Inequalities in Education

There's no question as to whether education is equal or not. It's definitely not. There are many areas where these inequalities exist:
Class: Just take an area like Mountain Brook versus a school in downtown Birmingham. These schools are no where near equal. The parents of students at Mountain Brook have plenty of money to give to the school to better educate their children. They are able to hire better teachers, have more extracurricular activities,  etc. The parents are also able to buy their children things like SAT prep courses that will help them get into college. Most lower income parents can't do this. That's just high school. College is even worse. Unless a lower income student gets a scholarship, it's highly unlikely they will be able to attend college.
Race: Education is also unequal when it comes to race. Whites, Asian Americans and African Americans are much more likely to finish high school when compared to Mexican Americans. Why is this? Studies show that in elementary schools, standard achievement test scores were pretty equal for all races. The difference came in after summer. High SES children were being exposed to educational opportunities when school was out and low SES children weren't.
Gender: Boys tend to do better on exams than girls; however, girls are doing better in other aspects like they are more likely to graduate high school and go to college(and graduate college.)
These are just a few of the inequalities in education. The question is will there ever really be any sort of solution and if so, what will it be?

 2008. Conley. You May Ask Yourself.

Megachurches and their "high"

Megachurches are definitely on the rise in America. They bring in tons of people every service and have multiple services on Sundays. Why are these huge churches becoming so popular? Is it because of a so called "high" people get when they are there?

I thought about this in two different ways. First, you could think of the feeling you get when you're worshipping as a "high". You get caught up in worshipping and really forget everything else that might've been weighing on you. The other way I thought about this was more like an actual high though. I think some people go to these megachurches and churces in general for the atmosphere rather than really getting anything out of it. Close to where I'm from, there is a huge thing at a local church called Dexter every Halloween. It's about a guy named Dexter who committed suicide. I know so many people that have gone to the program and gotten saved that night then never say another word about it after it. I think they just get so caught up in the moment, they really have no idea what they are doing or committing themselves to.

I don't see anything wrong with megachurches. I think it's great that they draw such large crowds. They also draw people that probably wouldn't go anywhere else, but go there because it is exciting. The problem comes in when those people are only there for fun and not to get the full experience.

2012. Lisee. Does Megachurch High Explain Their Success?

The Affect of Parents' Choices on Children

I'm a family studies major and to be honest I could go on all day about the topic of family. I'm just interested in how families work and what makes a successful family versus an unsuccessful family. The thing I want to focus on in this blog is the affect our parents' choices have on our choices. I think parents have a huge influence on our lives whether we want to admit it or not. Most of us don't really choose what religion or denomination we associate with. We just are what are parents are. The same goes for political affiliation and in some cases (especially in the state of Alabama) things like football. If you were to ask most football fans in Alabama, I would be willing to bet that the majority of them pull for the team they do because one or both of their parents raised them that way OR because their parents go for the rival and they wanted to be different. Our parents' affect our lives with their decisions before we are ever born. Our mothers can decide to smoke or hopefully not smoke while pregnant. They can swear off alcohol which ensures their child won't have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. There are so many decisions a mother makes while pregnant that will no doubt affect their child once he or she is born. Our parents influence our decisions greatly, sometimes without even knowing. A mother or father can tell their child something is bad for them all they want but if the child sees them doing it, it's hard for them to take their parent seriously. For example, most parents tell their kids early on that smoking is bad and they should never even try it; however, if that same parent is holding a cigarette in their hand while explaining how harmful smoking is, what good is being done? If a child is around someone who smokes their whole life, they are likely to just think it is normal and okay. I do think the opposite of this is also true, though. My grandfather smoked his whole life and eventually died of lung cancer. My mom always talks about how she hated smoking growing up because he would always smoke in their house. She says that when she went to school or when friends came over she would be self conscious because she always felt that she smelled like smoke. So my mom actually benefited in the long run from my grandfather smoking because it made her never want to try it. Basically, our parents don't really have an option. They influence us whether they want to or not. They need to remember that everything they do affects us in one way or another; but we also need to remember that nobody is perfect and everyone will eventually make a mistake or two. Most of us will be parents one day and we will hope for that same forgiveness and understanding.

2011. Bird. How Do Parents' Lifestyles Affect Their Children? Livestrong.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/501079-how-do-parents-lifestyles-affect-their-children/

Racial Health Inequalities

In the United States the average life expectancy for whites is 78.9 years; for African Americans average life expectancy is 73.8 years in the U.S. This major gap proves there is a problem when it comes to racial inequality in health. Even birth rate is unequal for different races. Someone is a middle class household who is African American is still more likely to have a baby with a low birth weight than a white woman in a similar income home. What are the reasons for these discrepancies? Our book says the high correlation between socioeconomic status (SES) and race. However, even when the social status is the same for both races, African Americans still have worse average health than whites. Our book also says that African Americans in every social class tend to be more stressed than white people because of racism in our nation. African Americans are unequally poor when compared to whites. The stress of being poor can cause health issues. Middle class and upper class African Americans can be subject to racism and stereotyping which leads to stress which in turn leads to health issues. In conclusion, stress from racism or stereotyping seems to be a reason for the gap in life expectancy between whites and African Americans in the United States.


2009. Cooley. You May Ask Yourself.

The Cross-Race Effect



Eye witness testimony is more heavily relied on in the United States court system than in several other countries. Most people think if something happened to them like rape or robbery, they would be able to pick that person out of a lineup. But what if that person isn't the same race as you? The cross race effect is a phenomenon that shows that people of a certain race have a much harder time distinguishing characteristics between people of another race. The crazy thing about it is, when we are babies, we DO have the ability to discriminate between people of another race. Babies 3-6 months have been tested and are able to see differences in not only another race, but in monkeys. Around 6-9 months, babies start to lose this identifying ability. Jennifer Thompson-Cannino(a white woman) was raped by a black male. She memorized everything she could about his face and had the police make a sketch of him. She was then asked to choose a man out of a lineup. She chose one named Ronald Cotton. She was absolutely sure he was the one who had raped her and no one was convincing her otherwise. Mr. Cotton was convicted based on Ms. Thompson-Cannino's eyewitness testimony. Mr. Cotton spent 11 years in prison before DNA evidence proved that he was innocent and it was actually a black male named Bobby Poole who had raped Ms. Thompson-Cannino. Here are the two men side by side:



To me and obviously to Ms. Thompson-Cannino, these two men look a lot alike. However, Mr. Cotton said that he thinks he and Mr. Poole share no similarities. Although Ms. Thompson-Cannino did make a very big mistake that took 11 years of Mr. Cotton's life away from him, is she really at fault? How much should eyewitness testimony be relied on, especially in cross race situations like this one? Ms. Thompson-Cannino and Mr. Cotton are actually friends now and they have a book together on the cross race effect entitled Picking Cotton.This story had a positive outcome. Of the first 279 people that were exonerated when DNA testing came about, 3/4 of them been convicted based on incorrect eyewitness testimony. 4/10 of those were cross race cases. In my opinion eyewitness testimony should not be so heavily relied on considering how inaccurate it can be.



(2012). Roth. Looking across the racial divide: How eyewitness testimony can cause problems. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/science/looking-across-the-racial-divide-how-eyewitness-testimony-can-cause-problems-279237/

The Glass Ceiling

The Glass Ceiling is a term used to describe the barrier that keeps women from climbing up the occupational ladder. On average, men earn 23% more than women. There are two main reasons for this. First of all, men are more likely to get hired than women. Men do not come with the stigma attached to them that they might have to take time off of work to have and care for children. Secondly, men make more on average than women doing the exact same job as them. I understand that there are some instances where a man would be better qualified for a job than a woman also interviewing for the same job. I also understand that women taking off work a lot might be a concern for someone. I do not, however, understand why men are paid more to do the same job that a woman would get paid less to do. If two people have the same qualifications then there should be no discrepancy. I cannot think of any reason at all that a man with a Doctorate would be paid more than a woman with a Doctorate at the same job. Our book also describes what is called the glass escalator. This is when a normally female dominated job (nurse, teacher, paralegal) is done by a man and that man has a better chance at getting a raise or leadership position than a woman at the same job. The example that our book uses, which I find very true but have never thought about, is teachers. 75% of teachers are female but only 50% of principals are female. Most of my teachers in elementary school were female, but our principal and vice principal were both male. In my opinion men are more likely to get leadership roles because they are taken more seriously than women. I think equality is important. I don't think that women should start getting more opportunities than men because there have been inequalities in the past. I think it should just be equal. People who do the same job and have the same qualifications should get paid the same regardless of gender, ethnicity, etc. I think the gender gap is getting better, but there is still a long way to go.

2005. Toussaint. The Glass Ceiling. Feminism and Women's Studies. http://feminism.eserver.org/the-glass-ceiling.txt

Relative Poverty

I know when some people think of poverty they think of rural areas like in the documentary we watched (Brother's Keeper). My idea of poverty is a little bit different. I am from a very rural area. We have one traffic light and it's just a caution light. We have one store and it's run by my grandfather's first cousin, E.L. and everyone that ever went to my high school would always stop at "E.L's" after school to get a drink or get gas since it was the only place within about 10-15 miles to do so. My neighbor to the right is a farmer and his family, and my neighbor to the left is my cousin living in what used to be my grandmother and grandfather's house before they passed away. I had lived in the same place my entire life until I came to Samford. So when I think of a rural area, I don't think of poverty. I think of my neighbor who is more wealthy than anyone would ever know by talking to him. I think about E.L. who has more money saved up than I could ever even imagine, yet still drives the same truck he has had since I can remember.

E.L.'s store

View from my front yard into my neighbor's farm (and my adorable puppy Charlie)

Basically I think it all comes down to relative poverty. Two people from two different areas could have the same income but one could be in poverty and the other one not in poverty. There are several reasons for this. First of all, the cost of living is lower in rural areas so they are not going to have to pay as much for bills, a house, etc. Second, the rural person could possibly have other advantages like being able to get food from their garden or eggs from the chickens they raise. This helps them save a lot of money. The cost of living isn't the only thing that poverty depends on. There is also the factor of what sort of things people in a certain area value. For example, in the city, someone could live without a car. They could use public transportation which can get expensive if you have to use it everyday. In rural areas, that's not really an option. If you or your family doesn't have a car, you just sit at home. So while the two people may have the same income, it doesn't necessarily mean they are at the same place on the poverty scale. With the cost of living being so radically different in different areas, it's hard for me to believe there is a perfect measure of absolute poverty. It's not that I think there aren't people in rural areas that are in poverty. I know there are a lot. I just think that while some people may be under the poverty line, they very well might be living off what they grow/raise and not be as bad off as they seem.



 

 

2008. Lindsey. Absolute Poverty Vs. Relative Poverty: The Search for Survival. http://voices.yahoo.com/absolute-poverty-vs-relative-poverty-search-for-909253.html