Tuesday, March 15, 2011

In or Out



By: Paul Barolette 


Today our society is infamous for creating social groups and labeling those who may seem different. It starts at a very young age, making friends that we may deem “fun” or “cool”, shunning, and ridiculing those we find “strange” or “weird”. The groups that we involve our selves with have a tremendous impact on our lives. Throughout our lifetime we face these social groups everyday whether it’s in our high schools, jobs or colleges. As individuals we cannot help but label others, it sometimes seems that this is a trait that we cannot elude, whether it is for better or worse. These social groupings have affected the behaviors of adolescents, in the form of bullying. There have been many incidents involving adolescents with bullying, the most recent in Philadelphia.(http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/national_world&id=7932673)Many have tried to explain the forming social groups and their behaviors, social physiologist Henri Tajfel discovered that we as a society have a tremendous ability of forming in groups and out groups within a matter of minutes. People tend hold positive attitudes towards their own groups, while having bias opinions on others. These social groupings can come in many different ways, race, culture, gender and religion just to name a few. The affect that groupings have on individuals is also relevant. Many times when we encounter a new place, or school, individuals always seem to be attracted to those of the same skin color or ethnicity. We feel safe as individuals many times in groups, and often these groups can be for the worse. What are your thoughts on this issue?

5 comments:

  1. You make some good points Paul. I agree that people tend to be attracted to people with similar characteristics or ideals. It is just human nature. What we should teach people, especially young children that it is ok to form groups but that shunning and bullying those that are different is unacceptable. Live and let live. Also, the bullying victim in the video was visited by Desean Jackson and a couple other Eagles after the incident while appearing on a talk show. They gave him memorabilia and hung out with him. I thought that was pretty cool.
    -Frank Carbone

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  2. I really liked the post. I believe parents should help their kids,when they're young to give them some guidance on not to judge people and the causes and effects of bullying. Not saying forming groups are wrong because we all been there and done that, basically, I'am just saying who gave us the power to judge, and I believe that being different is awesome.

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  3. I enjoyed reading your post Paul, and I feel like you made some very interesting points. My thoughts on the issue could go on forever. I feel as though most of us do these things (create groups and labels, or migrate to those we relate to) to feel like we have some type of control. Feeling like you know where you stand, whether it be in or out, makes us feel more grounded and safe. I think it is terrible the way society chooses to label others positively or negatively. Maybe having more of a sociological imagination, or an open mind, we could just start to see people as different. It might help to illiminate some of the bullying that goes on in schools and even in our adult lives.

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  4. This was a very well stated post. It is true that everyone of us does form some type of label or group in our lives. I believe that it was your last sentence that I agreed with, it is just human nature to feel comfortable with those that come from the same background or have similar lives as you do and that is how how groups are formed. It is wrong when we start to have these groups just based upon our ethnicity or status.

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  5. I believe that this is an excellent post. In most cases I agree that people tend to surround themselves with people they share the same interests and/or characteristics with. Instead I feel that when children are young the moral that different is not always bad should be taught. I feel that surrounding oneself around others that share different characteristics is always an experience in itself. By doing so one can always learn and experience new things, and a result could be the start of eliminating bullying.

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