Thursday, October 27, 2011

Agents of Socialization

                    Although I am affected by my religion, school, neighborhood and media, my friends and family have the greatest impact on me. I am with my friends and family 24/7, so everything they say and do sticks in my brain. I hang out with my friends every weekend so we do the same activities, and go to the same places. Since I am around my friends and family so much, their bad habits and points of view influence mine. When I see them doing something repetitively, I take after them. For example, I had never tried ice coffee before I met my group of friends. After all of our Starbucks runs, I finally tried it and liked it. I wouldn't have tried ice coffee if it weren't for my friends. My families specific traditions have shaped who I am today. We have family dinners every Sunday, family gatherings every month, and celebrate the same holidays each year. I would be a totally different person if I was born into a different family, in a different town, and had different friends.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Family Socialization

Interview with Mom & Dad:

a. My parents expected me to be a beautiful, healthy, smiling baby. When I would be born, they expected me to be the love of their lives and fulfill their dream of having a girl. Also, they wanted me to be a loving sister to my brother, and create a wonderful, close family. I was expected to be a softball player, but that didn't work out.

b. My parents wanted me to learn my manners right away, saying please and thank you as well as treating others the way you want to be treated. They tried hard to get me to always share with others and be respectful. Also, they tried hard to not let me turn into a selfish or greedy human being. My parents would read me current events and watch the new with me to make sure I understood other cultures and heritages.

c. It is very important to my Mom that I carry on the Jewish religion my whole life and teach/pass it on to my kids, and my grandkids. She wants the rest my generation and future Fliegel family generations to celebrate Judaism. My Dad on the other hand hopes that I pass on some Christian holiday celebrations as well as Jewish ones. He wants my future family to respect Christianity as well.

d. My parents struggled with disciplining me as a kid because I would always talk back and not pay attention to what they would say to me. Now, my parents say that I have gotten a lot easier to handle. I am now a mature young woman that they are very proud of.

e. Taking after my Dad, I chew on the inside of my cheek when I'm deep in thought or nervous. My parents think I have the same exact personality and interests as my Dad. We are basically on the same team with arguments, and disagree with almost everything my Mom says. My Mom gets aggravated often with how similar we are, because she feels she can never win.

f. It didn't surprise me that my family wants me to pass on both Jewish and Christian traditions, but I think that this will be hard considering that I don't know what my future family will look like. The biggest surprise was that they wanted me to be a softball player. I played for 3 years but didn't like it. I learned that my parents didn't expect a lot from me before I was born, but they wanted me to surprise them with my characteristics (and I did).