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Socio-Economic Status
Born into middle class suburbia. -
Freud - Id
Around noon on a cold winter Tuesday, I was born as me. Without the agents of socialization, my actions were based solely on myself as an individual. -
Social Institution - Government
Gorbachev Resigns as the U.S.S.R. dissolves, giving way to free elections, speech, press, and popular will. -
Stages of Socialization - Childhood
Entered kindergarten at five years old; had socializing elements such as teachers, other students, and for the first time, "friends". Continuing to learn what was acceptable and what wasn't, like "blurting", picking your nose, and other no-nos. -
Social Institution - School
Started school at Powderhorn Elementary in Ms. Greenfield's Kindergarten AM class. -
Social Patterns
Parents bought me my first bike, due to subtle hinting by an eager first grader whose friends all had one when they weren't "babies" anymore and could handle a two-wheeler. -
Social Institution - Home School to Powderhorn
Returned to public schools after two years being homeschooled. Entered into what, for everone else, was routine life by then, but was a completely new experience for me. Had to make friends, adapt to schedules, and assimilate very quickly. -
Cultural Integration - Pokemon
Japanese gaming sensation Pokemon made its debut in the United States on the GameBoy Color, selling over ten million gaming units as of 2007. Immensely popular, everyone wanted to "catch them all" so they could battle their friends and waste hundreds of dollars of their parents money. The new gaming, art, and telvision genre of "anime" was introduced and gave nerds everywhere something to do. -
Juvenile Delinquency
My best friend of elementary school, Andrew Barwin, had his birthday. My parents let me stay the night, and assumed we would be crashed before ten that night, but we were up into the a.m. hours, doorbell ditching and watching movies not approved for our age range. -
Patriotism
On September 11th, 2001, 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners. Two of them were intentionally crashed into the World Trade Center Towers, one into the Pentagon, and one was downed into a field in Pennsylvania with the efforts of Todd Beamer and the passengers of United Flight 93. 2,974 people died that day. As a result of the attacks, the United States experienced a huge surge in patriotism. Flag sales spiked at $51.7 million dollars, and political barriers were softened. -
Social Control - Magic Lantern
The FLI develops "Magic Lantern", a program that remotely accesses computers, logs their activities, and sends the data back to the sender. Virus protection software companies worked with the government to ensure their software did not detect the trojan. More programs, such as Carnivore, implemented during Clinton's administration, continue to be developed and used as a matter of national security. -
Social Isolation - Middle School
Entered Summit Ridge Middle School and the endless sea of social clicks and groups that I was met with. With the new heavy workload of more difficult classes, I chose to bury myself in homework rather than try to find which group I fit best into. -
Stage of Socialization - Adolescence
Became a teenager, and with the new title came new responsibilities from parents, but also greater freedom (if only slightly). No real world benifits of turning 13. Cigarettes, titty bars, and voting would have to wait. -
Looking Glass Self - ??
Not really sure where I "should" fit in the high school social scene of jocks, preps, goths, etc, I decided to join as many extra curricular activities as possible. Ended up finding out I could care less about social groups as long as you have a few good friends. -
Ethnocentrism
Voting tendencies revealed in the first ever U.S. election to have a white and black man compete for the presidency. 96% of voting African Americans voted for Obama (whereas 55.6% of whites voted for McCain) -
White Collar Crime
Bernie Madoff, American businessman and former chairman of the NASDAQ stock exhange, was convicted of operating a Ponzi scheme that has been called the largest investor fraud ever committed by a single person. Madoff "made off" with nearly $65 billion -
Crime
Recieved my first speeding ticket. -
Stigma
Overweight people, approximately 91.7 million Americans, have the stigma of overeating. While intaking too many calories per day and physical inactivity are leading causes of obesity, genetics and medical issues can contribute just as much. -
Stereotypes
In a post 9/11 world, "The American media stereotypes Arabs and Muslims as billionaires, belly dancers, bombers, and terrorists with little regard for human life". -
Taboo
Massive orgy planned to commemorate the end of the world. Like other unmentionable sexual acts, orgies are considered taboo.
