Thinking about Schools by Blair Hilty Eleanor;

Author:Blair Hilty, Eleanor;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2011-02-17T16:00:00+00:00

Worldview: “Getting My Life Together”

The material presented thus far lends ample support for Brad’s depiction of himself as a “sneaky kid” exhibiting a number of antisocial and unsociable traits. In the last 10 of his 20 years, Brad’s antics often resulted in trouble (“hassles”) and paved the way for more trouble than had actually befallen him. (In that regard, it is ironic that being sent to reform school—though on the technically serious charge of “supplying contraband” coupled with “harassment”—was, in his opinion, more a consequence of having “nowhere else to go” than of the offenses themselves.)

From mainstream society’s point of view, Brad’s story would seem to reflect the enculturation process going awry, a young person growing up apart from, rather than as a part of, the appropriate social system. Brad did not behave “properly” with regard to certain critical dimensions (e.g., respect for other people’s property, earning his way); therefore, his almost exemplary behavior in other dimensions (his lack of pretense, his cleanliness, and, particularly, his resourcefulness and self-reliance) was apt to be overlooked. He was not a social asset, and he seemed destined for trouble.

Yet in both word and deed (and here is the advantage of knowing him for two years, rather than depending solely on formal interviews), Brad repeatedly demonstrated how he was more “insider” than “outsider” to the society he felt was paying him to drop out. In numerous ways he revealed a personal worldview not so far out of step with society after all. Adrift he may have been, but he was not without social bearings. The odds may have been against him, but they were not stacked. This was neither a “minority” kid fighting the immediate peril of the ghetto, nor a weak kid, nor a dumb kid, nor an unattractive kid, nor a kid who had not, at some time in his life, felt the security of family. Indeed, somewhere along the way he learned to value security so highly that his pursuit of it provided him an overriding sense of purpose.

Both of Brad’s parents had worked all their adult lives and, judging from statements I heard them make, took pride in their efforts. If, as Brad sized it up, they were “not really rich,” they were at least comfortable. Perhaps from Brad’s point of view they had paid too high a price for what they had, or had given up too much to attain it, but they are the embodiment of the American working class. As Brad expressed it: “My dad’s worked all his life so he can sit at a desk and not hold a screwdriver anymore. But he just works! He never seems to have any fun.”

Absolutely no one, including anthropologists who devote careers to the task, ever learns the totality of a culture. Conversely, no one, including the most marginal or socially isolated of humans, ever escapes the deep imprint of macro- and microcultural systems in which he or she is reared as a member of a family, a community, and a nation.

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