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Beyond the Schoolyard: The Role of Parenting Logics, Financial Resources, and Social Institutions in the Social Class Gap in Structured Activity Participation

If you’re a parent, you’ve been there. Your child comes home from school and wants to sign up for a sport because her friends are all doing it. It’s in that moment you look at the form and see the amount of money it’s going to cost you for your child to participate in said sport. If you’re a working-class parent, you cringe. How will you afford this and also buy groceries? If you’re a middle-class parent, you smile and write the check, knowing this will enhance your child’s social circle.

The socialization that occurs within a family can be affected by various demographics (Conley, pp 125). Middle-class parents will send their kids to camps, lessons, and various other after-school activities. Whereas, working-class parents spend more of their time directly with their children. This supports the social status of working-class verses middle-class parents. In this particular article, both middle-class and working-class parents are observed and compared when it comes to the different levels of involvement in structured activities. Moreover, working- and middle-class parents offer similar reasons for their children’s participation, such as supporting their child’s interest in an activity, keeping active, personal development, increasing academic skills of their children, and providing a venue for children to socialize with their peers (Bennett, Lutz and Jayaram, p. 140).

Ultimately, regardless of your social class, parents feel the pressure of having their child involved in activities. Both working- and middle-class parents can feel the strain of the financial burden for their child(ren) to participate in activities, but it is ultimately the working-class parent that feels it the most. Neither is different in how they feel about the socialization of their child, it is the financial strain that is felt differently. Overall, parents of both social classes are overwhelmingly supportive of their children’s participation in organized activities. Among those who view participation positively, 19 parents expressed some drawbacks to it, which for most (16) include concerns about time, rushing, transportation, and potential overscheduling that could reduce time for family, homework, and relaxation (Bennett, Lutz and Jayaram, p. 144).

Word count – 344

References:

Bennett, P. R., Lutz, A. C., & Jayaram, L. (2012). Beyond the schoolyard: The role of parenting logics, financial resources, and social institutions in the social class gap in structured activity participation: A magazine of theory and practice. Sociology of Education, 85(2), 131-157.

Conley, D. (2017). You may ask yourself: An introduction to thinking like a sociologist. New York: W.W. Norton.

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Life in Black and White: Racial Framing by Sports Networks on Instagram

The social space has become a crucial tool for sports networks (SNs) seeking to disseminate news and connect with audiences (Johnson & Romney, 2018, para. 4). This article discusses how social media platforms (SMPs) frames the way an athlete is viewed by the way it is presented it can influence how the audience views and processes the message that is being displayed. We are such a digital age, everything and anything that happens in our lives is posted or shared on some form of SMP.

You are not born a racist or with stereotypical views. Racism is taught. The media has a way of distorting the audiences view of a person or a group of people by the way they frame that individual or group. Our social norms have become so manipulated by the way SMPs portray a black athlete compared to a white athlete.

This study examines the official Instagram accounts of ESPN, FOX Sports, CBS Sports, and NBC Sports, to determine whether patterns emerge in the way these SMP accounts portray racial differences among athletes and if these differences reinforce hegemonic perceptions about race (Johnson & Romney, 2018, para. 8). Unless you live under a rock, you know there is biased with news networks. But for a SN to take full advantage of a SMP in order to distort the view of an athlete in an already violent and racist world is embarrassing. Most people would think that by now we would have come a very long way from racism.

This study showed that black subjects were overwhelmingly portrayed in strength sports as opposed to being portrayed in images depicting neutral or other nonathletic activities. I would love to ask the SNs what kind of message this is sending to our young people in our nation and in our world. They are promoting stereotypes and ethnocentrism. As stated, ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s own culture or group is superior to others and the tendency to view all other cultures from the perspective of one’s own (Conley, pp. 328).

Word Count – 341

References:

Conley, D. (2017). You may ask yourself: An introduction to thinking like a sociologist. New York: W.W. Norton.

Johnson, R. G., & Romney, M. (2018). Life in black and white: Racial framing by sports networks on instagram. Journal of Sports Media, 13(2), 1-18.

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There is mounting evidence suggesting that violating gender norms puts students at risk of being harassed by their peers, though this evidence is mostly qualitative and anecdotal (Lehman, 2017, para. 6). Being an athlete, basketball in particular, the topic of gender and sports resonates deep within my soul. This particular article examines the topic of how students are affected by their gender as a social norm in choosing an extracurricular activity. We have come a long way in our society regarding gender roles. Gender roles are the sets of behavioral norms assumed to accompany one’s status as a male or female (Conley, pp. 289). When I read articles such as this one, I think about my three young daughters, who are all athletes, and how their peers might view them as they develop their strong, athletic bodies. While I may be biased, my children are very beautiful girls and I can already see that they are going to grow up to become beautiful women. I contribute their strong sense of integrity to the role model I am to them.

This article also discusses violence against women. Lehman states, although more extreme than bullying or other forms of stigmatization, these cases of violence against women indicate that there can be a backlash against women’s independence and an expansion of women’s roles in society. If young women choose to maintain their independence and reject a young man’s efforts to possess her, they may face violence (para. 8). Domestic violence is on the rise, just like violence is in general. It so important for mothers to instill a sense of independence in their daughters. It is also true that mothers need to make sure they are discussing things like domestic violence and sexual harassment with their daughters.

Although the Women’s Rights Movements and reforms such as Title IX have sought to make equal room for women in all areas of society (including athletics in public schools), women are still subject to double-standards where normative restrictions are placed on women but not men and often enforced through misogyny or other derogatory sanctions (Lehman, 2017, section 6.1, para. 1).

Word Count - 354

References: 

Conley, D. (2017). You may ask yourself: An introduction to thinking like a sociologist. New York: W.W. Norton.

Lehman, B. (2017). Supporting gender equality in extracurricular activities and the impact on female bullying victimization in school. Social Psychology of Education : An International Journal, 20(2), 445-470.