Socialization In the Woods.

As an Eagle Scout I often identify with a national organization known as the Boy Scouts of America. This organization acts as a social institution by recruiting young men from the age of 5 and shaping them into model citizens until the age of 18. I was one of the few that went through this whole process to eventually achieve the highest attainable rank of Eagle Scout. The Eagle Scout rank is recognized all across an impressive achievement because of the way Eagle Scouts are socialized. The Boy Scouts of America socializes young men at the very begging of the process by introducing the uniform which is requires at each weekly meaning until the scout either quits the Boy Scouts or reaches Eagle. The Boy Scouts also maintain pledges, oaths, and laws within the organization that are required to be followed to avoid minor punishment. Along with these standards the institution also requires that each member earn merit badges which are comprised of complicated tasks related to everyday life. While performing all of these duties and tasks, the scout is required to a board of review to advance in rank which is essentially a meeting with a bunch of adult leaders who evaluate your performance. At the end of all this the scout must perform one final task of leading a large service project to better the community.

               The Boy Scouts of America socialize its youth to be model citizens in the eyes of its leaders through this process. Every piece of this process is shaping you for society since the begging of the program, for example the uniforms. The uniforms create a sense of representation and belonging to a group much like once a person joins society as an adult they often peruse some sort of position which requires them to wear a uniform whether it be a suit to work, a hat at McDonalds, or a uniform in the military. The merit badges also socialize the scouts into learning important skills for fitting into society, scouts have to learn about personal finance, communication, citizenship in the nation, citizenship in the world, citizenship in the community, and family life. All of which teach you to behave how society deems fit. The scouts also are shaped by their law which is stated at the begging of each meaning, it’s quite obvious to see that the laws are meant to socialize the scouts by stating “A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent”. The final objective of the whole process, the service project, is the culmination of all of these parts by which the scout is tested as an adult. This is to shape the scout into not only a functioning member of society but an example for all others to follow. In the end of it all the BSA turns an ordinary child at their most impressionable age and shapes them through a series of fun but often objective tasks that mold them into what society sees as a perfect citizen, outlined by Scout Law.

            Today this socialization has actually helped me significantly. I used the skills of personal management and developing life goals in high school to take me from an average student to an excelling student that allowed me to earn admittance to Michigan Tech on scholarship. The socialization from BSA also provided me with the skills needed to get and maintain a good job, in combination with the leadership skills developed I was able to earn the trust of my bosses and advance through the ranks. Even just the title of Eagle Scout has provided me connections to other Eagle Scouts in this “elite group” which is actually rather impressive according to social standards. The socialization provided by the BSA has yet hurt me, sometimes I do wonder though what I would have become if my life choices weren’t guided by the morals and teachings of the BSA. Would I be happier? Would I be a hooligan? Would I just be a lazy bum? Or would I still be here? 

Socialization through Children’s Books- The Lorax

Children are molded by a variety of institutions, groups, and media to fit the behavior of the society in which they live using often subliminal methods. This process is called socialization and can be carried out by a collection of influences, in this case a children’s book.

When thinking of Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax the first thing that comes to mind is often the classic tale of the angry Lorax and the young boy searching for the story of the tale of it all from an old Once-ler up in his tower, not how the whole story is secretly a metaphor for big business and pollution used to introduce the idea of environmentalism to children. These ideas are actually introduced on the very first page where the illustration depicts a small boy venturing off from a developed town, out into the barren fields where he finds pieces of the past. This is meant to depict our lives today of people living in great cities where untouched forests and prairies once laid, but are now covered by concrete or developed in mass farming with only pieces of preserved land left behind as state/national parks. After the boy meets the Once-ler, and the Once-ler begins his tale, the Once-ler tell how he discovered a pristine forest of Truffula Trees where Bar-ba-loots, Swoome-Swans, and Humming fish roamed in peace because the grass was still green, the air was still clean, and the pond was still wet. The illustration for this section depict a much different landscape filled with a dense forest filled with happy animals and clear blue skies. Even the general color scheme in this part of the book was much brighter than the color scheme of present day. This is obviously another metaphor for the environment in harmony before the over development by mankind.

The Once-ler goes on to tell how he used one of these trees to make a Thneed which he sold for a profit. After realizing that he could make money, the Once-ler ignored the warnings of the Thorax and set up a large business to cut tress faster to make more Thneeds so he could make more money. This represents the ideas of big business, how companies discover valuable resources and harvest them in mass quantities without any regard for the environment, for example in the Rainforest with deforestation and even in the UP where they mined copper and leaked a lot of heavy metals into torch lake.

The Thorax then returns on three separate occasions to tell the Once-ler that he is sending away animals because of the lack of food for the Bar-ba-loots, the polluted air for the Swomee-Swans, and the polluted water for the humming fish. And each time the Once-ler felt bad but continued on because he needed to “bigger and bigger” because “everyone needs thneeds”. Immediately after, the last Truffula Tree is cut and everyone leaves. This section of the book is once again set up to display how big business rips an ecosystem barren without any regard for the fragility of life in the area. Even the illustrations that were once bright and happy begin to turn dark and empty in this section, depicting a shift caused by the actions of the company. The story then jumps back to present day where the Once-ler wraps up the book by saying that unless someone cares a lot, nothing will ever get better so we must grow more forests, clean the water/air, and protect it from harvesting using what little we have left. This ending takes on a different tone which is almost a call to action from Dr. Seuss that the reader should actually be the one that cares because they will most likely encounter this later in life when this message will still be drilled into their heads. The overall message that resonates through all the relations to real life is the idea of environmentalism against big business operations and overconsumption. 

Bibliograpgy

Seuss. The Lorax. New York: Random House, 1971. Print.