  Some of the stories of the people in jail are sad because most have been in and out their whole life.  My best friends family takes in foster kids while they are waiting to be adopted and just hearing all of the terrible things that these children have been through.  Either one or both of their parents are in jail for dealing drugs or abusive behavior and this kids have to grow up going from home to home waiting to be adopted and not knowing who their real father or mother is.  When I think about the 30 Days in Prison I think that seeing your dad or mom repeatedly going to jail when your younger has a huge impact on how you choose to live your life as you grow up.  Some children end up in jail just like their parents and thats the really sad part.

~Liv

Special Olympics Bocce Ball

Last Sunday, 4/22/12, I volunteered at the Bocce Ball event for Special Olympics.  This experience was great for me.  It was so rewarding to work with all of the athletes and to see their dedication.  This service project reminded me of when we were talking about the values of Americans.  One of the values that was mentioned was our competitiveness.  I would ask all the athletes how they did and if they won their matches and I didn't think there was anything wrong with that at the time.  When it was time for lunch my friend and I sat with some of the athletes from Lamb's Farm.  When I was sitting next to a women athlete, I asked her the question I had been asking the athletes all day, "Did you win your games today?"  When she responded to me she said, "No, my partner and I lost both games but the important part is that we had fun."  Her answer to my question made me stop and realize that I had fallen in to the category of the "typical american".  I had put competitiveness at the top of my priorities.  This women had taught me that the most important part isn't winning, it is to have fun.  As I was falling asleep last night I thought about this more and I realized that this women who I had just met had impacted my life greatly by teaching me that winning isn't everything.  Having fun and being with the people you love is the most important.  It made me realize that I need to check my priorities and stop being so competitive about everything.  She made me realize that instead of asking the athletes if they had won their games or what medals they had gotten, I should have asked them if they were having fun and enjoying the day.  This project was so rewarding for me and I can't wait to volunteer again on May 6th for the Special Olympics Track and Field day at Lake Zurich High School:) 

~Liv

Deviance with Drugs

This week in class we discussed how drugs can be deviant.  We did an activity in class and we tried to classify different drugs into the categories of legal, prescription, illegal misdemeanor and illegal felony.  We didn't know the names of the drugs so we had to use the information given about them to do this.  It was interesting to see all of the groups results because some groups had wanted to make caffeine and nicotine illegal just based on the side effects of them.  This activity helped me to realize that some of the drugs that are legal today really can harm us and their effects are impairing.  Drugs are deviant because people classify them based on what they know they do.  People who do drugs are also deviant because others classify them based on what they are doing and how they are acting.

Deviance

Last week in class we discussed the topic of deviance.  Deviance depends on time period and culture.  Some things that are acceptable in our culture might not be acceptable in others such as holding your significant others hand in public.  As times have changed so has what is known as "norms" or socially acceptable things.  When our parents were growing up tattoos were not acceptable to have and now almost everyone debates whether to get one or not when they turn eighteen.

The "Perfect" Women

This past week in class we discussed how females are influenced by the media.  We watched movies to see how they digitally enhance pictures of models for certain ads.  We watched the extent that they go to to make the model look perfect.  In one case the man who was doing the photoshop used four different bodies of models in order to create that one perfect women.  In our society, the way that women are portrayed on ads gives both men and women a false sense of how a women should look.  Men waste their time trying to find the one perfect ideal women who will measure up to the women in ads and in reality he will never find her because those women aren't real.  Women are greatly impacted by this faulty advertising because they spend most of their life trying new diets and work out plans in order to look exactly like those other women.  There is a rising epidemic of anorexia and bulimia in our society because of the way women are portrayed.  They make models look impossibly skinny and make there skin look virtually pore-less which no one can achieve.  As women, we need to realize how important it is to love the way our body looks and to not chase and unreal image that we could never achieve through healthy means if at all.

~Liv

Marketing to Children

This week in class we learned about how marketing affects children.  From the time that they are first born marketers are trying to sell to children.  This is what they call "Cradle to Grave".  Marketers believe that they need to market to the children as consumers to build up a lifetime loyalty to a product or company.  We looked at ads where children were modeling for Dior and other high end adult companies. I work with kids a lot and I see this happen all the time.  I will see three year olds wearing Juicy jackets, Toms and Uggs.  This is an example of how marketers are appealing to kids.  They are taught to recognize a brand when they are very young.  When we watched the video in class on this it was really sad to see how all the children knew these brands and how it affected the materialistic side of them.  When shopping for children it is very hard to find non-brand clothes.  Children are surrounded by this type of marketing and they won't realize it until they are older and already branded.

~Liv

Nurture and Human Interaction

This week in class we talked about nature vs. nurture and the importance of human interaction.  We learned about several cases of feral children and how they don't know how to speak, eat like a human and how they don't understand the social norms of our society.  Feral children grew up in the wild and adapted the behaviors of animals instead of humans.  We watched an Oprah episode where we met a girl who was raised by wild animals and she adapted their behaviors such as snarling at the camera men, walking on her hands and feet and eating small animals raw.  In these cases, these children were deprived of the human interaction they needed to learn how to speak, eat, chew and live in our society.  Since their parents were never around they weren't able to pick up the attributes necessary to survive in a world outside of the animal one they grew up in.  These cases are very sad to hear about because they could have been normal functioning adults and now they have the knowledge of a first grader when they are thirteen years old.

~Liv

Tuesdays With Morrie- Dependency

This week in class we watched a great movie in class called Tuesdays With Morrie.  I really liked this movie because I also read the book so it was great to see it acted out.  This movie deals with many aspects of American culture and the one that attracted my attention most was dependency.  For some reason we are afraid to be dependent on people and Morrie wasn't.  He accepted the fact that he needed help when he was dying.  He wasn't ashamed of it either.  He says. "There is nothing innately shameful about being dependent.  When we were infants we needed others to live, when we are dying we need others to live, but heres the secret - in between we need others even more."  This quote from Morrie is very important because it shows us how we need to view dependency.  There is no reason for us to be shameful of depending on others because we need it to survive.  The only times that we recognize depending on others is when we are too weak or young to survive on our own.  We don't recognize the fact that throughout our lives we need the help of others to get through.  We are so focused on doing things independently because we have been raised to be independent people.  In my life I depend on my parents for safety, security, shelter, food and love.  I depend on my coaches to help me to become better at what I do and to help me correct my mistakes.  I depend on my teachers to help me learn and to grow as a better person.  I depend on my sister to be there when I need to talk to her or when I have had a rough day.  I depend on my nephews to cheer me up and to help me forget all the hard things throughout the day when we play together.  These are just some examples of the many people I depend on in my life.  I believe that the older we get we become more shameful of asking others for help and depending on others because we believe that we should be independent and provide for our selves.

~Liv  

Values of Americans

When we read the article on the values that we live by I was shocked at how I could find examples for every one of the values.  This article made me realize things in our society that I hadn't noticed before.  As Americans, we highly value time.  We are constantly on a schedule that is down to the minute and we keep ourselves constantly busy.  In Brazil they don't value time as much as we do and they believe that if you are late then you are successful.  Students show up to class late but they don't leave directly when the bell rings.  They stay until they have completed their full class time.  People in Brazil believe that time is important but that it can be pushed back until you have completed what you were previously doing.  In the United State we believe that you are late once ten or fifteen minutes has passed.  In Brazil they cut the time limit at twenty seven or thirty minutes.  You can see how different the value of time is in these two cultures and how diverse the meaning of "late" is.  For us in America time is money and if you aren't doing anything we believe that you are wasting time.  We work hard now and keep busy in order to ensure happiness and security in the future.

~Liv

Culture

This week in class we talked about the different aspects of culture.  One of the things that we talked about is the way that people use their hands when speaking.  In different cultures, hand gestures mean different things.  When experiencing a new culture you need to be aware that certain cultural differences do exist and that you shouldn't get offended because something that is rude in our culture may be perfectly normal in theirs.  Sometimes when we go to new countries we experience culture shock and we aren't able to adjust to the different ways that they have.  We need to remember to be respectful and to not always be defensive and think that somebody is being rude because to them that might be a perfectly normal gesture.

-Liv

Ingroups and Outgroups

This week in class we talked about ingroups and outgroups.  Ingroups are the groups that you are a part of and outgroups are the groups that you aren't a part of.  In the movie "A Bronx Tale" C is a part of many different ingroups.  He is a part of the gang, his family, the other italians and also his friends from when he was little.  One outgroup that C isn't a part of is the black people from the other neighborhood.  These different groups clash because they don't have any common ground.  The father of C didn't like his gang ingroup.  In my life I have many different ingroups.  I am part of a soccer team, a basketball team, a family, a church and a group of friends.  Ingroups and outgroups are an important part of who you are because they help to shape you based on the influence they have over you.  I think that "A Bronx Tale" was a great movie to watch in order to learn about ingroups and outgroups.

~Liv

Odyssey

On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week we all participated in an event called Odyssey.  It is a program that helps students fill their requirements for fine arts classes by brining in a lot of people to teach us new and exciting things!  During Odyssey you are given your schedule the day of and you are put into classes with people you don't know from all different grade levels.  Personally, this experience makes me nervous because I like to be surrounded by people that I am familiar with and teachers that I am familiar with.  This week in class we talked about macro and micro sociology.  Macro sociology is the study of the different groups that people are a part of that influence them and Micro sociology is the study of how the different groups interact face-to-face.  Also in micro sociology you study who the leader is, who talks loud and who talks soft, and which people participate.  This can be seen through the classes at Odyssey because we are all put into new situations which forces a leader to emerge.  Micro sociology can be studied very easily through things like Odyssey or anywhere that people don't know each other because you can see how new people interact with each other.  Throughout my Odyssey experience I was laid back and quiet most of the time and I wasn't a leader.  Now thinking back on my experience, it was interesting to remember how the people in my groups interacted.   

-Liv

Freaks and Geeks

In class this week we watched an episode of Freaks and Geeks.  I really enjoyed watching this because I could see how different groups of people were affecting each other.  I was asked to identify some of the groups that were present in the movie and also to see what function each group serves.  One of the characters that I think was influenced the most was Lindsey.  The freaks were and bad influence on her because they smoked and cut class a lot and before she met them she used to be on the math team.  It was interesting for me to see sociological imagination come in to play throughout the episode.  We were able to see how the society affected all of the different characters.

-Liv

Sociological Mindfulness

Sociological Mindfulness is a topic that we talked about yesterday and today in class.  It is when we realize that we have an influence on the world around us.  Even if an action of ours doesn't seem hurtful, we can influence the way that people around us think and act.  This particular topic is interesting because it shows us that even the smallest actions that we do affect the way that the other people around us act.  Sociological Mindfulness is so rare to find in the society that we live in because we are only mindful of the things that we are responsible for (Schwalbe, Sociological Mindfulness).  Some people think that what they say or do won't matter or have any lasting affect.  In the article that we read, Schwalbe says that as Americans, we learn to be self-reliant and only to look out for ourselves (Schwalbe).  This isn't being sociologically mindful because we aren't thinking of how our actions affect others.  In my life, one way that I can become sociologically mindful is that I can be careful of the words that I choose to use and also be careful of what I am saying around other people.  This topic interests me because before yesterday I never really thought about how I affect others, just how others affect me and my life.  I think now that I am more aware of my role in shaping society I will be more careful of my actions.

-Liv

Who am I?

I am a senior in high school and I've played varsity soccer and basketball since my freshman year at my high school.  I have a twin sister, two older sisters, an older brother, two brother in-laws, two nephews and 2 nieces on the way.  I love having a huge family and when I'm older I want the same thing.  I am nice, trusting and caring towards other people.  I am shy when you first meet me but after a while I am more outgoing.  I love working with kids and right now I work at the preschool in my high school.  The best thing about working with kids is that they are so energetic and it gets me awake in the mornings before school!  The other great thing about working with kids is that they have such an open mind and are accepting to all possibilities.  They make me more willing to open up my own mind and to have a "beginners mind".  I will go to college to play soccer and major in pre-med and after that I want to become a pediatric oncologist because it is important to me to make a difference in the lives of all the small children who have cancer.  I haven't really found out who I am yet other than the concrete things that describe me.  Since I am only in high school I have a few more years to figure it out.  I have focused so much on sports, school and what I want to become and I haven't had much time to think about who I am.  I love horses and have done horseback riding for 6 years.  When I'm older I want to have horses of my own.  There are some things that I haven't figured out about myself yet so stay tuned!

~Liv