Family, Mass Media and Education as Socialization

¶ … Family, Mass Media and Education as Socialization Factors

A growing body of evidence confirms that agents of socialization play crucial roles in the social development of an individual. Certain agents are identified as being more influential than others, with these agents being responsible for causing the most influence in our lives and playing a major role in the altering of our self-images over the course of our lives. Some of these agents include family (especially parents), schools and peers, work environment, gender and the mass media, among others. The development of a social life and the social relationships of an individual are inextricably related to the influence from these respective agents and how they are manifest in people's day-to-day lives (Henslin, 2013). There are several agents of socialization that have most significantly affected my life, including most especially family, mass media and education. These socialization agents were selected based on their high degree of influence on my life and in shaping my character and are discussed further below.

Family

My family has been of central importance in my life. My father was in and out of my life throughout my childhood, as he had a gambling problem and wanted/needed the horses more than being a father and husband. As a result, I never spent much time with him growing up. I lived with my maternal grandparents and mother from the age I started kindergarten (when my parents separated). In reality, I was provided everything I needed and wanted by my mother. She and my grandmother made me the person, with the values and morals I have today. It is reasonable to suggest that I learned everything from them. Indeed, I may have been a better and much more confident person in the presence of my father because of their support. I truly regard the decisions that my mother has made for me and how she has brought me up in all the tough life decisions. Seeing her fighting for me alone has given me the courage to support her and be strong for her.

Certainly, this has not always been easy or even possible when things make it hard to respond in an effective fashion to the myriad positive and negative events that swirl around everyone in life, but my family has remains a core source of socialization for me and I intend to draw of this invaluable resource in the future while providing them with the support they need in return.

Mass Media

The second agent of socialization that has been highly influential in my life is mass media, especially television, because I am admittedly a pop culture junkie. One of my favorite television shows is "Jeopardy" because I can ace all of the pop culture-related categories, and it is always fun to know the answer when others do not. My interest in pop culture relates in a major way to how American culture is represented at a given point in time compared to years past, and these differences, particularly in the second half of the 20th century, are clearly evident when viewed through a 21st century perspective. It is not only interesting to track cultural and social changes over the years in this way, it is also instructive and adds to the body of knowledge that is available to understand these presentations.

From the early days of "Leave It To Beaver" and "Father Knows Best" to Archie Bunker's irascible character in "All In the Family" to contemporary presentations of increasingly accepted gay and lesbian lifestyles in productions such as "Queer as Folk" and "GLEE." In these productions, the main characters are gay and are great role models for those watching these shows. Perhaps had I had them when I needed positive images, I would not have turned to heroin to self-medicate, but irrespectively, the decision to do so was mine alone. Because these issues have been so influential in my life, I have been motivated to understand the effects of modern culture on the mass media and vice versa. What is popular today, of course, will not be popular tomorrow unless there are some defining factors that contribute to their universal and timeless appeal. The foregoing television series are indicative of the prevailing social mores of the day, and even though it took some kicking and screaming from the American public, there has been a shift towards a more enlightened representation of people of all sexual orientations in the mass media in recent years.

Education

Finally, like most people, education has been a significant source of socialization in my life. In truth, this socialization factor in inextricably interrelated to the aforementioned family support factor as discussed further below, but from the outset, schools have played a formative role in shaping my thinking and character. During my early schooling, issues concerning the importance of citizenship and scholarship became apparent, but there were also important lessons concerning gender roles and sexualization that were influential in my life. In retrospect, I actually enjoyed a somewhat privileged education compared to most young people attending public schools having attended private Catholic school for a full 12 years (grade school and high school, first St. Michael the Archangel in Levittown, Pennsylvania, then Conwell-Egan Catholic High School.

Academically, I thrived in this school environment and graduated in the top 20 of my class and succeeded in earning a full, 4-year scholarship to Pennsylvania State University. This scholarship was made possible in large part by the sacrifices that my mother and maternal grandparents made in paying the private-school tuition which, although modestly priced compared to more expensive institutions, was nevertheless a lot of money at times and the fact that my family helped keep me in these schools is proof positive of the significance of their socialization influence on my life.