Society and Children Today

Term Paper # 104860

Child, Youth Issues
Child, Youth Issues > Family Issues
Political Science > U.S.

A personal perspective on the upbringing and socialization of children in contemporary American society.

855 words () | 14 sources | APA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

The writer discusses the commercialism and violence that are dominant features of our culture today, the lack of a sense of security since the September 11, 2001 attacks and how many children do not have the benefit of strong two-parent family ties. The writer reminisces about the years of his own upbringing which were marked by an optimism and sense of confidence that the United States could prevail against any challenge that it faced. The writer is of the opinion that the current leadership has not risen to the challenges of today's young people.

From the Paper:

"A child being socialized in contemporary America would probably emerge from childhood believing in the paramount importance of two aspects of our culture: commercialism and violence. By modern American culture, I mean that web of system of shared values, beliefs, principles, customs, and rituals that people in our society use to deal with the world around us, including other people (Bates & Plog, 1990, 7) . The critical social forces in modern American culture are economics and science & technology (Kornblum, 2005, 49-78, 108-38) ."

Sample of Sources Used:

Allison, Graham T. (1971). Essence of decision: explaining the Cuban missile crisis. Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown.
Bates, Daniel G. & Plog, Fred. (1990). Cultural Anthropology. 3d ed. New York, New York: McGraw-Hill.
Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and dimed : on (not) getting by in America. New York, New York: Metropolitan Books.
Fritz, Ben.; Keefer, Bryan.; Nyhan, Brendan. (2004). All The President's Spin : George W. Bush, The Media, and The Truth New York, New York: Simon & Schuster.
Goodrich, Carter. (2006, May 15). [front cover]. The New Yorker. 82 (13).