The first day of 6th grade, I was shaking in fear, disliking everything about it. But after 3rd period, I realized it wasn’t too bad. The rest of the day went pretty smoothly and I was about to get one the bus when someone pushed me out of the way yelling, “Move it fatty!” When I got on the bus and found my assigned seat, I was frozen in fear to see that I was right in front of the kid that pushed me. His name was Luke. Luke was an 8th grader who was notorious for bullying the younger kids for his entertainment. “Looks like we got the fatty in front of us!” He yells to his friends as they crack up. I sit there ignoring them, feeling horrible. Luke leans forward and says, “Did you hear me, big boy?” I keep ignoring him as he continues to verbally
No one approached us to say hello, not even the staff. Several people smiled and others stared at us trying to figure out who we were. “Ideology is the store of social information used to guide social relationships and interactions, whether they are between other people, the physical environment (DrVry, 2015).” As I looked around I remember feeling like an outsider and thinking what have I done moving my child to this school. It was a scary feeling that I was alone and did not fit into any group around me. It was a very foreign feeling to us. I could see the fear in her face and it broke my heart. According to Allen, Nearly all minority groups have experienced both prejudice and discrimination
When I lived in North Carolina in 2012, I lived in a small school within a tight nit community. From day one I felt as though I didn’t belong, and the ones who made me feel most out of place were my teachers. My teachers told me to leave and go back to Maryland because if i stay I would fail. I couldn’t believe teachers would say that I was so shocked. My teachers rarely attempted to help me with my work as if I was unteachable because I didn’t learn as fast as everyone else.
Leaving high school I was consistently in the majority: I co-captained my basketball team and was always welcome to play. In my Bronx experience overall, I often felt racist, close-minded, and self-centered because of the reactions that I was having internally with this new environment. And even more I felt ashamed for this. I quickly wanted to escape back to Ann Arbor to be back in the majority, but I didn’t want anybody to feel bad for me. I knew that what I was thinking was mostly wrong, but I also felt it was human. Large paradigm shifts in one’s life often come with large sentiments, both good and bad. Also, I felt that my experience in the Bronx became easier and easier as I integrated and adjusted. As the shock to my system eased my feelings eased, too. I eventually began to feel extremely connected to the Bronx, the differing cultures, and even my almost omnipresent
My family has lived in Brevard for seventeen years now. This small town is all I've ever known as home. There are aspects of Brevard that I've come to love. With a population of just over 7,000 people, it is very rare that you find yourself in a situation where
There was once a little town called Sparksville just inside the state lines of Wisconsin. It was a small town, unknown to basically everyone who didn’t live in Wisconsin. The people who lived in the town were nice to strangers, for not to many people came through very often, and they also had amazing hospitality. So amazing in fact the hotels would let complete strangers stay for free as long as they spread good news to their friends about the town. There was only one school in town for there were only about 432 residents living in Sparksville at the time, but the school was decently sized for a small town. The students were all grade A students, the teachers rarely often had problems with any of the students as they were raised with generous manners. Since Sparksville was such a small town the school didn’t offer very many sports other than Hockey, Football, and Basketball.
When I take the time to reflect on what social forces have impacted my life a lot comes to mind. I was born and raised in San Jose, California which is a very multicultural area with people of all ethnic backgrounds. There was a specific juncture in my life that impacted me at a very young age. When I was about 7 or 8 years old my mom took my friend Zac and I to Burger King. While we were sitting there eating and just talking about typical things a 7 or 8 year old would talk about an elderly caucasian male approached us. Now looking back on the situation it was apparent that he was either drunk or under the influence of something. He then proceeded to start throwing racial slurs at me, and started questioning us. In his words “ why a white would be friends with a black “ in a belligerent manner. He continued, so mom called the cops and he was arrested for public intoxication. At the time I was baffled as to why he would say such things, especially to a child. I now realize in his socialization period it was a social constraint for caucasians to be friends with a minority or even sit next to or converse with one. Its unfortunate that people still haven 't come to accept social change, but more importantly I was aware of how prejudice some people are at a very young age due to this instance. Social facts are aspects of social life that shape our actions as individuals (Giddens, 2014, pg. 11). Being a victim of discrimination, seeing my mom and grandparents succeed, and
Another example was the first time stepping on Haskell’s campus. My youngest had went off to college himself. I was well received by professors, staff and the students. An occasional snicker here and there because of my age. I assumed that I would get a few of those. But, was so excited that I was here and part of it all. Over lunch in Curtis one afternoon I listened to students talking about the prejudice they had experienced at Haskell because of their native color. They were being told they were not part of the In-group. How could that be? I was really surprised until I had experienced it myself. I had a teacher that would use all of my work as examples but then would not give me any credit. Not that I required attention, but, felt I should had some recognition. Our little group would meet for lunch a few times a week and on this particular day my little world opened up to the In-Group Out-Group world. After lunch was over my friend, who shall remain nameless as everyone will know who he is, were walking to our next class when out of frustration I had mentioned my teacher’s attitude towards me. Being a true friend and not thinking before he spoke he said “Well, if you didn’t look so white maybe she would act differently towards you”. So, there I was, in the Out-group when I thought I was in the
Over three million students are victims of bullying every year. Bullies deal a lot of pain to their victims. There are multiple kinds of bullying and there are also different effects. Between the two stories, “All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury and “The Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson bullying is shown in different forms while also having different consequences. In Jackson’s story, the bullying has a much greater impact because it hurts a whole community unlike Bradbury’s story which is targeted to one character.
Narrative Reflective Essay Growing up as a Vietnamese boy in Tulsa, Oklahoma was difficult. Prior to moving from San Jose, California, my parents had recently divorced. My father wanted nothing to do with us, so my mother, sister, and I moved to Broken Arrow when I was six years old, where my mother had some friends she knew. Starting in the first grade, I had always had trouble fitting in at school. It’s a problem that has haunted me every day since I had moved. The other kids would always pick on me when I was in elementary school. They were often racist, and in a few occasions they were violent.
I attended a small charter school in Westland, Michigan. Between these walls, I broke and regained my pieces. My cultural difference set me apart from most of the kids - my accent, the way I dressed and the way I behaved. Social interaction with my peers were difficult because they didn’t know how to connect with me. When they did try to communicate, the conversation always provoked me. For instance, during the first week of school my table partner introduced herself and so did I. She asked where I was from and when I answered she was stunned. She later informed the rest of the class and for the rest of the day I was bombarded with outrageous questions like: Do you guys live in trees? How did you go to school? I felt so diminish as my peers indirectly stated their thought about people like
When I was younger I lived in a ghetto in upstate New York. I would wake up every morning and walk to my school appropriately titled “Early Learning Center Number 316”. When I say that it was a Ghetto I honestly mean that, historically it had been a housing section for Puerto Ricans, so my school didn’t have many kids that spoke English. The Neighborhood was really a disaster, and very rundown, but I remember one year it the state gave everyone who attended the school (including me) free Christmas presents, which was a nice change. I was happy, and it gave me a sense of awareness at a young age that was different from everyone else.
While waiting for the court date I would not be allowed to teach. I stepped out in the hallway and was suddenly attacked by questions, accusations, and horrible stares. Not only had the students heard, but so had Kelly’s parents and they were not happy with me. Her dad approached me quickly, making me think that he was going to hit me, but instead grabbed my wrist and pulled me aside from the crowd that was quickly gathering. The anger in his voice was very apparent when he sharply asked, “What kind of man are you?”
Four years ago I met a girl! That is what a teenage guy is supposed to do, right? Kelly (not her real name) and I have been friends for several years now, and I am proud of the relationship we have built. However, when I first met her,