"schemes are full of pregnant teenagers, unemployed, semi-literate thugs on benefits. They are all a bunch of wasters!"
While it is true that schemes are not the prettiest places on the planet, it is not true that we cannot label all inhabitants as "wasters". While there may be some people who live there who are 'smackheads' or 'junkies', it is unfair to label all people who are on benefits or who are on low paying jobs as wasters. These people may be trying to achieve more and may aspire to live the glamorous life, but tough economic positions or too many children may cause financial strain. Or, another high possibility, is the burden of drug addiction scarring families and draining finances. And while it is true that these people are to blame for falling into addiction, it is not their problem that they cannot recover from it. While they recieve money, it is too much to ask that they will save the money to do up their house or buy a nice car. The fact is, they recieve a nearly no money and have to live on this, and drugs give them the opportunity to escape from this problem.
Education is at the root of these problem lives. Not only through schooling, but also through basic education that all people get. Learning from siblings, parents and peers. The high pregnancy may stem from a lack of sex eduxation at school, lack of education on contraception or lack of education on abortion opportunities.
Unemployment may stem from lack of basic schooling education, lack of warning and education on the future and what may be needed to achieve higher eductaion.
Of course there are excuses for people's problems. People who live in poor housing and have health problems can always blame society or the government for not providing, when in fact enough may have been provided but they just weren't ready and willing to use it.
What we see as a poor lifestyle may not be deemed as poor by themselves. They may be content with a poorer lifestyle because their upbringing was very similar and they do not know any better: they may be somewhat proud with how they have turned out and expect their children
to turn out the same way.
It is all about our moral views on others, and comparisons made between us and them. Also the definition of a person who is a "waster". A person who gets involved with drugs from an early age and lives on the dole, dying at the age of 28 may be a waster. But a person who achieves 5 A's at higher level and opts NOT to go to university is surely also a waster as they are wasting the opportunities given to them.
The given statement (found at the top of this page) is a total generalisation. It is a personal view of a judgemental person without all the facts. It is wrong to view someone as less of a person or as a "waster" because they achieve less. The problems for them achieving less may be in our society: high drug numbers and frequent use, poor parenting, poor education, falling in with the wrong crowds etc. But it is wrong to generalise all people who do not have as good a life as us in terms of quality as "wasters".
Monday, 14 June 2010
Monday, 7 June 2010
Status Crazy!
Social groupings can be formed and seen by others through the most common of human activities and ways of life: Clothing, education, pastimes and even alcohol consumption. And while it is considered that we achieve status through work, it is true that we are ascribed, or given, our status.
While we may not see ourselves as judgemental, it is true that we often are. You can feel yourself stereotyping among your peers; the people who left school in 4th year or the people who stayed on to do advanced highers or baccalaureates, the people who are planning on going to university or the people who you can find lying on street corners with a bottle of buckfast in hand. Without even meeting the people in these outlined educational groups, you form an opinon. We see these stereotypes because that is what we assume is their status.
Although we, in our "higher" opinion, may assume that these are achieved statuses, and in fact it is "their fault that they never stuck in at school to achieve the same grades that we did", in actual fact, it is ascribed. You can see it from their upbringings. Their parents are working class, deemeed somewhat inferior by their peers, so their children struggle to break the mould. And while there is the odd case of someone from a lower social grouping achieving great success, these cases are few in number.
One young person may struggle to fit in with higher classes due to health or disposable income, and it affects their social stance. Housing is also a factor in this. If someone lives in a poor environment outside of school, the chances that they become accustomed to this environment and pick up on the ways of life entangled in it are vast. A success in this kind of area may be deemed unsuccesful in other classes.
For me, the ascribed status is that I will stay on at school to achieve highers and advanced highers, as I am attempting to do in order to go to university, as my mother, father and older brother all done so. And while my parents have given me this status, they did not have the same option, as my father came from a rough area in Glasgow where the ascribed status would be much lower than he achieved. For me, the ascribed status is quite high in comparison to other areas in my town, and it is because there is contrast and I can see both sides of the spectrum, it is easy to see where problems arise and where I am better off.
However, what the lower classes achieve may be much higher than what is expected from them, and it is always a good thing to hear when someone breaks the mould and achieves more than would be expected from them.
All in all, the 'norm' is what is expected and sets the bar. It can be a huge help and can make people fit in to their surroundings, or it can be a burden to people, but it is always good to see when it hinders someone as they achieve more than is expected.
While we may not see ourselves as judgemental, it is true that we often are. You can feel yourself stereotyping among your peers; the people who left school in 4th year or the people who stayed on to do advanced highers or baccalaureates, the people who are planning on going to university or the people who you can find lying on street corners with a bottle of buckfast in hand. Without even meeting the people in these outlined educational groups, you form an opinon. We see these stereotypes because that is what we assume is their status.
Although we, in our "higher" opinion, may assume that these are achieved statuses, and in fact it is "their fault that they never stuck in at school to achieve the same grades that we did", in actual fact, it is ascribed. You can see it from their upbringings. Their parents are working class, deemeed somewhat inferior by their peers, so their children struggle to break the mould. And while there is the odd case of someone from a lower social grouping achieving great success, these cases are few in number.
One young person may struggle to fit in with higher classes due to health or disposable income, and it affects their social stance. Housing is also a factor in this. If someone lives in a poor environment outside of school, the chances that they become accustomed to this environment and pick up on the ways of life entangled in it are vast. A success in this kind of area may be deemed unsuccesful in other classes.
For me, the ascribed status is that I will stay on at school to achieve highers and advanced highers, as I am attempting to do in order to go to university, as my mother, father and older brother all done so. And while my parents have given me this status, they did not have the same option, as my father came from a rough area in Glasgow where the ascribed status would be much lower than he achieved. For me, the ascribed status is quite high in comparison to other areas in my town, and it is because there is contrast and I can see both sides of the spectrum, it is easy to see where problems arise and where I am better off.
However, what the lower classes achieve may be much higher than what is expected from them, and it is always a good thing to hear when someone breaks the mould and achieves more than would be expected from them.
All in all, the 'norm' is what is expected and sets the bar. It can be a huge help and can make people fit in to their surroundings, or it can be a burden to people, but it is always good to see when it hinders someone as they achieve more than is expected.
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