The Importance Of Conformity In Schools

“School trains children to be employees and consumers; teach your own to be leaders and adventurers.  School trains children to obey reflexively; teach your own to think critically and independently” (Gatto 670).  In the present day school system, students are becoming more of products of an institutionalized school system

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,

The instagram terms of service says that you may not “post nude, partially nude, discriminatory, unlawful, infringing, hateful, pornographic or sexually suggestive photos or other content via the Service” the rules that are outlined by the middle schoolers surveyed actually follow these terms loosely, wherein you are not supposed to post a bikini, or partially nude, photo unless you are with your family (Heitner). Like many things, these rules get even more loosely interpreted or even ignored by high school. Upon reaching High School children are more likely to post risque pictures or break the other rules of instagram such as being cruel or mean (Heitner).

Jane’s special project sparked when she told her young class of eight and nine year olds that blue-eyed people were smarter and were better than brown-eyed people. Blue-eyed children were allowed an extra five minutes at recess, could have extras at lunch, got to sit in the front of the classroom, and were greatly applauded for their successes. On the opposite spectrum, brown-eyed students were forced to wear navy fabric collars in order to be easily identified. The groups were forced into segregation and were not allowed to play with one another out on the playground. Even when a brown-eyed student is tormented, the exercise continues; it is all a part of the experiment. The next day, the children switched roles, allowing them to all comprehend the degrading and humiliating emotional aspects of being an “outsider”.

Like the picture, people are lined up in row upon row and are given a certain task to complete. Each student must follow a strict set of rules designed by a few individuals with power. Comparably, the individuals in the photo also had to follow the regulations of their superior. Schools tend to foster conformity and create outliers of those who decide to be their own person. A perfect hypothetical example would be the student Bob. Bob tends to draw in class and doesn’t quite learn the same way as other students. When asked questions, because he was so busy drawing, Bob usually failed to answer the question with the correct response. When Bob did not answer after X amount of times, the teacher resulted in corporal punishment. This labeled him as an outcast and caused the other student to shun him and prevent him from participating in group activities. The picture illustrates the same effect and shows that only the people who obeyed were not shunned but rather accepted into a larger group. This, in both situations, has resulted in the loss of identity and personal characteristics that make people

The contents of this assignment will include multiple psychological theories to explain what ways an individual’s behaviour changes when he/she is part of a group. These theories will define social influence, conformity procedures within groups and social cognition, including the self-categorisation theory. Social groups are used in everyday living to represent beliefs, to work, play and to socialise. Groups can have a negative effect on an individual. Not been part of a group due to exclusion or stereotyping can create a negative effect.

The public schooling system in America edifies the paramount of individualism. However, we do conform to a certain degree with rigid school timetables (as visually perceived in Source B) and compulsory classes. Although, America makes it indispensable for students to take compulsory classes as a way of conformity it still sanctions the students to express their individualism with our dressing, our cull of electives and extra Co-curricular activities. Students express their individualism with the habiliments they wear and the classes and the extra Co

The manifest function of schools in our society is to socialize children. School grooms young people for the various roles and positions they will hold later in life by teaching them reading, writing, mathematics and the sciences. The various activities and experiences at school help expose children to values that are important in our society such as capitalism, so-called democracy and environmentalism. The text suggests that one of the latent functions of schools is actually producing “passive, non-problematic conformists who will fit into the existing social order (Gracey, 1991). Schools are able to do this by training children to act in specific ways and expect certain things from the authority figures in their lives.

Since the modern era, a major limitation of society remains: the obsession of one’s appearances, and the subsequent alienation of those perceived to not fit the ideal. The general media unceasingly promotes the thin ideal, spawns a multi-billion dollar diet industry, and permeates major aspects of society, such as the medical community. The hatred for one’s appearance is entirely a social construct perpetuated by the media. More importantly, the ideal has alienated those perceived to be outside of it, which is the majority of the U.S. population. The conformity stifles individualism on various levels. America was made great because of its diversity, which is now threatened by pressures to conform. It encompasses all aspects of life, even

As Dr. Seuss once said, “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don 't matter and those who matter don 't mind.” Through this quote, the foundation of conformity is uprooted from its murky hovel and is disputed with. Despite, though, how many people preach these words, they still succumb to the mind numbing effects without even realizing it, because they are not fully aware of the causes of this topic. That is why one needs to understand the causes of conformity before preventing the effects. The three causes of conformity include: changing how one acts to avoid the rejection of their peers, depending on other people 's’ opinions because they are oblivious to a certain topic, and conforming to something based on social characteristics.

While there, he observes a strict system of punishment and reward where objectives are carried out with military precision. He encounters a strange language of keywords and symbols used by teachers to enforce universal conformity among students. A numbering system from 1-4 is used publicly to identify the progress of each student, the result a social identifier and a source of humiliation among the low ranking students. He observes that the enforcement of rigorous rules and regulations suppresses normal childhood behavior producing classrooms devoid of any human element. In reviewing notes taken while monitoring a fourth-grade classroom he reflects; “But I found no references to any child’s traits of personality or even physical appearances. Differences between the children somehow cease to

Students are unique in their own way. In order to support individuality and continue conformity schools need to work on every individual with their own learning style.

“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.

It is crucial that public education and schooling honors non-conformity as it is necessary towards the students

The expectations schools have for their students is a serious problem that enforces conformity instead of individuality. Having high expectations for students can be a wonderful thing that encourages them to do their best, but having expectations that are way too high can cause them to become stressed frequently. This could result in the students not even wanting to come to school anymore. At school they feel like they are not allowed to express themselves the way they would want to.