Monopoly: Reality Style

This week in class we began the week by playing Monopoly with an adapted set of rules. We all started with different amounts of money, based on the social class we randomly got at the beginning of class. This game was supposed to show us how difficult it is to move up at all in social class in real life, and how easy it is to fall down the social ladder at any point. I thought this was such an interesting way to demonstrate this idea of social immobility, and it definitely gave me a different perspective on people in various social classes. People that are in the working class or middle class are working just as hard, if not harder, than the people in the upper-middle to upper classes. Their only disadvantage is being born into a lower social group. How is that their fault? It isn't. I had never thought about social standing in this manner before. Monday night a few of us went to Uptown Cafe. If there's one experience I would recommend to anyone, this would be the one. Living in a community like the Buffalo Grove/Lincolnshire area, we really aren't too exposed to people of wide varieties of social standing. Going to Uptown Cafe showed me that it isn't just people who don't care to go to work, or are living on the street. It's people who are just down on their luck and can't make enough money to support their families above the poverty line. I met teachers, religious leaders...so many people that are educated, but simply can't seem to stay afloat. Many people aren't really aware of this class of people because they haven't been exposed to that type of environment. As our version of Monopoly taught us this week, it's sad, but it's reality.

Social Class

Before we watched the movie about social class this week in sociology, I really hadn't given social class much thought. I mean, I was aware that there were social classes, but didn't really stop and think about who fit in where, or how truly different the people from these different classes could really be. Through watching this film, I learned that there are such vast extremes in society still today that most people are unaware of. There are the people who still have small-town festivities like carnivals and festivals, and there are the social elite that only associate really with one another. Even in our everyday life in the suburbs of Chicago, it's very rare, at least for me, to encounter someone who is much outside of my social class. Sure, there are people ranging from middle class to upper-middle class to upper class that all live in this relative area. However, I think it's really important that, at some point in their lives, people experience life outside of their social class, and learn how different each lifestyle truly is. For me, it was an eye-opening experience that made me appreciate what I have even more.

Guilty Until Proven Innocent? Wait....

The court system in this country appears to be relatively effective at a glance, but when you look closely, there are so many flaws in this. From the minute the arrested people arrive at the prison to await trial, they are treated like prisoners. This doesn't even begin to describe what they go through, though. These people, that supposedly have not even been proven guilty yet, are treated like animals kept in cages. In some ways, it does make sense that the guards have to treat the people awaiting trial in such a harsh manner because the guards are vastly outnumbered and have no weapons to defend themselves if any riots should break out. However, this doesn't make a very good name for the justice system, if the system itself is unjust. All the name-calling, and saying that they don't care what happens to these people and how they're already guilty, is simply unnecessary, and there are definitely other ways to handle these people. I understand that these people are often convicted of some serious crimes, but until they're proven guilty in court, there's no reason to treat them as criminals. Being strict is one thing, but being inhumane is another concept entirely.

OTC or Felony?

Yesterday in class we were given a description of various drugs and their side effects. We were asked to classify them on a scale of 1-4: 1 being over-the-counter, and 4 being a felony. I was extremely surprised by how wrong our predictions were. After we rated the drugs ourselves, we went through and found out what drug matched each description, and were shocked. We had given things like alcohol and nicotine a 4, but marijuana and heroin a 2. This directly relates to the idea of deviance in our society. Certain drugs aren't legally allowed, but based solely on their descriptions you would naturally think otherwise. When comparing the effects of nicotine and marijuana, it was crazy how it seemed that these two substances should actually be reversed in society. The effects of nicotine are so much more severe than that of marijuana, and we realized that it was because of deviance that people saw marijuana as worse than nicotine. If you look at the facts, the results will be extremely different. Since deviance is relative to time and place, I think that this has a direct relationship to the beginning of legal changes for medicinal marijuana, which I think could eventually be nationwide. It's amazing to me how people see certain drugs as worse for you, just based on their legal status.

The Typical Teenage Girl

Think about what comes to mind when you hear the words "Typical Teenage Girl"...skinny? tall? make-up? fashionable? straight hair? unintelligent? Well that's so far from the truth it's scary. The media has led us to believe that the average teenage girl should be all of those things, but that is certainly not reality. I know most, if not all, girls can agree that we're victims of being brainwashed by this mentality, too. We're concerned with how we look, what other people think of our appearence...so much so that people forget about what's really important. The media has given us this idea that appearance is truly what matters, and the modern image of 'what a girl should look like' has become dramatically out of touch. The minute a model or actress puts on a few extra pounds, it's all over the cover of People or Star magazine. Everyone 'ooh's and 'ahh's over Lindsay Lohan or Tyra Banks looking slightly fuller than usual. SO WHAT?? It's possible to be pretty without being a size zero, or without loading on gobs of make up each day. Beauty should be natural and real. Boys definitely don't help in this area, either. If anything, most guys tend to add to this mental image that girls have come to think of as 'attractive'. I mean I don't blame guys either because they've been subjected to this media influence, as well. They see girls on commercials and shows that look flawless...but that's not reality. Most boys see girls for their appearance, as compared to that of the actresses on television. If Marilyn Monroe and Paris Hilton stood side by side, you'd be amazed at just how much our perception of beauty and class has changed over time. I think we should look back to the times of Marilyn Monroe and ask ourselves why the modern image of females has become so outrageous and unrealistic. Let's be honest: the typical teenage girl is someone who trys to look her best, feels slightly self-conscious about her body, and wants other people to compliment her on her looks...right? Well, at least that's probably the majority. Sad, isn't it?

School Rules (literally)

So, today we were talking about how school influences us. At first, I didn't really have much to add to the conversation besides the typical things about how sometimes homework is a waste of time, and grades matter too much. The conversation shortly became something so much more than just about grades, homework, and teachers. We discussed how much the administration and the seemingly endless amounts of silly rules and regulations we're faced with everyday. Park on the line? 4 weeks of LOP. Carry a cup of coffee with a lid to first period? Get yelled at by a security guard. If you just walk through the halls of Stevenson for a day, I can almost guarantee that you'll hear someone discussing their GPA, a different kid talking about college options, and a third and fourth debating over ACT scores. It is certainly very obvious at Stevenson just how much the school values and expectations have shaped its students, both for the good and for the bad. In a matter of three minutes, the entire class had their hands up, ready to add to this conversation about the unnecessary amount of pressure and stress we're put under every single day at school. Kids that usually don't participate had their own stories to add, and it was actually amazing to me just how much we all had in common in this way. I realized that just as much as our friends and family influence who we are, our school community has a significant influence on us in many ways, as well. I know that high school is supposed to prepare you for 'the real world', but I'm pretty sure that in the real world, I can walk down a hallway without being asked what I'm doing or where I'm going. I'm pretty sure that in the real world, at least by age 18, I can carry my own cup of hot chocolate to class without spilling it all over the floor. Basically, I have a feeling that in the real world, there aren't people constantly looking over your shoulder telling you what to do. You're on your own, for the most part. And as scary as that is, we should be ready for it. Stevenson says that they want, "Success for every student," but is that really what's being accomplished by pushing values based on grades, rules, and authority? I don't think so. School rules? Not really.

socialization versus individuality

I was reading the article Human Nature, and while there were many aspects of the reading that I did agree with, one certain thing stood out to me that I disagree with. Towards the end of the article, the author began talking about conforming, and how that's the only way to stay in a group: to conform to the interests and beliefs of a certain group. Now, on the surface, this might seem to make sense, that you'd be friends with people with whom you share interests and ideas, but this is not always true. The article mentions that this is not always the case, but I've learned through my own group of friends how different we all are in our interests and our ways of life. Some of our expectations are very different at home, as well. While my parents expect my friends to call them by first name, several of my friends' parents would be offended by that, and only go by Mr. or Mrs....this was something that was very difficult for me to understand because I'd always grown up around adults who wanted kids to call them by first name. This is just one example of how different my friends and I are in terms of beliefs and values. When it comes to interests, sure, there are certain things we have in common because that's part of why we're friends, but our taste in music, clothes, literature...it's very different. I definitely agree that social interactions are absolutely essential to human life. However, I think that the impact of friends and family is less significant than the decisions of the individual to become who they want to be.