Agents of Socialization

I found the article that we had to read for class very interesting. I never realized how many aspects shape children's lives, even though no one is aware of certain influences unless they are pointed out. School has many functions. You go to school to learn reading writing and math(manifest functions), yet you go to school also for social skills and interaction with the real world (latent functions). Everyone always says that latent skills are so much more important because they get you further in life, yet Stevenson still places a much heavier weight on the manifest functions (except Soc class)! Although Stevenson tries to mistake families and people into believing they place a heavier wight on latent functions by encouraging learning targets and extra curricular, when it comes down to it infinite campus with grades is the most important ingredient to academic success at Stevenson. Another agent that I could relate to is day care. I had a nanny that lived with me when I was about 2 until I was around 6. Although I was with my mom also most of the time, my nanny, Lindsey, had a strong impact on me. She was from England and from being around her so much during the years when my brain was vastly developing, I picked up a rather strong British accent. It shows that the people who are around you when you are a young child, even if the are not your mother, have a very strong influence on various aspects of that child's life. Unfortunately, I lost my British accent within a year or two after she moved back to England.

Parental Influences

Before taking a Sociology class, I never thought twice about how the environment shapes our culture. I just thought it was normal to eat using silverware, sit in a chair during class, and always be occupied. After learning about sociology, I have realized that these things are things we learn from the environment and from growing up being nurtured. This is made so clear after watching the video of the girl that was locked up for 12 years. She seems so strange to us, because she does not follow the same norms as we do because she was never nurtured to learn about the American society. We would label her "strange" if we saw her walking down the street and didn't know her story.Because this girl was never nurtured, she had absolutely no influence from her parents. However, many kids in the world today are strongly influenced by their parents. During the college application process, I am applying to only colleges with respectable Business schools. I am following right in my father's foot steps because he owns his own business. I even had to right a college essay explaining why I chose business and I wrote the entire essay explaining how my dad had influenced me throughout my entire life.

Dependency

As an American citizen, I would definitely characterize our country as being highly dependent. We depend on each other for both material and non-material things. Often people depend on another for money or clothes whereas people also depend on each other for support and love. Americans are more afraid to depend on people for the non-material things. People feel uncomfortable asking someone for advice, support, or even guidance on many topics because they feel like they are being a burden, or they just feel awkward. We often mix up dependency with fear. If I do not ask someone for advice it is not necessarily because I do not want to be dependent on them, but more because I am afraid to have a meaningful conversation with that person.

For material goods, Americans hesitate a bit more. For example, I forgot to bring money and I was going to subway with my friends. I hesitated asking my best friend to borrow money because I did not want her to think I was depending on her. Another trend of dependency at Stevenson High School is on homework. When people can not figure out a math problem, they do not try to go beck and figure it out, rather they depend on a classmates homework the next day in school. I hate depending on people for homework because I get frustrated when I can not figure something out myself.

I would say Americans as a whole fear dependency for both material and non-material things. However, the reasons why we fear them are very different.

America- A Consumer Nation

When I started thinking about American Culture, the one thing that I could think of to characterize America is money. We have talked about money in class, "Time is Money," and how we like spending. That is why I would define America as a consumer nation. As Americans, we love to spend money on things to improve our appearance, but also technology and food. The industries dealing with beauty- cosmetics, botox, salons- have all became major staples of American Industry. A girl does not need to drive very far to find a store that sells makeup (Walmart, Walgreens, Ulta). Other industries, such as those selling clothes, also are everywhere because people feel better about themselves when they are well dressed. The second thing we spend money on is technology. It used to be that one TV would be sufficient for a house hold but now, we spend money so every room has a flat screen HD TV. Also, the growth of the ipod has created an "iWorld." This industry has created an array of products that allow us to listen to music, connect to the world wide web, and even contact others. The final aspect of America as a consumer nation is food. We love to spend money on a good dinner. There is no other explanation why their is always over an hour wait at luxurious restaurants such as Wildfire or Cheesecake Factory. Also, their has been an enormous increase in fast food restaurants. Although this seems to contradict my point about spending loads of money, a home cooked meal is much cheapier than paying 2 dollars for a coke when a can probably only costs 50 cents. On a side note, eating fastfood is destroying the folkway of family dinners where you talk about eachothers days. Overall, America is an enormous consumer nation that strives to have unlimited income so you can spend it on fashion/cosmetics, technology, and food.