30. November 2009 by student.

Sexism is the discriminatory attitudes based on traditional stereotypes of sexual roles. Weren’t we supposed to be beyond this by now? Well it doesn’t seem that way, especially in the workplace. Females are not given equal opportunities to that of men, and are looked down upon as being incapable of doing a man’s job. Whoever agrees with this is just arrogant because there are women out there that are much more successful than most men. The idea that women are inferior to men has been a traditional stereotype for hundreds of years due to the fact that back in the day, women’s roles were to be housewives. They were unable to be educated and did not have as many rights in society as men. As much as society says that men and women are equal, it seems almost impossible that this will ever hold true. Men are better drivers, men are stronger, men are smarter, men have more power in a relationship. I think the real problem is that men are too afraid to admit the fact that there are women out there that are better than them. With this mindset, men and women will never be treated equally. 

Posted in Introduction to Sociology | 3 Comments »

30. November 2009 by student.

Many times immigrants enter into this country so they can find better work and wages to provide for their families. These are jobs that can be given to legal citizens, or illegals who have gone through with the necessary requirements to legalize themselves, but in turn are leaving citizens of this country poor and unemployed. In the United States there has been a major increase over the years in the numbers of illegals entering into our country and the US workforce, which then has increased the unemployment rate. Companies usually hire this immigrants because they’ll do the same work and american could, but for 1/10 of the price. Of course businesses are more than happy to get the work done for them at a cheaper price.

Another problem with illegal immigrants entering our country, is healthcare. These illegals are not checked for any diseases before they enter the US, so they have introduced many contagious diseases into our country. According to the Center for Disease Control, illegal immigrants account for at least 65% of communicable diseases in the United States. The citizens of the country then become more susceptible to diseases, sometimes even fatal ones.

illegals cost the taxpayers more than 10 billion dollars a year, for many reasons. Illegal immigrants and their families are entitled to free health care. This health care is paid for by us taypayers, and these illegals utilize the hospitals twice as much as american citizens do! Also, the illegals usually get paid “under the table” or very low wages, which means they either don’t  pay any taxes at all, or pay little taxes to the government. So, the citizens of america are paying for health care services that the immigrants don’t pay for, but use much more of! On top of them not paying taxes, they do not contribute much of their earned money back into the economy because they send most of their earned paychecks back to their families in other countries. These immigrants are putting a financial burden on american citizens in many ways.

Currently our US law requires that illegals have access to education in public school system grades K-12. Here in the US we have estimated about 1.2 million school-aged illegal immigrant children and 2 million american bord children. With those staggering numbers, that means more work is created for teachers here in america. The students will begin to outnumber the teachers, so the school system will find it necessary to hire new educators. But, this rise in students and new hire educators will cost the state millions of dollars for the new employees and keeping the public schools open.

Then, this cost for new teachers may eventually become too high and some will be laid off, which in turn will cause larger classrooms and a decrease in the quality of education due to the outrageous student per teacher ratio. And in some schools the budget is too tight, so they eliminate sports and after school extracurricular activites.

Illegal immigration isn’t always beneficial.

Posted in Introduction to Sociology | 2 Comments »

30. November 2009 by student.

Suicide is usually classified as a psychological issue, due to the fact that it is usually related to personal problems, such as depression and a personal choice to perform the act of suicide. However, as the years have gone on, sociologists have been able to look at suicide as a sociological issue. There are various social factors that contribute to an individual committing suicide.Emile Durkheim was the one sociologist to analyze suicide. He stated that “individual choices have social influences.” He used social factors such degree of integration into society- the degree to which collective sentiments are shared- and degree of regulation by society-the degree of external constraint on people. Suicide rates are increased during times of political crisis, war and economic change. The number of suicides can also be directly related to family integration, by which those in larger families are less likely to commit suicide because there is more family integration.Considering that suicide is considered an act of deviance, it is looked down upon by many cultures and religions. It is a sin and violates a sacred “norm” because people should value their lives.Those that are most impacted by suicide are those that feel as if they do not fit into society. Lower class, males, college-aged students, and racially discriminated individuals are those that feel the effects of suicide. This is due to low income, which results in limited access to resources, as well as stress, pressure, being alone. Men are more likely to succeed in committing suicide while women are more likely to attempt suicide.People do not think when they are attempting suicide, their minds are blocked and it is a rational choice. A suicide attempt may be a way of moving towards other people (symbolic interactionism) for help and personal acceptance.Emile Durkheim has classified suicide into different categories, dealing with social influences. They deal with social integration and social change/regulation. Egotistic suicide deals with too little social integration, while altruistic deals with too much social integration. Anomic suicide deals with too much social change/too little regulation, while fatalistic suicide deals with too little social change/too much regulation.More than 33,000 americans die by suicide every year. 24% of the general population has considered suicide at some time in his/her life. And between 1952 and 1995 suicide in young adults has nearly tripled.

Posted in Introduction to Sociology | No Comments »

30. November 2009 by student.

     I was recently watching the reality TV show “Wife Swap” and something really interesting stuck out to me, the changing roles of fathers in our society. In one of the families it showed something that I was not used to which was a “stay-at-home-DAD” (or SAHD). It made me think and I realized that now in our society more than ever there is an increasing number of men who stay at home with the kids while mom goes to work and is the bread winner. I find this kind of shocking because I always thought of it being the opposite, when in fact the number of SAHD’s is on the rise. According to statistics from the Census Bureau and careerbuilder.com, 37% of men consider themselves a SAHD which is almost 1 out of 3 dads.

I especially think these numbers are growing because of the recent downfall in the economy which has forced many moms to go out and get jobs as a result of male earners getting laid-off. I think the role changes in men in our society is just another example if how much our society is changing. In the 50’s and 60’s, it was the norm for females to stay at home with the children and be homemakers while the men went to work earning the income, but nowadays it is become more and more accepted that men stay at home and be homemakers while women earn the money. This is so much the norm now that there are even websites out there that discuss this upcoming “trend” such as rebeldad.com and discussion blogs specifically for SAHDs where dads can blog about their day as a caretaker and homemaker. Overall, I think this topic is really interesting and just goes to show how much our society is changing!

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

30. November 2009 by student.

Adolescent pregnancy is defined as a teenage or underage girl, usually between 13 and 19 years of age becoming pregnant. Now that’s not saying that there haven’t been cases in which a girl under 13 years of age, but it is a general definition.

There are many sociological problems involved when teenagers become parents. Usually these adolesecent parents find themselves limited to education. It has been proven that the higher a woman’s level of education, the more likely she is to postpone marriage and motherhood. The teen mother will usually choose to drop out of school because it becomes a burden handling school work and nursing a child. And the teen father will choose work over schooling so that he will have the means to provide for his child. Due to the lack of education, teen mothers, more times than not, will be employed by a company in which some would call, “dead end jobs”. So, these teen parents will fall down in social class and depend off of welfare from the government. They are usually provided with medicaid for the mother and child. The medicaid that is provided to these teen mothers is paid for by us, the tax payers. We, tax payers, are in turn providing this growing population of teen mothers with their benefits, which come directly out of our paychecks.

 Along with the stress of raising a child can come the mental unstability, such as depression. There are times that even a matured woman will find it difficult and strenuous to raise a child, let alone a young teen girl with no life experience. Often times these girls will become consumed with caring for this child and eventually lose their social life. This loss of a social life will later affect their life chances and future. These teen parents will be limited to their access to resources, such as who they know, and h0w those people will help them become more successful in life.

Adolescent pregnancy is a cycle. Children born to teenage mothers are more likely to engage in sexual acts at an early age and become teenage parents themselves. These children are also at a risk of poverty, like that of their parents. Many times, these children are kept indoors because they are no caretakers to keep an eye on them while they play, so they watch more television or play video games more than usual. In turn, these children become obese and have more complications in their future due to their unhealthy lifestyle. 

Posted in Introduction to Sociology | 3 Comments »

30. November 2009 by student.

Teen pregnacy rises each and every year amoung teenagers. Its starting to become and outbreak amoung african american and latin american teens. Teen pregnancy effects people in alot of ways. Because it is negative in society views, it would cause self esteem issues and for everyone to question there beliefs in condoms. Its a big change in society because some parents wouldn’t want their child hanging around you because of your pregnant and you will start to become alone to your self more often. Nobody would want to associate with you and you would feel all alone.

Power? you dont have any as a pregnant teen. Everyone would be trying to put you down and stop you from doing anything in anyway that you can. Take for instance jamie lynn spears. She’s a celebrity and the public didn’t treat her any different. Nickelodeon took her show off of the air and made an example of her. Its a choice that each teen makes to become pregnant or not. Use protection because when others see that, thats not a goos symbol. Your showing the public that your sexually active and to be honest they see you as a “hoe” and others may not. Since your already pregnant show others that you can accomplish your goals even though your pregnant. Go beyond and above:)

Posted in Introduction to Sociology | 3 Comments »

30. November 2009 by student.

Video game addiction is real. Who ever invented the game World Of Warcraft probably didn’t think about the millions of people who would  become addicted to it which can turn into a serious addiction . There has been cases of teenagers who would go a number of days with out eating or sleeping because they don’t want to stop playing the online video game.

I personally feel that this is a big social problem only because these games are slowly ruining society. Less children tend to want to play out side as well as interact face to face with their friends. Instead these children, teens and adults are communicating through video games.

Even though this is a better addiction then drugs, or alcohol, this game addiction can effect the person and their loved ones too. Of course, all gamers are not addicts and many teens can play video games a few hours a week, successfully balancing school activities, grades, friends, and family obligations. But for some, gaming has become an uncontrollable compulsion. This addiction is similar to gambling and other compulsive behaviors. Teens can become so enthralled in the fantasy world of gaming that they neglect their family, friends, work, and school.

What makes a video game  so addictive?  Only a true gamer could answer that question. I feel that parents/ guardians should limit the time their child is spending on the computer or in front of the television screen playing on Xbox or Wii. Monitoring how much time children & teens are spending on playing video games, can possibly help stall this new global phenomenon.

-Dara Kobrin

Posted in Introduction to Sociology | 5 Comments »

30. November 2009 by student.

            Regardless of the state you reside in, a student will encounter standardized testing several times throughout their schooling career.  It is an integral part of today’s norms and values to test different student’s abilities by assessing them with a standard test.  Attending the Florida public school system my entire schooling made me very familiar with the FCATs.  The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test determines whether a student will move onto to the next grade or be held back, based upon passing or failing the test.  While a part of the Lee County School system, I always dreaded taking such test, but I understood that it was a requirement.  However, after being forced to participate in such activities, the flaws of the norms and values are evident.  When asking any teacher in the public school system about their opinion of the FCAT, one should be prepared for various long winded responses.  Such teachers are told that teaching FCAT material is the most important substance that needs to be taught in their classroom.  By forcing teachers to teach only the tested material, the students do not receive the valuable skills that a teacher can offer.  Furthermore, in Lee County, the entire school is graded based upon its students test scores.  In order to avoid the “underperforming” label, crucial subject areas such as music, art, and physical education are being eliminated from the lesson plans.  Our state originally made what they thought at the time to be a rational choice by implementing the standardized testing.  However, after the tests have been in practice for several years, I believe a social change is necessary to stop our youth from losing out on life’s precious moments.

Works Cited:“Test Problems: Seven Reasons Why Standardized Tests Are Not Working” http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Test_Problems_Seven/

Posted in Introduction to Sociology | 1 Comment »

30. November 2009 by student.

Every year there is the day dreaded by retail employees, embraced by store owners, and desired by customers. That day is Black Friday. The name Black Friday was first coined in 1869 when there was a financial panic stock market; however it was not used again until the 1970s. Today’s usage explains how it is typically the first day stores actually earn a profit on their sales. Many people look forward to this day, as the prices of most wanted items are generally lower than they ever have been. However, Black Friday is never looked at as a day ruled by the middle or lower class, when in fact it is. In order to save a buck, it is acceptable for people wait very long hours, sometimes even days, to guarantee their spot in line or to get their item ticket. These savings add up for people who are trying to watch their everyday spending. Such people are typically your middle and lower classes, since the upper class doesn’t need to save that little money. In the eyes of the upper class, it is not worth the savings of $50 to wait on lines for hours before daylight. Such differences in opinions create a social conflict among the different stratifications.  The upper class still receives the benefit of not enduring such harsh conditions on the day, while the middle and lower class still get the short end of the stick.  The power arrangement still continues to follow old standards by giving the top class the most monetary power in today’s society. However, maybe the people of the upper class should not be alone in their thinking.  Is it really worth all of the risks and hazards to save money on Black Friday?  The roads are crowded and prone to accidents.  The stores are jammed packed with hardly any room to breathe.  Plus, there are the scary tradgedies of people even dying from being trampled in a crowd.  The decision of participating in Black Friday is and forever will be left at the discression of the shopper.  Moreover, the tradition of Black Friday shopping shall continue, since there will always be people looking to save money.

Works Cited

“The History of Black Friday” http://consumereducation.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_history_of_black_friday_shopping_deals

Posted in Introduction to Sociology | 1 Comment »