- Surrounding environment- economic and other conditions determine family bringing up
- Role of family in bring us up -parents in controlling the activities we engaged in, friends’ influence
- Socialization with friends at school and home
- Participation in various activities
Living in Suffolk County was filled with both positive as well as negative experiences in my life. This is because of the surrounding social and economic conditions in the family settings. It was not easy for any other family because of the difficulties surrounding job losses in the 1980s and 1990s. The county lost 47% of its manufacturing jobs during the same period of time, leaving some families in the difficulty of upkeep. The government was also faced with many challenges involving the management of social amenities such as education, health centers, and schools in the face of the rising population. Families faced difficulties as regards their security because of increased gang violence in the community in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The role of the family was crucial in ensuring that we were brought up in acceptable tradition while making sure that we conformed to acceptable behavior and traditions. However, because of the influence of friends at school and away around the community, this was not easy. Friends in particular those that revolved around us performed a crucial part in influencing our daily choice of activities to engage in. Young as we were we understood the consequences that would befall us if we did not perform to the expectation of the family parents. The role of the community members around us was important because we could not engage in certain activities such as those breaking the law in their watch. We definitely feared facing similar consequences our friends had faced. The impact of the changes in the community as relates to industrialization (because Long Island is known for its industrialization) was evident.
Socialization between us and friends was partly determined by age because we would share similar information, time in games and even at school. The older family members did not care much about our progress until when they thought things were growing out of control and they would come to our rescue. Definitely, conflict of interest with friends at a young age was common, but this would sometimes be dealt with amongst us either through violence or understanding. Sometimes our parents were involved in resolving these conflicts but the consequences would be harder to take if one was perceived to have wronged the other. However, each parent liked coming to the defense of his child. Discipline was in form of canning, verbal, as well as denial of rights such as food for one meal. Co-ping with family members was based on the understanding of the age of brothers and sisters, respect, as well as the roles they played in the family taking care of the smaller children if parents were away. Usually, there was assigning of roles to perform various tasks in the family. Family parents did not emphasize a difference of roles be performed by girls or boys. There was no clear cut between these activities. This helped in my development to be able to participate in a wide range of activities without much concern whether they were to be done by men or women. Competition at school was encouraged by the participation in regular tests. This was helpful to me by making sure that I was a competitive person in the fields that I engage in. Our parents allowed us enough time to play with friends, and this was a time when we would indulge in creative sports and activities. This helped in my development to be able to understand the social needs of other people as well as how to be considerate to their needs. Creativity at a young age helped me identify with what I would like to spend my life doing, and more so identify my career. However, the role of parents in helping us to engage in dangerous activities as well as be selective with the type of friends we spent time with as we grew helped in shaping my character as I became more careful in selecting my friends. In addition, my being a responsible person was built by participating in those activities my parents and older family members left for me to do.
The working of parents in these factories and industries in search of food and other requirements in the family definitely meant that they would spend most of their time away from us. Although the impact of the youth cultures in determining our lifestyle was evident long ago, participating in them was partly determined by emerging options and lifestyle had changed. There were different classes of people in terms of wealth, but this did not influence our socialization at school. We could interact freely either with those from the suburbs or those from the rich class. The difference however existed in the material and exposure the children from rich families would have as compared to us.
Cultural activities were widely eroded by modern activities like attending school and parents emphasized that. Participation in co-curricular activities was emphasized at school and it was fun participating in sports. Religion was emphasized through attending church services on Sunday in a nearby church and parents emphasized that we should grow together while conforming to doing what is right. Participation in outdoor activities like traveling, going to zoos, and attending family gatherings was also practiced.