School Community Without Conformity Research

As a student, I am often troubled by the rigid routines of the school day, despite the fact that I am actually a very habitual person. The constant ringing of bells, lectures, bellwork, classwork, homework, each a daily practice throughout the school year. Although all of these components promote conformity, which will ultimately support the balance of school and societal norms, they also tend to threaten each student’s own unique characteristics. This then poses the question; to what degree should schools encourage conformity versus individuality? Certainly, a level of conformity is required to achieve a balanced society however, the overall structure of the school day and class, including the methods used to teach and mandatory classes,

Another problem with high school cliques is that kids in them feel superior to some of the student who have trouble socially or are reluctant to be in a social situation. For example, a student transfers to new school and doesn’t know anyone. The cliques seem to feel superior because they already have an established group of friends, while the newcomer is still struggling. This would be a great opportunity for the high school counselor or the teachers to help students feel included in the high school social scene by introducing them to kind and friendly students. Cliques tend to have the same ideas or follow the same opinions on different topics. They usually think alike. When someone new enters the picture, they may have new ideas and opinions that may clash with the existing group. Their solution is to exclude that particular person, in order to keep their social circle “normal” in their minds, so they don’t have to change their thinking. “If students only spend time with others who are like them racially, socially, or otherwise they may never learn how to live and work with people who are different.” (Kay Herting Wahl, a University of Minnesota assistant professor of educational psychology) Cliques are so exclusive in this generation and kids are only associating with other very similar to themselves. This does not allow them to explore different people from different experiences or life

In 1932, Jenness became the first psychologist to study conformity, which involved an experiment with basic materials and little ethical treatment (Jenness). The participants were asked to examine a jar of beans. They were then told to make an estimate of how many beans were inside of the jar. The participants were not informed of intentions of the study, thus full consent was invalid. When they were exposed to the estimates of other participants before making an individual guess, most participants’ estimations differed from the norm, and a shift occurred from the first estimates to the cluster of numbers within the pool of peer responses. This result led Jenness to form the idea of informational conformity,

“Why fit in when you are born to stand out?” Dr. Seuss thinks we should stand out on the grounds that he doesn’t want us to give up on our own individuality. We as humans want to fit into the world. However, we hungry to be different, long to stand out, crave to be both an individualist and a conformist. In the world, people will believe we being driven to conform to the guidelines of the society. I agree with the young author of an article titled, “Individuality vs. Conformity: A Healthy Middle?” There is a “Healthy Middle” between individualism and conformity. We have to focus on finding the in between of conformity and individuality.

After World War II, Kurt Lewin became interested in the topic of conformity. Due to his research, many other social psychologists such as: Milgram, Asch, Darley, and Latané began to conduct research on conformity. Based on a study conducted by Stanley Milgram, an observational study was conducted at Elizabethtown College in order to replicate the findings of Milgram’s experiment.

Many individuals is faced with the decision of conforming or choosing personal desire, and it is not an easy decision. It is hard because being shunned by others for being different is not a good feeling. Choosing to conform over personal desire, often leads to loss. On the other hand, personal desire is what sets others apart and gives them joy. In the poem, “The Jackhammer Syndrome”, Al Purdy discusses the good and bad memories he has experienced. He goes through his memories of when he had fun and made mistakes, but he reflects on what he could have done better. The author of “The Jackhammer Syndrome informs against choosing the welcoming joy of conformity over the long-term gains of personal desire. Making the decision to pursue conformity over personal desire may seem easy at first, but if the choice is to conform, the joy it gives will not last. Making the decision to pursue conformity over personal desire Conformity may seem to give joy at first, but it does not last. When Al is playing pool with his brother, he wants to win badly, but losses. However when he did not care to win, Al wins! Conforming can lead to loss but personal desire has much to gain. If the choice is to conform, personal identity may be lost. In my life, I recognize several instances in which I found several similarities between Al and myself. I have made decisions that were not always good ones such as swimming across long distances with friends.

The 1960s was America’s golden era. America had emerged the dominant super power out of World War 2; idolized around the world it allowed for the creation of the famous ethos: the American Dream - the ideal by which America was seen as the land of equality and opportunity, where anyone was allowed to achieve his or her highest aspirations and goals. However despite the dream, American society would not allow for certain aspirations to be achieved, as gender roles were very rigid. Women typically were expected to be housewives; even with the early start of the feminist movement the gender path for women was still mostly unchanged. With the rise of corporate America, men on the other hand were expected to have very routine and mundane work choices; whether in the offices, or in the booming factories. 1960s’ American society was a society heavily dominated with unspoken guidelines and gender expectations which allowed for the settings of the novels: One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, written by Ken Kesey, and the novel: The Bell Jar, written by Sylvia Plath. Both address the idea of conformity and society in post war America. Specifically the narrators of both novels either fail to conform to societal expectations or simply find it unfulfilling.

Since I was little I have been told what is “right” and what is “wrong” in the world as a member of the society. According to my parents there are certain behaviors that are accepted in society such as being a good citizen (not causing any trouble, being a good student, being friendly, etc.) But then again, the question is: are all these actions being done because we really want to do them, or is it more because is what society thinks is correct to do? Growing up in a society that is constantly telling people how they are supposed to dress, how they need to behave, or even what music is okay to listen to can cause societal conformity, and it can bring negative effects in some people who conform to society. People should not conform to the norms

Americans today tend to believe that being an individual is the typical entity for any civilian living. My whole life I have heard it said that being yourself will have a big impact on my life as I grow older. In that case it has been a been a massive part of my life; however, I have got sucked into the conformity society at times myself. Although I have improved, I cannot help thinking that people in society are also getting sucked in conformity. While they rarely admit as much, people often tell themselves that they do not follow others and claim they are original.

“It's weird not to be weird.” We all have our different sides of being someone, some of us try to fit in and some of us just want to be ourselves. We wonder why conformity would always beat individuality and not have individuality beat conformity? The meaning of conformity would be “behavior in accordance with socially accepted conventions or standards.” To add on, the meaning of individuality means “separate existence.” So most of the people in the world would try to be individuals but once in a lifetime they would conform with others. My own view of conformity and individuality as it relates to humanity, society, teenagers, and the world is when we fit in with others which is conforming cut this is why we should ce ourselves and not try to fit in with others, let them accept us by the way we are. In my opinion we should try to be individuals and not be conformist because we should appreciate who we are.

Describe a social behaviour topic and give an example of everyday behaviour associated with the topic

People seem to only care about the people who are not considered weird because people who are considered wird usually get bullied and roasted. Perty much if you don’t follow the crowd and do your own thing then people will look at you different. I sometimes think that individuality can be a good thing and could lead to success but it could also be a bad thing and could just make you look bumb. I guess some people thing individuality is a bad thing but for me I think it just whatever but sometimes some people can go too far with it. Conformity is an everyday thing we see at school and everyone is usually with a group but those who are always by themselves are called loners.

At the beginning of the school year, I felt like everyone at that school was able to be my friends. After few months i started noticing changes from everyone at school. I write, “I feel lost around my friends, not belonging but somewhat I’m still with them” (November 15, 2015). In my quote i’m hanging out with my friends but i don’t feel right around them. I feel like they wouldn’t have my back if i needed them.This quote shows that feeling that one doesn’t belong is not right. Friends the I didn’t feel comfortable with was not right to be with. Im chilling with some people i know that i call friends but i feel like they wouldn’t be there for me when i need them. I write, “I’m a whole different person. My friends have changed so much over the year. Thinking I would never be with the ones who I’m hanging out with” (May 12, 2016). My friends make me get rid of my insecurities. They have changed and proven to me they are true friends.The kind of friends one has can change so much throughout the year. I was able to learn that my first group of friends would never stay with me forever. Months past and I changed from one group to the other figuring who were the right ones for me. Friends can change throughout the years. Finding the right one for me and who will stay with me no matter the

Schools should support individuality only to the point where its not inhibiting learning, because then conformity should be what’s established. A tension between individuality and conformity in schools is schools, for instance. Schools, as shown in Source B, can have an extremely restricting schedule, with spending 6 hours and 45 minutes I’m back-to-back classes. This inflexible schedule, in my opinion due to my own personal experiences, leaves no room for the brain to be creative or even rest, at the least. Schedules can be fitting for students, giving them time to be creative and take a break mentally to leave room for individuality while also supporting conformity as for getting to classes on time. An example of this can be shown in Source

Fundamentally, so long as individuals are conditioned to become content with their spot in society, they will never rebel. Furthermore, since the government does such an effective job at making it impossible for individuals even imagine any other possible quality of life, they see whatever inequality they face simply as a necessary “price of civilization” (Orwell 212). Moreover, as made evident by the proletarian and Epsilon classes in 1984 and Brave New World “a large class of the people do not want to be cultured and are not interested in the higher life. For these people existence on the lower, animal levels is perfectly satisfactory. Given food, drink, the company of their fellows, sexual enjoyment, and plenty of noisy distractions from without, they are happy,” (Varricchio) and are therefore accepting of their “unescapable social destiny” (Huxley 26). What’s more, because the masses are so conditioned to accept their positions in society, they are also inclined to feel uncomfortable with and take preventative measures against disobeying the system.