Meanness also includes such behaviours as name-calling, ridicule, sarcasm, and giving other girls the silent treatment. Research on girls meanness has found that middle-class girls more frequently participate in this type of aggression because it is within this social class that the rules of femininity are the least flexible. At-risk children who display early aggression and signs of early offending can have these risks reduced if the school environment is a supportive one. Pomerantz (2008) studied the school identities of girls at a high school on Vancouvers east side. Bully victims often report experiencing headaches, extreme sadness, insomnia, stomachaches, and suicidal thoughts (Kaltiala-Heino, Rimpel, Marttunen, Rimpel, and Rantanen 1999). Humans are innately social and thrive in communication, comradery and competition with others. Canadian studies of the outcomes associated with home schooling are much less plentiful than in the United States, where the home schooling movement has been growing rapidly. Even when accounting for numerous childhood risk factors such as social class of origin, gender, and antisocial behaviour, having been verbally abused by a teacher in early childhood was associated with behavioural problems in adulthood. One reaction has been an outcry that educational standards are failing boys. Both male and female skaters also widely rejected the values associated with the popular crowd. Furthermore, socialization can be divided into two types: primary socialization and secondary socialization. The term zero tolerance first gained popularity in the area of law enforcement in the United States. Raby (2005, 2008) and Raby and Domitrek (2007) argue that the school is a place where young people are socialized, but that top-down rule making assumes passive citizenship where students are relatively powerless. Home schooled children typically follow the curriculum of their province of residence. Unless a child attended preschool or nursery, the structure and routines of the school day and the social relationships within the school setting must be entirely learned. In an overview of studies (Sussman et al. School sports are another area that can cultivate gender stereotypes. Academics as a group mostly consisted of brains who did well in their studies and extracurricular activities that were academically oriented. Popular girls and boys also tended to be part of high-status school-sponsored school activities, namely cheerleading (for girls) and team sports (for boys). Such embedded practices are lining up, doing homework, taking tests, and being evaluated. Such reading materials functioned as a type of social or cultural capital within their groups of friends. Krahn and Taylor (2007) found that a major influence on course selection was parental education and family income; students from families with lower incomes and in which neither parent had post-secondary qualifications were more likely to take lower-streamed courses. This type of aggression is often simply referred to as meanness. 2007; Sokal 2010) or other English-speaking nations (see Allan 1993; Butler and Christensen 2003; Carrington and Skelton 2003; Carrington, Tymms, and Merrell 2008; Martin 2003). Their role in guiding the moral development of children, however, is often not simply limited to setting a good example. In this chapter, the complex role of socialization within schools was introduced. So far, it has been argued that children must adapt to features of school that are much different from their family environments. Internationally, girls have also been achieving higher standardized reading scores than males since the 1990s (see Box 6.5 for discussion). However, as Greig (2003) points out, this approach assumes that all boys like a particular type of book and that there is a standardized masculine identity that should be cultivated. Families and schools are major contributors to socialization, but there are other systems of socialization within ecological systems theory. 10. Brint (1998) notes that young children, for example, may be assigned reading material that warns of the consequences of not having such virtues. Variation and Formulas Completing a Portfolio, English Language Arts Streaming in Alberta, Mathematics is not the only subject that is streamed. Instead of passive citizens who are expected to follow rules handed down from positions of authority, students in these alternative schools are active citizens who participate in the democracy of the school structure. Zero tolerance policies refer to specific code infractions that result in immediate punishment, usually in the form of suspension or expulsion, and sometimes involving the police. She notes that personal style is very much at the heart of social identities and how a girl presents her body is akin to her social skin. While Pomerantz was collecting her data between 2002 and 2003, there were two particular uniforms for girls at East Side Highthe Britney look and the JLo look, named after pop music icons Britney Spears and Jennifer Lopez, respectively. As discussed above, the teacher becomes an important new figure of authority for young children when they first begin formal schooling. Socialization that occurs within the family, where children first learn their own individual identity, acquire language, and develop cognitive skills. The argument that because school teachers are almost exclusively female, schools are a place where male interests are not cultivated. Codes of conduct are of particular interest because they have been created under the auspices of improving school safety. Peer victimization and rejection have been found to be associated with psychological distress that carries over into adulthood (Ambert 1994; Bagwell, Newcomb, and Bukowski 1998; Roff 1990; Roth, Coles, and Heimberg 2002). There is also the risk that she may develop a reputation. An inherent message in these codes of dress is that girls covering up keeps male students focused and protects girls personal safety. Schools socialize children by teaching them their formal curricula but also a hidden curriculum that imparts the cultural values of the society in which the schools are found. One of these values is the need to respect authority, as evidenced by these children standing in line. Students who are consistently placed in remedial classes may also start to view themselves as slow (Barakett and Cleghorn, 2008). There are, however, a significant number of children, not only in Canada but in the United States and beyond, that do not attend school in the way that has been described here. An analysis of the relationship between character and citizenship education revealed that the overarching message was to promote assimilation into Canadian society (Winton 2007).4. What is streaming? Streaming, as a way of dividing students into ability groupings, was described as creating internalized roles for students which may force them into social categories that are difficult to move out of. These labels are not easily shed and can have spillover effects into other areas of social interaction, such as peer relations and future teacher expectations (Jones 1972). The socialization of students through the use of school rules, including dress codes and uniforms, was also addressed. Children who have negative relationships with teachers are also more likely to view school as an unpleasant place and be at a disadvantage in terms of learning. The second part discusses gender socialization with a close look and discussion on feminist theory. Rules that students opposed were those that seemed pointless and arbitrary, particularly those around dress codes (Raby 2005). Students may not touch other students. No Way! Character education is part of the official curriculum in some parts of the country. The peer group becomes more important in adolescence as a source of emotional security and identity. Specifically, Sprott (2004) found that emotional support in the classroom when children were between 10 and 13 years of age reduced violent behaviour in children two years later. Feb 23 2011 at 2:33pm. The series of courses a student should take that best matches his or her abilities and aptitudes; also known as tracking. Other research has found that individuals belonging to the popular and jock crowds were more likely to engage in relational aggression (discussed below), while those in high-risk peer groups (the deviants) were more prone to greater physical and relational aggression in the future (Pokhrel et al. In April of 2007, zero tolerance policies were removed from Ontario schools.6. School dress codes can be a particularly contentious topic, particularly when the dress code rules appear to be targeting particular groups and if they do not appear to be enforced fairly. 2007). Students in such tracks often indicate that they are bored and that they are not engaged with the course materials (Berends 1995). The term became associated with school disciplinary procedures in 1994 when the Gun-Free Schools Act was passed in the United States, which required that students who possessed a firearm at school be expelled for no less than one year (Cerrone 1999). It is explained that students voices are important and that individual voices are to be developed within the boundaries of the community, which upholds the three rules. Box 6.3 Zero Tolerance Policies in Canadian Schools. What are some conflicts that arise around the topic of school rules? Adapted from Dreeben, Robert, 1968, On What is Learned in School, Percheron Press, A Division of Eliot Werner Publications, Inc., Used with permission. School uniforms became more widely implemented in the public school system in the United States in the 1980s and 1990s when school policies were put in place in an effort to control gang activities and increase safety at schools (Han 2010). The third dimension of socialization is cultural conformity. The sense of belonging to a school community; can influence behavioural outcomes in students. In Canada, research using data from the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth has found that the social climate within schools and classrooms has important effects on children who display early signs of behavioural problems. How will they learn to work in groups and socialize with other students in a learning environment and form co-operative relationships with their peers? If activities and behaviours are gendered by teachers, this can have an impact on how children see appropriate female and male roles. Abuse of students by teachers is a rare occurrence, but when it does happen there are children who are at a greater risk of being victimized.10 In terms of victims of verbal abuse by teachers, these children are more likely to be boys and to display at risk characteristics early on (i.e., from kindergarten), such as antisocial behaviours, and have attention problems (particularly boys). Resistance by youth to the socialization forces of the school and its inherent power relationships can be expressed in a variety of ways. The term streaming is typically used to apply to formal processes of splitting students into ability groupings and is usually discussed in a manner that focuses on the individual student. Define peer victimization, peer rejection, and relational aggression. Public schools tend to focus more on the testing side of the education because that is where they obtain their funding and a child might be offered a chance to be introduced to diversity, whereas private school has more time and the means to explore socialization in many other forms like field trips and such. During socialization, a person learns to become a member of a group, community, or society. As well, previous research has shown that, like bully victims, rejected children report being lonely (Asher, Hymel, and Renshaw 1984) and are more likely to be depressed (Vosk, Forehand, Parker, and Rickard 1982) than integrated peers. Stanley Cohen (1972) coined the term moral panic to refer to the social phenomenon of mass attention being given to topics that appear to threaten the established social order. Typically, socialization is thought of as something that happens to young people, but socialization occurs throughout ones lifetime. In a study of 226 Canadian adults who had been home schooled as children, Van Pelt, Allison, and Allison (2009) explored how these individuals compared to a more general population of adult Canadians. [S]tudents who aspire to careers that involve the development, production, teaching and study of more complex texts need to register in this course sequence. The table above shows the differences and similarities between the curricula of the two streams. In a study of secondary students responses to dress codes, Raby (2010) found that many girls regarded specific aspects of dress codes overly restrictive (such as the prohibition of tank tops with spaghetti straps) but were often quick to condemn girls who wore revealing clothing as sluts. While wanting to challenge gender inequalities, they were also active participants in reproducing them. In school, we also learn social skills through our interactions with teachers, staff, and other students. These 1400 hours in the school setting per year do not include extracurricular activities and school preparatory work, like homework. Researchers have suggested that codes of conduct may be more positively received when they are worded in a manner that includes. 2000). Because reading is highly associated with overall academic achievement and later-life occupational attainment, this is a problem that has tremendous sociological implications.