Education Past vs. Present

Education Past Vs Present

     Growing up in an urban community, which was full of individuals of all different race and ethnic back grounds. I never  viewed race or ethnicity as a problem or a conflict because I lived in such a vast multiport of people that I never really paid close attention to it.  But in middle school  a even that occurred that introduced me to race differentially was when all of my middle school teachers  decided to go on strike due to the fact of low test scores in the school. Which resulted in teachers not getting there contracts renewed. In the beginning I really didn’t grasp why my teachers was outside protesting in the first place but all I knew was that they was upset about they wanted a change and quick.

     Now that I am older I now understood the main reason why they were protesting. Also that event open my eyes to different ethnicity and the how different the standard of teaching was compared to the urban education system to the suburban system.  The problem that was happening was in the suburban communities which was heavily occupied by Caucasians was undergoing a very rigorous education system  compared to the teaching district of the urban community. Which was heavily populated with people of color? When it can to the state exams the results was catastrophic, the majority of the students in the urban community was failing that state aptitude test, whiles the children who was in the suburban district was passing with flying colors. So as a result of this the state decided to withhold the contracts of the teachers in the urban communities untie the test scores improved .

    The argument that the teachers was giving was that even though they want to teach the children and they are giving them tool to succeed, they cannot take the test for them in order to make them pass. They was not giving up to  date tool in order for the students to gain in depth knowledge of a subject.

    If you look at how race was divided in the olden days to this present day to be honest not much has changed the only thing that has changed was the ability of blacks to integrate white schools system. In the olden days white schools had the upper hand when I can to preparing there student for life and the advantages that goes along with it. The standard of education was high and the facilities and the tools that the students used was in excellent and up to date condition. Whiles the urban school was extremely poor with a very low standers of education which was being provided for the youth. If you look at the school system now not much has changed even though people say that the test scores of the urban school system has increased, it is still no where near where it should be.

social class

   There was a time when I first came to realization which social class I belonged to. When I was younger it never really bothered me too much. About having money or not having money, in order to determine your social class. I started to take notice when I would always travel around town with my parents and would realize how great and privileged my life was.

   Personally I don’t consider myself to be amongst the upper rich part of society, rather I consider myself to be middle class. My family was never poor, but at the same time I didn’t consider myself to be rich beyond belief. I started to take notice of  my social class when homeless people would start coming up to me ask asking for money. I can remember the first time it happened to me. I was about 14 years old, my mother was driving her new Mercedes Benz.  We were on our way to a restaurant that just opened up around the area. When we got out the car there was a homeless person sitting outside of the restaurant  When we first entered the individual didn’t bother to look at us. May be the person was shy or felt intimidated. To be honest I didn’t feel as if I was much more or a person then he was. I didn’t feel that just because I had more money that I was a much better person then the homeless guy. But he gave off the impression of shame and inferiority. After we finished eating we decided to leave the restaurant and to my surprise the homeless person was still there. My parents walked by him not even speaking. I decided to say hello, he finally picked up his head and looked at me and smiled and said “ hello,  was I able to spare some change”, and I dug into my pocket and pulled out three dollars and I told him yes. And I gave to him all that I had, at the time. But the question that I have is that just because at that present moment in time I had more money then he did. Dose that give me the right to say that he is poor and I am in am rich?

   I guess that was the first time that I realized and took notice to the social classes that was out there in the world and I knew that I was not rich but I knew that I was not poor either. So just took the notion that I was in the middle class.

    Have I ever had a feeling that I have experienced false consciousness of my social class, yes.   Im guessing the only time when I may have the impression of false consciousness is when you are in an area where there is a large group of people who may have more money than you do. When you are not able to afford certain things that you may want and your neighbor  can, it may sometimes give you the feeling of being poor. But in all reality you’re not.

Formal Social Control VS Informal Social Controle

     When ever a person tells you to discuss the mechanisms of formal and informal social control, its not an 100% strait answer. And most of the time a lot of individuals gets the two mixed up. Or they have the definition in there minds but they are not able to put it in words.  Hopefully ill be able to shed some specific knowledge of the two distinct yet similar words. Formal social control  is basically carried out by authorized agents such as police officers, judges, school administrators, employees military officers, and managers or movie theaters. It can be served as a last resort when socialization and informal encouraging people to violate social norms. As for informal social control people use it to enforce norms. Take for example as stated in the book a lot of parents and guardians would use spanking of a child or hitting as a form of informal social control.  Whiles on the other hand child behavioral specialists, has stated time and time again, that if you result to violence on a child that child will grow up and have a vast amount of anger issues. The one think that they also stated that caught my attention was the fact that children who do get spanked would always try and solve their problems through anger and violence. Which is conclusion my lead to a life of failure and destruction.

      One of the most evident formal social controls that goes on in my every day life, is at the work place. I have a boss who is a pretty good guy. He uses his experience to guide his workers, into completing tasks that keep to be done through out the work day. I decided to use him as my personal example of formal social control because he has been given the authority to supervise all of  so he uses is authority to maintain order in the work place.  I also defiantly can state that it is a definite  social environment  of formal control.

       Which of the two is more effective in controlling a society, this is not a strait forward answer because, every individual handles being under manage differently. No two personalities are ever the same. But when you ask a question like which a form or social control is more frequently used in our society I would have to go with Formal Social Control. Because in the world we live in there are much more examples of people exhibiting  formal social control then informal social control. Why do I think this is. People are scared of change when you have a person who tries to introduce a new form of control over a society  people would start to panic and would question the effectiveness of that informal control.  Like the example I used earlier. Some people would like to use a physical bodily punishment in order to train a child. But in the long run that would only show that child only to become more aggressive in solving his or her problems that they may come across.

     Deviance is a constant misjudged word. A lot of people get deviance and deviant mistaken for one another. But as for the mater at hand. Deviance is an exhibiting behavior that violates the standards of conduct or expectations of a group or society.

     I great example that came to mind which best explained the word deviance, is a mother breast feeding a child in a public area.  That is an intimate act that a mother and her newborn would experience together in the private area.  That is how our society views breast feeding an child. But in all reality it is only looked down upon when a mother breast-feeds her child out in the open. It is not considered a crime but it is not a part of our every day behavior so that is my personal opinion why that act is looked as an act of Deviance. 

A life of an interactionist is what best describes me as a person. When it comes to life one must be able to be socially in tuned with

 every one that he or she  may come in contact with. Being able to solve problems with your neighbor and to lend a helping hand is what life is all about. Life should not always be about personal gain but to be able to be a positive influence in a persons life. Some times all a person needs is for you to take time and be a good listener, and by doing that you will be able to open up a whole new world of communication and interaction. That is the mato that i live by.

Face Book The Epidemic

     When face book first came out a couple of years ago, it instantly spread around the world like an plague or the common cold.  When the social network was first launched it was a way for college students to all come together in one place to communicate with other students all around the world. It was a way to personally express your self as an individual. For the few people who don’t understand why face book grew into such a phenomenon is for the simple fact that they never had a face book of there own.  I must admit when I first entered kean university as a freshman I herd every one on campus talking about the new thing that has causing raves all over the internet.  I wasn’t to ambitious of finding out what this website was all about because when it came to website you really had no say with what you read or what you came across on that website. For the simple fact some one else generated the web site.  Even though a lot of people would love to take time out of there busy schedules and to make up a webpage of there own. For the viewing pleasure of others. A large number of people don’t have the time or for a large number most are just not interested.

       Face book was a way to create a personal webpage and to communicate with the world. Millions of people all around the nation figured out that they can share their personal feelings, thoughts and expressions as well as images through the social net work. And that is how the epidemic speeded.  One of the most popular features that face book has is the ability to post your personal pics,  It doesn’t matter what theme the individual wants to post. It could be family oriented or it could be a nice nigh out on the town. The one most popular theme that a lot of students are posting  these days is the club/party theme. During a course of the night individuals would all take photos of the person or friends that they went out with. Some times the students would take pics of their intoxicated friends and would up load it on there profile. Every one that I know on face book loves to up load pics.

     I may be wrong but the second most common application that is on face book is the ability to request a friend. A friend request is really suppose to be an application  where if you know a person in the real would and if you would like them to be learn more about you as a person or just to come and communicate with on your profile that is the main purpose of that application.

     Over the years as more and more people decided to create a face book page. The epidemic grew larger and larger until now there is well over a million users all over the world, like Africa, Europe, and all over the United states and growing. To be honest face book is one of the most addictive websites that is on the web as of now in my opinion. Because I check my face book at least 3 times day. In order to see if I have any messages from friends or if I want to up load any pics that I would love to share with my friends .

Personal Culture Shock In Present Society

In the past the bond that a marage had was special. It was a bond like no other. It was made to with stand the test of time. Once marrages was formed because two people wanted to express the amount of love that they had for one another. A marrage was sopose to be a great union of great paportions. Back in 1963 marrage was greatly defined by a man named William Stephens. He stated that marriage was a social institution that publicly recognized social and intimate bonds. Even till this day that definition still stands steady and strong. Now hear is the reality of the matter. Yes his deffinition may still be the same, but the charectoristics of the word marrage, had drasticly made a change for the worst.

Let keep it real for a minute, may be back in the day a couple would marry becaouse they may have had true love for one another. Now in this pressent day of September 2011, the main reason why a coulp would get married is to survive the economic depression. I know a lot of my peers may have some disagreements with my statement but trust me when I say, there are vast amounts of logic to my statements.I agree with the functionalist views and opnions on how bad family has become.

Most of God willing will graduate from a distinguished college or a university praying to God that you find a decent paying job, am I right ok. Now after a couple of years down the line you are now interested in getting married. Off the top of my head, will you be interested in a person who is struggling in life, barely able to support him or herself. Or will you be attracted to that special some one who is swimming in a pool of debt. That persons credit score is sooooo bad, that they applied for a pay as you go phone planne and got “Denied”. Is that the kind of person that you will be looking to get married to in this day and age, “Hell NO”, will be your answer. Or are there still optumistic people out there who still believe in “LOVE”. If you ask a person to define the true definition of love and what dose it truly mean to love another indavidual, 10 out of 10 people dont even know what love is.

In my heart I honestly feel the due to our ongoing deteriorating ecomomy, has molded a poor discription of what a marrage is really about. Looking at some statiscs, about 12 to 15 years ago the average number of children being born into a family would be an average of four children in tottal to a house hold. Now due to the lack of financial capability, families are copping with the ability of only being able to afford one child. Saddly to say to number or childless families are growing by the number. But hear is the thing. Can you blam a couple for deciding not to even have children due to the unsteady economy.

I have a feeling that there is going to be a person who would deffianatly feel the opposite. So I woulld like to make a statement that will some what justify my statements. I read in the book that. One of the most basice functions of a union or a marrge is the distrubution of lador between a couple. Ok great, now lets talk about this in order to truly understand. You must first be able to comprehend the meaning of labor distubution . Labor distubution in a marrage is the sharing of “ALL” house hold “RESPONSSABILITIES”, which intitles food, clothing, shelter, and monthly bills. Ok now we all must ask our selves one very important question. In order for a couple to have a successful marrage what is the one thig that they will “NEED” to accuir so that all of there responssabilities will be meet, “Captial”. With out money how will a marriage, stand, so you honestly think that the love you have for your spouce will be enough to hold your marriage together. IF you think that then, you are in for a rude wakening. Because with out money you can not eat, then if you can not eat eventually you will starve and die. Then were is your love.

This is a culture shock that I feel that every one should be aware of. Marrage is not how it use to be 15 years ago, people marry now to survive that just my personal onion. Please feel free to comment.   

Running Head: Chapter 1-and Chapter 2 Response Paper Questions

Question Response-Chapter 1 & 2

How this course will be beneficial to my education & Career goals

Kwasi Nyamekye

Kean University

SOC 1000 15

Prof. Andrea Todman

September 3, 2011

Before interring this class I already had a general idea of what sociology pertained to. Now after reading chapters one and two I have gain a more specific definition of what sociology is. “Sociology is the scientific study of social behavior and human groups.” (pg 23, T. Schaefer) To me this course will broaden my ability to understand a vast variety of different cultures that are in our society today. Without the ability to comprehend a individuals, culture and there was of life, it would be hard to collaborate with that person. One of the unfortunate stigmas that has been carried on throughout our society since the dawn of time. Is the fear of understanding a culture that is different than the one that your use to. I have come to a conclusion that this course was designed to break the cycle and to open the minds of young scholars to be able to accept cultures that are different, in so many ways.

This course will be of assistance to me in a variety of ways. When your able to understand why a person’s behavior is the way it is . You will be able to better work with that person no matter the environment which you are placed in. For example, in our culture when we are speaking to one another. We as a society would like the keep a small distance from the person that you are speaking to. We like to call that distance personal space or a more technical word comfort zone. But in France, the French are a group of people who like to communicate with a person in a much closer proximity that we are a custom to use to. So take for example that you are in France and you ask a male French man for direction and you are also a male. Yes, he will be more than happy to assist you. But in the back of your mind you will think that is French man is a homosexual. So as he is moving closer and closer to you whiles he is talking, you as a foreigner will be moving away from him because you have the idea that he is gay. So even tho the French man intentions are just. You as a person who is completely blind to the norms of that culture will feel offended and even disgusted.

I have gained knowledge though previous study in families and society which comes in correspondence with understanding sociology. One of the main reasons why relationships end up in separation, and marriages ending up in divorce, is due to of the lack of understanding of culture on both parts. Whenever you meet a person of interest, the one thing that catches your eye about one another is the physical attraction. Even though, you may not know a thing about the person that you’re interested in all you see is the physical which is the main cause of break separation.

For as long as I can remember, I always knew I wanted to purse a carrier which will bring me bring me wealth and happiness but not at the expense of others. Before I made my career choice, I took a look and analyzed myself as an individual. I took my personal characteristics and placed them in a career which would suit me perfectly. I’m the person that would always put others before myself. Im the kind of person who cares about the wellbeing of others. Even though I know that I may not receive the same treatment in return. That is the fact that I have come to realize about our society. After looking at these two major facts, I came to a conclusion that I wanted to become a registered nurse.

This course will give me the ability and willingness to understand my patients on a much deeper level. This course will give me the ability to be patient with my patients, which will in conclusion give me the ability to take better care of them in the long run. The main purpose of my job is to give them the physical care that they are in need of in order for them to return back to the physical condition once they were in original state. I feel that I can better accomplish that by better understanding them as a person.

Sociological Imagination was introduced by C. Wright Mills.(pg.5 T. Schaefer) He tried to understand social behaviors, he said that its basically the awareness of the relationship between an individual and the wider society, both today and in the past. I feel that this ties in to what I was trying to explain about the foreigner and the French man. Both cultures must find a way to come together to understand one another and to understand a common connection.

In conjunction with my education, this course will defiantly give me the ability to tolerate and to achieve to strive past the expectation of the various professors. Not two professors are the same. One moment I may have a professor who require there students to though rally express themselves in their papers. Then I may encounter a professor who doesn’t care so much about the work all he want to see is if his students ran communicate the teachings back to him or her through lectures and exams. I must be able to differentiate each professor by observation and through communication. This course will defiantly broaden my ability to communicate with different professors from different backgrounds.

Work Cited page

Schaefer T. Richard(2011) Sociology A Brief Introduction. 9^th edition ,DePaul University

(pg. 5—49) New york , New York