Socialization/Adolescence

1. The clothes I am wearing, my future goals in life, and the sports I enjoy I believe are mostly affected by nurture. My family, mostly my mother, has influenced and taught me good ways to present yourself. A large factor of this being the clothing and jewelry I wear. However, by nature, I have certain styles or looks that interest me. That's just the taste I have and a good part of that wasn't by influence. It was mainly by choice. With my future profession, that is a mix of both nature and nurture. I want to be a lawyer in the future and I have learned the positive traits of having this profession. However, I have always enjoyed politics and law very much. So, I think nature and nurture both contribute to my wanting to be a lawyer. The nature of it first got myself hooked onto the idea of becoming a lawyer. Yet, the nurture of it keeps me going. Finally, the sports I partake in is a mix, but I believe more of nurture. My dad, brother, and mom were all active or are still active in many sports and activities. And, growing up around that everyday grabbed my attention and made me become interested. But, when I was little I had an interest in playing catch with a football and I would always want to watch a sporting event even if I didn't understand what was going on. So, an interest was instilled in me awhile back. But, still I am taught to be active and it still follows me now.

2. Adolescent social status power has increasingly become more important each generation. It defines so many people and has become so important that if you don't fit in with the "norm" than that defines you directly. Whether it being your intelligence, the clothes you wear, the friends you have, or the sports your in, that displays where you belong in society. And, teenagers want that power. Having this power is so important, because teens don't have power on a political or economical stage. So, the power that is given to us must be taken advantage of and is basically foreseen as everything.

3. The socialization process for children has changed over the past few generations. A major idea that has progressed and change is technology. Mainly relating to that is the way kids and teens communicate. Communication used to be much more of a direct process. Now with all the technology such as, texting, social networks like facebook, and email, the direct speaking is slowly disintegrating. So many important conversations or messages no longer need to be in person. Items such as computers, phones, and ipods are useful, but taking over people. Their is much more room for distraction and less room for being active or going outside. I think concerns for these changes within kids should be watched carefully, but at the same time I believe it will not completely consume children. Social interaction is still needed and is still very much wanted by teenagers.

4. Like we talked about in class, different traits and emotions are linked to females and males. When you hear emotional and sensitive you think of a woman. And, when you hear athletic or tough you link it to a man most likely. And, the characterization of genders is shown through toys and commercial ads. If their is an action figure, the ad may say "strong", "tough", "indestructible" and words that would appeal to men. They are reaching out to a certain age group as well as a certain gender. However, recently ads have been reaching out more to both males and females than just one. The impact that these characterizations have had on me have been particularly difficult. I used to be a "tomboy" and play sports, dress like a boy, and like playing with boy toys. I had a brother which probably influenced me, but I was looked at as "different" and my mom believed it to be very important to change me into a more girly person immediately. I now have changed, yet I still love playing, watching, and talking about sports. I don't think their is anything wrong with that, however others may have a problem with it. I am the only girl who is in Sports Talk Club here at Stevenson. And, I take advantage of it instead of being looked at differently. I impress others with my knowledge of sports and I most of the time can keep up with them when we participate in sports. So, instead of letting it impact me in a negative way, I just turn it into a positive while still maintaining feminine traits.