Social Classes

This week we talked about social classes in America.  Sometimes we like to think or act like there is no social classes.  It is something that seems very personal and is not talked about. We were asked in our class what class we are in and kind of how we were treated. It was hard for students to say what their class was even if they were upper class or lower class. We watched several movies on social classes, one in particular was about a couple who was getting married. The wife was from a family of high social class, whereas, the husband was from a much lower class. The wife lied to the news paper and told them that her husband grew up in a more wealthier town than he actually did.  She did not want people to know that he was from a poor part of town.  The video is called "Trouble In Paradise" on youtube.

The other video was called "Tammy".  It's on youtube.  You should look it up and form your opinion.

I find Tammy's situation very sad. She was in the lower class and had to work 10 miles a day to her job at Burger King. While walking to work, people would shout things  at her referring to her being poor.  She had just accepted where she was, whereas, her son was very embarrassed and critical of her.

It was interesting to see both sides of the spectrum.  Both scenarios had some form of sadness to them.

Family Systems and Rules

In our class we learned about how families have systems and subsystem. The system is the family as a whole and a subsystem is something that every member plays a role in. Each member is a subsystem to make that family run as a system. For example the oldest daughter helps her mother as a secondary mother in a family where the father is gone.  Or the middle child is the one in the family who cheers up a member of the family when they are sad. Learning this has made me step back to look at the different subsystems or roles in my family. Some good and some maybe not so good just like any family.

The other thing that is part of a family is family rules.  Which are rules that are developed without anything said.  For instance a rule between the children would be not to tattle tale.  Meta rules are rules about the rules.  So if you break the rule of not tattle telling then the one child who broke the rule will maybe be shunned by the other brothers and sisters from playing with them.  It's very interesting! Try and look at the different subsystems and quietly named rules in your family!

First Blog!

This is all new to me! I'm not exactly sure how I want this to go. I just thought I'd share my thoughts about the reading from Lauer and Lauer, titled "Marriage and Family".  We read about "Changing Patterns Of Intimate Relationships".  I found some of the facts and statistics to be disturbing, and some of it hopeful and helpful.  It reported in 2010 that a survey of high school students concluded that 48 percent has sexual relations at least once in high school as opposed to the 54 percent in 1999.  The other part that is alarming is that 61 percent of women in their early twenties who gave birth were unmarried.  I feel that this is a considerably high statistic. At first thought that maybe the worlds views on marriage were declining, but it went on to say that a national survey was completed about values from ages 14-29. It concluded that having a "lifelong partner" and "getting married" were of "top importance".  I think in the end most people have hopes to have a successful marriage and family.