Overview of The Agents of Socialization: Family, School, Peers, and Mass Media

By definition of our lecture, Socialization is the lifelong process by which we learn about the societal expectations set forth by our cultures and societies, concepts that we are expected to follow in order to be a successful member in our environment. To me, the definition that I am about to delve into is more informative, because it discusses socialization as an evolutionary concept that is capable of advancing with us as living beings. This definition states that Socialization is a concept that refers to the preparation of newly added associates to be successful members of an already established group, to be able to think, feel and act in a manner deemed acceptable by those that surround them. This description presents examples such as teaching someone a new game as well as examples of immigrants and their ability to adapt to their new surroundings. In both definitions, it is imperative that we recognize the importance of these three factors. These agents are family, school, peers, and mass media, which are crucial to the development of the self and to the concept of socialization.

The first of the agents is the concept of family, which is argued to be the most important because a lot of where we come from is thought at the familial level during childhood where we lack exposure to the other agents of socialization. As Piaget theorized in psychology, one cannot skip over steps in development which copies into socialization, where you cannot have one without the other and move in a subsequent matter. While the image of the family has drastically shifted over in the last couple of decades and, the impact that has on the socialization of children is very much undeniable. Kids are still offered the environment to learn things such as hygiene, sharing, emotional attachment to other individuals and even the moral basis on which they would eventually lead their lives. Even with this unorthodox shift of the familial concept like having two parents of the same gender or having a single parent leading the household, we cannot ignore that the family offers a building base on which an individual can learn to socialize, a skill that is crucial to self-development.

The second agent is that of school, an institution that not only offer as formal education dedicated to books and number, but a place where the manners and ideas you were taught in the family environment can be reiterated. While of course there are lessons being taught that run the same course like sharing, independence and cooperation. You can still expect minor differences in socialization between that of public and private establishments. Public schools tend to focus more on the testing side of the education because that is where they obtain their funding and a child might be offered a chance to be introduced to diversity, whereas private school has more time and the means to explore socialization in many other forms like field trips and such. Whatever type of schooling it may be, it plays a vital role in the building of character. Although some children are only offered a chance to be homeschooled, which is not a bad decision per say it does not offer them as much exposure to the real world, or offer them to expand their horizons through programs offered through extracurricular sports or clubs.

When discussing socialization we cannot gloss over the effect of peers on the journey of socialization, whether it concerns children, adolescents or even adults. It is important to discuss the effects on adolescents and young adults specifically because those can be some of the most pivotal points in a person’s lives, a stage where a lot of “peer pressure” per say or the ability of a mind to be quite malleable is highly noticeable. Things that were thought at home or the early stage of schooling are the basic but they tend to be put on the back burner when adolescents are introduced to classical conditioning in regards to self-perception and acceptance by peers. So while it’s easy to tell a teen to not give into peer pressure and do better, it does better to access said the teen and see what it is that motivates this change within them in order to be able to fix it. There are a lot of cases where a child becomes a “class clown” because it gets a reaction from their peers, but as they move on through their schooling it is noticeable that this certain behavior is eradicated because then their peers perceive intelligence as an attractive feature rather than the behavior that presented itself in the prior years, so from this change you see people shift their behavior accordingly.

Lastly, one of the most immensely studied aspects of socialization nowadays especially when it comes to millennials and generation X is mass media. If anybody fails to acknowledge the effects of this component on the reality we live in, it is clear that they have not been completely socialized. A couple of decades television and print media were in the center of the everyday life, and while those two still play a part in the lives of people today, it is foolish to not realize the big shift toward the internet and all its outlets. Just about every second is spent expressing oneself on some social media platform, whether it be Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter or the biggest of all youtube. People have become addicted to likes and follows instead of focusing on the messages they’re sending or receiving from their experience are. The internet has aided globalization severely, I myself as a foodie was introduced to many foods that I would not have had a chance to experience a couple of years ago, I have become socialized in that aspect. I see it, I want it, I post it. Socialization made easy by yours truly, the World Wide Web. But where exactly do we draw the line?

While we were only asked to discuss the four most important agents of socialization, there are many that were not touched upon. Socialization is a very important concept that I think more people should be made aware of in order to be able to see where we have come from and where we are headed, some things- a lot of them are easily spotted, others need more in-depth study-have to definitely change. We as a society should be held accountable of our actions that are always being passed down to others we interact with daily, and that is the only way we can prosper as a community, a culture and a society.