Hot Spots of Sociology:
- · Social Protests in Sports
Colin Kaepernick was a highly successful NFL star. He played an important role in helping the San Francisco 49ers reach the super bowl during the 2012 football season. While they did lose in the championship, he did establish himself as the future starting quarterback for the team. However, during the national anthem before the games. This was in protest against the unfair treatment of minorities, specifically by police. This highly controversial protest lost him his position in the NFL. NYtimes - The Awakening of Kaepernick
- · Youth Gangs as Psuedo-Governments: When Institutions Fail
When institutions fail the people they are meant to help, there is a void left behind. Gangs are often the organizations that fill this void. The gangs become appealing to poor youth because it appears like a way out of poverty, a chance to climb the socioeconomic ladder. These gangs fill in for many government institutions by providing order, protection, an economy, and other services, even if it is all done illegally. Jstor - When Youth Gangs as Psuedo-Governments
- · Increasingly segregated and unequal schools
Inequality of social class begins at a young age. Segregated schools cause some schools to receive better funding and others to fall behind. This difference can lead to huge inequalities in the education system. Students who attend the poorer schools will be much less likely to get a strong education that will lead to a college degree or even a high school diploma.
Increasingly segregated and unequal schools as courts reverse policy - Sagepub
Of these three, the first one strikes me as the most interesting. I think it is a highly controversial subject on the matter of social protest that uses a silent form of communication to cause a huge uproar across the country. However, I am fascinated by the reason's youth put their lives at risk by joining gangs as well. I think people generally do not understand this subject because they do not realize the poverty that forces people to look to gangs for help.
When you say segregated do you mean by income, race, or "class?" How do you think we could better divide the funding received for education, because it seems that (almost) wherever you are there are issues with funding for schools. Also would this also have to do with factors outside of schooling itself, such as the home life of different social classes, the states or city one is raised in, or the neighborhood one grows up in?
ReplyDeleteThat second topic though. I remember taking an American Heritage class that was all about how stable societies are created. Going off of what little I know about the history of gangs, you could create some really interesting parallels.
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