The saints and the roughnecks.

In Soc, we read a story about a community that named different "groups" at the school. The white, upper-middle class boys were named the "saints", and the lower class "problem kids" were named the "roughnecks". I thought it was interesting that although it sounds as if the "saints" would be perfect teen rolemodels, the story talks about how they are just as bad, if not worse than the "roughnecks". It is not hidden in this world that teens sometimes get involved with illegal things, but it is hidden to certain communities that boys like the saints would get involved. While reading the story I was constantly relating the school to the highschool I attend. There are differnent groups in parrallel situations as the saints and roughnecks. I however have a hard time predicting the future of the kids caught up in these groups because I am acquantances with both and they just seem to be at the wrong places at the wrong times. These groups are good kids, they are simply just being teenagers.

Teens

In sociology this week we have read an article by the name of "Teen Mystique" and have basically been discussing how teenagers are being percieved. Teenagers are deffinitely NOT as bad as society makes us sound... Everybody makes mistakes or gets in trouble from time to time, but that doesnt make everybody bad people... now does it? Sure, there are some teens who are incredibly inmature and dangerous people, but most of us are just normal human beings going through life trying to mature into adults and mold ourselves in to good people. It upsets me how society is begenning to generalize teens as "drug abusing, violent, inmature people". I am a teen and am surely not any of those things.

Masculinity = Violence

This week in sociology class we have been learning about violence in school. We read an article and watched a documentary about different reasons that could trigger this violence. The word that was brought up the most in both sources was "masculinity". All of the school shootings were done by white suburban males. When soem of the boys were asked just why they did what they did, their answer would some how be related to masculinity. They commited their violent act to prove themselves to others that they were strong and masculine. Learning this was interesting because I never knew what was running in the minds of these kids.