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