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Individuality and conformity in high school
Compare and contrast the two viewpoints: conformity versus individuality
Compare and contrast the two viewpoints: conformity versus individuality
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Should schools promote conformity or individuality is the question at hand. Schools do lots of things people question ocassionally, so lets try to debunk this one. Generally, it seems most schools really try to keep its students from feeling, in a sense, different, as hard as they can. While schools try there best to do this, its hard for them to see whats going on everywhere and in fact its impossible. Now, when its being said it seems like they try to stop people from feeling different, it means from feeling excluded or like there part of a minority and what not. My question is however, by schools trying to keep people 'equal' are they actually asking them to conform? obviously im not refering to the schools wanting people to be decent human beings, thats a give, but the whole per say- dress code, everyone recieving the same treatment despite wrong actions, promoting groups that are desirable to be part of and all of these everyday …show more content…
Of course it should be promoting induviduality, and I really do think it tries its best. Being who you are in a school enviroment is a massive struggle if you're not conforming to norms. As much as people attempt to stray away from saying it, most people who DO conform are the ones making it so hard for other people to be themselves in a place we spend just as much time at as we do at home and in other settings. Minorities get the horrible end of all this; POC, LGBTQ+, mentally ill and disabled students are among those who feel the real punishment of what toxic conformity really does to people. When people force themselves to conform, it can be more then simply uncomfortable or a sucky situation, it can be mentally and physically hurt people. In the long run, conformity can be and IS extremely toxic, and for the better of the children and young adults that make up the student population conformity should be eliminated by schools over
The article "Let`s Really Reform Our Schools" by Anita Garland discuss the trouble faced by American High Schools. According to her, students are more concerned about their looks than learning, and this results in poor academic performance. She states that there is a need for American High Schools to be completely restructured. The worst students must be kicked out of the schools because they are troublemakers, and they distract others, which includes their fellow students, teachers, and administrators. Troublemakers lack fear of suspension from school, and suspension from school doesn’t improve their behavior. Troublemakers do not care about punishments at all. After all, they don’t want to be in the school, and they are not learning anything
A lot of the things we have today that are manmade came from people who dared to think outside of the box. There are not so good ideas that we learn from and there are also really great ideas from which we learn and benefit from. Ask yourself this how is society to grow, change, and develop if we only listen to how one person wants it to be. Individualism is belief in the primary importance of the individual and personal independence, it makes everyone unique. If there was not individuality high school life would be boring. You wouldnt walk around seeing thousands of students wearing clothes that express who they are but instead you would see everyone wearing boring dull colors like our school colors for example. Need I say more. Part of the high school experience is everybody being their own individual self. All fords are a like but no two people are the same! (Henry Ford).
I believe schools are a reflection of their communities. Our schools are no longer segregated due the US Supreme court decision handed down in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. However, a schools makeup is similar to the communities they serve. A majority white school belongs in a majority white community. A diverse community such in large cities like New York will have diverse student body in their schools. Schools in the United States have been desegregated for over a half-century or have they. A film called “Little Rock Central- 50 Years Later” says differently. Little Rock Central is the famous high school where the Little Rock Nine students went to school. The school was forced by the federal government to desegregate. This film now captures this same high school fifty years later and finds a new type of segregation. The new type of segregation is now about social economic class and academic class.
I’ve had many encounters and experiences with conformity. Asch’s experiment, although only touching on the small effect of conformity using lines, truly identifies and scientifically proves that conformity is a very powerful thing. I’ve participated in many sports throughout my life, and have come to realize that the majority of them were all determined as “girl” sports. I’d conformed to societies belief that girls should focus more on participating in dance, ice skating, etc…I’d conformed to my parents and friend’s
Grades also cause a seen diversity among the students. That would be the half that get great grades, and the other half with lower grades. At a young age children can realize which section the fall into. Some students that fall into the lower half may push themselves to do better, but others will not. They see no point when they think they cannot be the higher half. The odds are not in those kids favor, and they know
Conformity and Its Meaning This assignment focuses upon conformity and what it means to us. Conformity is defined by Zimbardo (1992) as "A tendency for people to adopt behaviour, values and attitudes of other members of a reference group". Why people conform is a topic of much debate. People don't always conform for the same reason's, in 1958 Kelman identified three main forms of conformity, each of which could produce conforming behaviour but in different ways.
... be on a case-by-case basis with the good of the whole class in mind. “Equality and socialization should accompany – not replace – judgment and education. To substitute the former for the latter, or vice versa, is an unsafe practice, pure and simple” (Carpenter, 2008, p. 236).
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, and 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, is depriving students of their sense of independence by not allowing them to think for themselves and destroying their natural curiosity; therefore I believe schools need to place more emphasis on the individuality of students.
...iform policy, bullying, segregation, and distractions will not be the reasons of poor school environment. When all the negative effects are prevented, it would form a better place for students to learn and keeps them united.
Conformity, or going along with the crowd, is a unique phenomenon that manifests itself in our thoughts and behaviors. It’s quite simple to identify countless examples of the power of conformity in virtually all aspects of social life. Conformity influences our opinions and relationships with others, often to a higher extent than we realize. It is posited that people generally conform to the group in order to fit in and avoid rejection or because they truly believe the group is more knowledgeable than they are. After analyzing numerous studies and experiments on the nature of conformity, one will find that the motive of social acceptance is the greatest driver of conformity.
Schools are supposed to be second homes. It goes without saying that students should feel safe, comfortable, and happy at school. They're all there for the same reason. They're all stuck in the same boat of studying for the same diploma exams and going to the same assemblies.
Ensuing President Bill Clinton's State of the Union address in January of 1996, more and more public schools are implementing dress codes and uniform policies in their schools. As a result, there has been an increase in legal controversies dealing with the issue. The reason that dress codes are not conclusively enforced is due to the application of the First Amendment to juveniles in the public school setting. The First Amendment states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Should children in public schools be able to wear whatever they want because of the freedoms classified in the First Amendment? I feel that the answer is no. Institutionalizing dress codes in public schools would do a great good for students and the entire academic community. I base my opinion on the fact that the pros of imposing dress codes outweigh the cons of the argument. By imposing dress codes or uniforms for students, it would eliminate opportunities for the ridicule of less popular or less fortunate students based on their attire, help prevent gang violence and gang members from wearing gang colors and insignia in schools, and generate an overall better academic concentration and discipline in the educational community.
It is very common to see conformity among young people, especially when large groups of young people are constantly around each other. School is one example where conformity is rampant. For some reason people tend to gravitate towards what others are doing. In Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel, Never Let Me Go, the characters are no different from any other young person in that they tend to conform. Ishiguro shows this conformity to prove that conformity stems from the want to fit in and pure ignorance. At Hailsham, the students conform just to fit in with the rest of the students, but they also conform because they do not know any better.
Conformity and Obedience in Society The desire to be accepted and belong to a group is an undeniable human need. But how does this need affect an individual? Social psychologists have conducted numerous experiments and concluded that, through various forms of social influence, groups can change their members’ thoughts, feelings, and behavior. In her essay “Group Minds,” Doris Lessing discusses our paradoxical ability to call ourselves individuals and our inability to realize that groups define and influence us.
I believe this is a very relevant topic today since prejudice and discrimination has become the leading issue of violence. The goal of this type of education is to teach the students that they have worth and can learn. It is a very positive subject matter when considering the benefits of implementing this type of education into a school system. This type of education encourages students of a diverse background to have a positive self-identity, pride in their heritage, accept others with diverse backgrounds, and promote social justice against prejudice and discrimination. Teachers can change the conversation in their classrooms by adding spontaneous and relevant content to their curriculum that both promotes multiculturalism and connects with the students. I believe a big part of making a change in our society today is by ‘changing the conversation’ whether that is about discrimination or another important issue. Teachers can step in at a very early age and promote feelings of self-worth and encourage the students to accept each other aside from cultural