The first person I interviewed was my friend Carlos who grew up in the lower class area of Campbell. In that area he befriend many gang related members and almost became a gang member himself. In middle school, during seventh grade he relayed an incident or altercation that lead to him jumping into a fight with his friends. Because he saw his fellow friends initiate the fight and defend themselves he also jumped in without any hesitation or pause to think of the consequences. His friends aqcuried a sense of a family like atmosphere and therefore resulted in why he reacted so strongly in the fight because he was defending his "brothers". Ultimately this event led to his expulsion and move to another middle school and he finally reflected that wasn't the path he wanted his life to go towards.
The second person I interviewed was my friend Megan. All through middle school she was very adamant against participating in any illegals substances or underage drinking because of the way she was brought up under a religious household. But as she entered highschool and began to circulate within the higher end of the social hierarchy ladder such as the cheerleaders and jocks, she began to become less resilient in participating in these activities especially at parties. At house parties seeing others participate in these activities made her feel more comfortable in experimenting these activities as well since everyone else was doing it.
The third person I interviewed was my friend Aaron. Back in the first years of highschool, on Friday nights when their was nothing to do, his friends would drive around with toilet paper and eggs and essentially vandalize random stranger's house for mere entertainment. Aaron at first felt uncomfortable with "egging" and "t-p ing" houses because he knew it was against the law and also a burden for the homeowners. But he described the combination of the adrenaline rush and being with his friends took the guilt away from his mind and led him to continue doing it.
All the stories my friends relayed when they believe they participated in group think definitely led to risky behavior that could have eventually harmed themselves. But I believe group think could also be positive as well. This past March I participated in the march against the budget cuts alongside many students and faculty members in San Francisco. My initial reason to go was just a free day off of academic activities to a see I love. But once I was there and saw how many people attended and were passionate in their fight against the budget cuts made me overwhelmingly realize how much I cared about my education as well. In the end I spent the rest of the day running up and down alongside the march climbing on trashcans and fistpumping the air towards the chants of those surrounding me. Something I normally would have not down. In the end with the personal testimonies of my friends as well as myself I believe when it comes to group think sometimes two heads aren't better than one and sometimes it may be.
No comments:
Post a Comment