Starting in middle school, Jon loved to “give kids flak” and “teach them a lesso

Question

Starting in middle school, Jon loved to “give kids flak” and “teach them a lesson.” He was constantly clowning around in class, pulling chairs out from under girls who were wearing skirts and sticking his foot out in the aisle when the class “nerd” went to ask the teacher his fifth question of the hour. Lots of kids had been exposed to Jon’s goofing, and usually everyone laughed when they were not the ones affected by his antics.

Since elementary school, Mike has often been on the receiving end of Jon’s bullying. He had shoved into the shower with his clothes on, his clothes had disappeared during gym class and were found in the cafeteria, and he was taunted weekly about his height and weight. He was constantly feeling like his same-age peers bullied him with physical contact, harsh and degrading words and gestures, exploitation, and exclusion.

By the end of middle school, Mike had no true friends. He had few acquaintances that he talked with during the day, many of whom were also victims of bullying. He usually ate his lunch by himself, as quickly as possible, and aimlessly wandered the hallways of the school.

How does culture play a role in what is happening in this case for Jon and Mike?

Explanation / Answer

Culture is the cumulative creation of man. According to some sociologists, the development of personality and the acquisition of culture are not different processes, but one and the same learning process.A given cultural environment sets off its participant members from others operating under different cultural environments. Since language is the medium through which an individual obtains his knowledge about the basic premises and various facets of the “culture” of his community, it may be regarded as the principal agency for moulding his personality. This is evident from the fact that people who cannot speak generally exhibit warped personality. It is evident from the aforesaid examples that culture has a very close bearing on the development of personality. Ideas, values, and behaviour patterns of an individual are largely the outcome of cultural conditioning.

Anthropologist with a background of experience of other cultures has ever believed that individuals were automatons, mechanically carrying out the decrees of their civilisation. No culture yet observed has been able to eradicate the difference in the temperaments of the persons who compose it. It is always a give and take. The problem of the individual is not clarified by stressing the antagonism between culture and the individual, but by stressing their mutual reinforcement. This rapport is so close that it is not possible to discuss patterns of culture without considering specifically their relation to individual psychology.

Thus as for Jon he had a distorted character where he would get satisfaction through others despair. On the other hand, Mike had the character of a withdrawn personality as he for mocked for his physique. The mocker others made, made him feel inferior to others and may have made him feel out of place. Hence to avoid such situations, he kept to himself. Such was the effect of environmental culture on him. Jon was never corrected by his elders. Hence rectification of his behaviour was absent. He thought, that behaviour of his was the way of life and hence he kept of doing what he always did, ---- played pranks on others.

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