It's EVERYWHERE

When we were watching the movie in class, it shows Black Americans that are both in and not in the Jack and Jill society. The people that can not get into the group believe that people being "shunned" by other peers is only present in their life. As I was hearing it, they believe that only blacks have a society that not all blacks can be in. It sounded like the wealthy blacks were saying that they are the only ones that work for it, and that it is handed to whites.
Some of the things they were saying bothered me for a few different reasons. I am a member of the Children of the American Revolution, and that is a group that is somewhat "exclusive" as well. You must be related to someone that served in the Revolutionary War, and you must fill out a very detailed application that must be approved. So the same things happen in white societies too. The reason I was upset with the wealthy blacks was because they think they are the only ones that work to gain the status they did. I know MANY white Americans, including my own parents, that worked and put themselves through school and made their way in this world. They broke out of the lower-middle class lifes that they lived. Both of their parents were blue collar workers, and they have both become successful white collar workers; and they did it themselves. So all of this stuff isn't just present in the Black American lives.
This relates to sociology because it is all in the mind sets. People aren't seeing the bigger picture. I have started realizing that not everything is just like me. There are many different ways of life, and because of this class I have started really realizing this. But aspects of all societies are present in many other societies around the country.

Jail

In class, we watched a 30 Days episode where he went to jail for 30 (25 actually) days. This was a mind blowing thing to watch; I guess I never really thought about what jail would really look like. It made me really appreciate everything that I have in my life and the wonderful opportunities that I have to keep me out of jail. It also makes me feel really bad for all of the people that shouldn't be there. Some of the people are actually mentally challenged, or have physical reasons that they should not be in the same place as people who have committed serious crimes.
This relates to sociology, because people would much rather pay for prisons than places where people can actually get help. When thinking about it, it would make sense that people would want to keep the "bad people" off the street; but some of the people aren't actually bad. Some people just need help, or need to be institutionialized. That would really be helping the country more!
I don't really know how to relate jail to my life. I don't know a lot about jail, and I never want to. I am just thankful for the life that I, and my friends and family, have been born into. I am proud to say that I don't have to worry about jail as an option everyday of my life.

Why is that weird?

In class, we have been talking about social deviance. Deviance is the act of doing something "weird" or different. In sociology, it is okay to do something unnormal, but in the world, people look at you differently. Not all acts of deviance are bad though. We read a story about a man who did an act of deviance and ended up helping a man out of a slump in his life.
We were then encouraged to do an act of deviance in our life, so I thought I would do something to help my friends. I don't normally go out of my way to help my friends, because I have a casual relationship with all of my friends. So, when we were at lunch last week, I decided to do my act of deviance. I did something simple, because I didn't want my friends to be too weirded out. So after we finished eating, I stood up and threw away everyone's trash and put the trays where they are supposed to go. My friends all told me that I didn't have to do that, and they seemed kind of uncomfortable to have me do something so simple for them. One of them even told me to stop because she could do it! I just continued on, and told her not to worry about it. After I threw everyone's stuff away, life went on like nothing had happened. They were all thrown off for a second, but after it was over, life went back to normal.
Why do things that are done just to help people have to be weird? Why can't it be okay to help your friends out once in a while? I don't want it to be weird! I just want to help my friends out, and not have them think that it is weird, especially in a bad way.

Who Am I?

Recently we have been talking about teens and their rolelessness. This is a simple term...not knowing what their role is in life. Teens have been pictured in a completely different way than in the 1960s when the word "teen" came into play. There is so much less in a teenager's life now. Our lives consist of school, homework, friends, sports, clubs and MAYBE a job. Even with this, most of my friends do not have jobs in the school year. So when we are put into college or the real world, it is a shock! Many of my friends have gone to college and been very confused with having to do everything for themselves. Sociologists say that some of this rolelessness may be due to the lack of teen jobs with adult supervisors. Also, there are a lot less public "hang outs". Everywhere that my friends and I go now uses money in some form, and since most of my friends aren't working, the money comes from their parents. All of this leads to that lack of self knowledge. Many teens that do have jobs are in jobs where they work with other teens and possibly one or two adults. This gives a lack of interaction with people who are actually living in the real world.

This relates to our class because we (teens) are being treated as children. When we go into the real world we have to go from being completely dependent to being almost completely independent. That is a huge jump that they expect almost instantly. It's not that easy!!

In my life, my job is a babysitter. I babysit everyday after school until about 6:30. The whole time I am the adult in the situation. I think this is one of the best jobs I can have, because I am acting as the adult to these children while still being able to go home and be the dependent one. I believe this is one of the best ways to give teens a look into the real world. I feel like right now in my life, I am in that awkward "not a girl not yet a woman" stage, but I feel like my transition to woman will be a lot easier after having both of the sides present at once.