Free Custom «Socialization American Experience» Essay Paper

Rule breaking is like to some people. One lives in a society where there are both good and unscrupulous people. There are those who follow rules and uphold the law. Others live their lives as if they no one, or nothing controls how people ought to behave and carry out their activities. Society cannot fail to have rules because they bring order. During my tender age, I happened to enjoy the company of one unbelievable lady, Maria Cardoso. This paper is a thorough, descriptive analysis of the rare being that shocked everyone, who spent a moment around her. Maria Cardoso surprised people in the entire society.

A beautiful girl from the village of Kiluko, Mandogo District of Western Angola, Maria Cardoso was the first child in a family of four. She grew as a daughter of a hardworking single mother. The mother was a high-school teacher, who spent a significant part of her time teaching other people’s children how to make their futures count as responsible adults. By the country’s socio-economic standards, one would easily conclude that the family was middle class. They had a comfortable lifestyle when compared to other children around her. As a typical girl from the famous Kimbundo tribe, she underwent the traditional circumcision initiation at an early age of thirteen. In her community, people believe that this is a stage when one begins to take adulthood seriously and prepares to take on serious responsibilities not only in their home, but also in the large society.

 

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In the Kimbundo community, music and dancing are key activities that take place regularly, twice annually. There is a first traditional ceremony in the month of February which comprises of all sorts of entertainment. The entire community gathers at the community leader’s place for the pleasant celebration. Every male member with a family provides a ram for slaughter during the occasion. In case the male member is not there, the elder son, with the help of the mother, ought to stand in for his father. In case there is no son, the elder girl stands in for as the representative of the family. Maria Cardoso was the first girl in the family of four girls. She represented the entire family. Song and dance are the main activities. There is also feasting, whereby traditional foods get attention as people try to embrace and keep a strong hold onto their culture and tradition. Fish, bananas, traditional vegetables and local brew are the principal delicacies for the celebration.

In the second traditional ceremony of the, which comes in the month of December, people gather mainly for the traditional ceremony where young girls and boys from ten years of age withstand the pain of circumcision. Alongside dance and singing, there is also the enjoyment of traditional foods just like in the first ceremony of the year.

In the community, there are types of music and dancing styles that people enjoy. One is called Kizomba whereby elderly men sing and dance together with their wives as the young ones watch. They make a fire around which they dance as they sing and dance. At that time, their young members would be around another fire watching quietly. Another one is the Samba dance. This is especially for the young people. They dance in two groups of boy-boy and girl-girl. They ensure this separation to prevent cases of irresponsible behavior among their young ones. In a third type, Kuduro, both the old and the young come together around one fire with song and dance. They mix freely, though with strict rules that everyone must follow. One rule is that one cannot get in contact with another one. Therefore, as they dance, each person must make an effort not to touch or get remarkably close to his or her neighbor. This was always trouble for Maria.

As small children, I went to school with Maria Cardoso. In spite of the strict school rules, Maria always found the courage to do the contrary. In fact, there was a common belief that the young lady had some spiritual powers that had a significant role in the way Maria acted. She was always going against the rules. She acted weirdly at all times. She was as stubborn as the worst person can be. However, she also kept people laughing whenever she opened her mouth in with the intention of speaking, whether in serious matters or otherwise. As a way of trying to contain the uncouth behavior of Maria, physical punishments took center stage. Sometimes, the punisher, usually a teacher would subject to her to the burning rays of the sun. Alternatively, Maria would have to spend an entire games time collecting litter around the school compound while her colleagues played. Most severely, she could be sent home for a number of days for her uncontrollable character. Since her mother was a close relative of the school head, she survived her whole high-school education without an expulsion.

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In that school, it was one of the gravest offenses to cause any form of disturbance at any given moment. People would face serious punishments for interfering with other people in the school, whether strangers or not. Teachers were like policemen, always waiting on criminals for detention and other painful measures. Nobody, especially pupils had the privilege of quarreling with another for whichever reason. Maria Cardoso had a problem with that. Everyone knew that she could not resist disturbing others. Worst of all, she did quarrelling like a hobby. She faced the disciplinary committee at least twice in a day. They got used to her manners till they started to ignore her. They stopped punishing her because they discovered that action was not an appropriate corrective measure for supposedly innate, unbearable character. In the same institution, those enforce rules applied overt rules evenly to all roles.

As a rule, all school children had to undertake a community sanitation exercise at least twice before their graduation. In retrospective, I do not remember Maria attending any of those activities throughout her life in high school. She always found a reason to be sick so that she evaded the community exercise. In a rather humorous way, she kept saying that she was still young and needed the care and protection of the society more than it needed her services. Besides, attendance of classes was mandatory. In addition, no one would have a chance to sit in class if he or she came a minute (or even a second after the teacher) to class. Everyone, including teachers and the entire school management, knew that such a regulation could apply to all but Maria Cardoso. However, there some practice that bored many people but a few. During elections of student leaders and departmental heads, only those persons from well-off families got the upper hand. Other people only counted on luck for their opportunity to occupy leadership positions. Wealthy kids in the institution enjoy most privileges. In some cases, they get decent grades even when their actual performances are utterly indecent. Children from poor backgrounds attract darned little attention from their teachers and the general management. Maria was in between the two.

Traditionally, the society expected every young person to show uttermost respect to their parents and the old people. I did follow that strictly, usually, for fear of the consequences, in case I disrespected any of them. Most other children of my age did just like me. Maria Cardoso had her own way of respecting the old and her own parent, the single mother that worked extremely hard to ensure a comfortable upbringing of her dear children. Those who knew Maria’s home bore witness to her absurd character even at home. Many people said that Maria Cardoso treated her own mother just the way she treated her friends. She did not leave her seat for an old person. She maintained that her bones were still growing, so they were weaker than the old colleagues’. She expected them to understand that and let her enjoy the comfort of the seat.

Maria Cardoso’s rule-breaking related to her social identity in a dramatic way. As the daughter of a known mother, she managed to go scot-free in cases that another person would be punished severely. This treatment seriously put to test a number of moral aspects in respect of the rules and regulations within the society. There was also a challenge on the effective of the Kimbundo ethnic community’s beliefs and values with the introduction of modern education within their traditional setting. Most people in the community believed that formal education was a sign of moral decadence since their children adopted western culture in the way of dressing, behavior and their view of the other members of society who may not have opened their eyes to the beauty of formal education. Integrity remained to be a critical matter that weighed quite low on the measuring balance through the actions of bias, especially, in the school.

There were some practices that society and the school could not entertain. Some critical ones included quarrelling, alcohol consumption among the youth and unnecessary fights. These were unacceptable according to all moral standards and the principles of communal existence. Children had the responsibility of demonstrating unquestionable degrees of obedience to their parents and other people in the adult category. There were also stipulated activities in which all people had to take part. At the community, attendance of the annual ceremonies was mandatory. If someone was unfortunate have other unrelated activities, the entire society considered that action insulting to their culture. Consequently, the affected persons stood the penalty of providing a he-goat as a punishment for their disregard of their own traditions, beliefs and values. In the school where I had the chance to be with Maria Cardoso, the famous rule-breaker, it was mandatory to take part in the community sanitation exercise. Everyone had to live according the rules and regulations of the institution. These qualities and many others are the expected behaviors and practices.

There were little or no internal contradictions in relation to rules that were broken. The rules were clear, and people understood them quite well. Those who broke them, like the notorious rule-breaker, Maria Cardoso, did so because they decided to behave they did in total disregard of such regulations. The actions of Maria Cardoso never conformed to any acceptable behavior elsewhere. What she did was utterly unacceptable with regards to societal and the school’s values and standards of human conduct. In my view, this whole event appears entirely different from what the events from this class.

Personally, I believe that the rule-breaker acted the way beyond bounds. Her actions were unacceptable. The rules and regulations in place only seek to bring order in society. I, therefore, totally agree with those rules in their form because they serve to help and not harm anyone. Sometimes, rules may not be in line with some people’s logical thinking. However, it is noteworthy that not most people think logically. It is human nature to conform to their environment’s influential powers. It is for the majority’s sake that rules exist. It is, therefore, not prudent to negate them simply to accommodate some few self-minded individuals. This is my stand, and it remains as it is without shifting.

In conclusion, people live with rules in almost everything they handle throughout life. Without rules, life would total insanity because each person would want to live the way they want. This world is for many people who must always live interdependently. In short, people are social beings, not by choice but nature. The way everyone views that reality determines whether people live in harmony or otherwise. Human behavior needs a measure of control. That is what brings rules and regulations into play, to guard the beliefs and values that given groups consider invaluable for their social identity.