Essay/Term paper: Social environment and its effect on one's life

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Humanities Essays

Social Environment and Its Effect On One's Life


Social environment is influenced by one's power and wealth. This, in
turn, determines success or failure in peoples' lives. If one were born with a
"silver spoon" in his mouth, he would easily be able to attend a fancy school no
matter how intelligent he is or have any luxury he wants just because of power
and wealth. On the flip side, if one were born to a poor family in a bad
neighborhood infested with violence and drugs, he would have a much smaller
chance of succeeding in life, more especially, going to an upper-class school.
It is hard for many poor to go to college because of such high tuition
costs. Scholarships are available; but, even though one shows financial need,
one still has to have a high grade point average and test scores. Even if one
has a good mind, trying to study in a gang-ridden neighborhood with constant
gunfire isn't easy. With both parents working two jobs, there isn't any parental
guidance. Whereas, the affluent, even if busy or working, have the means to
insure that their children are supervised and well taken care of. The rich also
have the luxury of affording special tutors to help their children while other
children are on their own.
For example, there are three students, one from a clean, upper-class
community, another from a small, middle-class suburb and the other from a
graffiti-ridden slum. All three of these students have exceptional GPA's and
scored very well on standardized testing. The student from the upper-class
community will have the best chance of succeeding. Tuition will never be a
problem and chances are that those parents have some pull because of who they
are. The middle-class student won't have a great problem but there is still the
fact of paying tuition, which would limit the options quite a bit. One may be
smart enough to get grants but the family makes too much money. Also, if he
sought admission into a prestigious school and it came down to the student or
someone richer, the middle-class student would probably lose out. Some of the
many reasons for this are that the affluent family will most likely have been an
alumni to that particular school. If not, they will have better connections and
will have a more impressive letter of recommendation written for the student.
However, the lower-class student would have a much rougher time. Even with good
grades, he might lack the opportunities that others may have. Tuition is
definitely a problem and with an overworked guidance counselor, a problem of a
poorer school system, scholarship information might be missing. Most importantly,
there would be a decided lack of motivation on the part of the school, family
and maybe even the student.
I am not saying that social environment is the definitive factor in
someone's lifetime accomplishments. It is common knowledge that it is difficult
to get out of a bad situation such as growing up without any of the advantages
others have, but many have managed. There is a way out, it just takes a strong
mind and a strong will to do so. If someone is intelligent enough, they can try
to go out and grab the recognition they deserve.
Social environment as a determining agent is definitely a human-made
force. In society, the poor are regarded with contempt or completely ignored
while the rich are seen as having the authority over everything. The poor are
seen as undeserving, therefore, not receiving much of an education, if any. In
any society, there are always the strong and the weak; and, in this case, the
weak are portrayed as the poor by the rest of society. Some feel that the weak
in our society should be eliminated because they are no more than mere pests,
irritating the rest of society.
In my opinion, there isn't much to be done to change the way society
thinks. As long as the elite control businesses and schools, they will still
have the authority over what the public thinks and does. The best thing to have
is a positive outlook on all situations and never stop trying. If one never
gives up, one can achieve his goal no matter how unreal it may seem at the time.
The most important thing is never to let society get in the way. One must not
fall prey to society's evils and give up.
If there were to be a solution, it would have to be bringing more jobs
back into this great country of ours. Too many people are out of work because
the greedy owners of companies are taking jobs away from American workers and
giving them to foreigners who are paid next to nothing for intense labor. There
is also a lack of good, well-educated teachers. Many of the bad neighborhoods,
where the above-mentioned lower class live, are uneducated because there is a
shortage of teachers to give them guidance. If schools were cleaned up and rid
of all the violence, then more teachers would be willing to teach there. All of
these goals will be difficult to achieve and will take much time and patience to
complete.
In not too many years, the generation of tomorrow will be the generation
of the present. If everyone is open minded, then perhaps the ideas of the past
will change and the poor will be considered human beings. But until then,
society remains the same and will be very difficult to change. In conclusion, I
have a very optimistic opinion of the future and the way the poor are treated.
It will take concerted effort and cooperation on behalf of everyone but I think
it can be done if everyone puts their minds to it.