em

psych and crim major
SO345

[em @earobbie26]

This is something I fully agree with and I think many older individuals believe that the next few generations are terrible and going to destroy our country, but I believe that these generations will fix a country that the older generations in a way already broke #so345

[em @earobbie26]

The last few sentences of Rios' conclusion were extremely impactful for me. In a way, it comes full circle because Rios is a prime example of someone who escaped the stereotypes surrounding him and made something out of himself despite what everyone else believed of him #so345

[em @earobbie26]

It shows that there is hope for these boys and that they can make it out of the only world that they may know. Rios also mentions how we have to support and put our trust into the youth of our nation because that is the only way for true progress to be made #so345

[em @earobbie26]

What more can be done to stop this perception? How can we help these boys see that they can become something other than a criminal? #so345

[em @earobbie26]

It's disheartening to hear that these young boys believe that because they are poor, male, and Black or Latino they will automatically be perceived as criminals, and as a result they believe that they cannot become anything else #so345

[em @earobbie26]

The one way in which I relate to what Rios is saying is in certain situations in which I am surrounded by mostly males I feel as if I have to act a certain way in order for them to take me seriously and not just as "another girl" #so345

[em @earobbie26]

The idea of "acting white" is something that I have heard of many times before but the way in which Rios described it made it a lot easier to understand for someone who has never had to "act white" #so345

[em @earobbie26]

What more can be done to stop this criminalization of non-delinquent boys? Will we ever see a society in which this does not occur? #so345

[em @earobbie26]

This relates to what Rios is saying because many of these boys got roped into the trouble that they did because of their peers and the people around them. In some ways, the boys didn't know any better and only knew this way of life because that is all that they had seen #so345

[em @earobbie26]

Rios mentions Edwin Sutherland and his studies done in the 1920s. Sutherland is credited with the Differential Association Theory which basically states that people's behaviors are impacted by their peers and their peer's actions #so345

[em @earobbie26]

It is just hard for me to fathom a say 16-year-old boy being able to easily acquire a handgun for the price of $150-$300 and that it is a quick and easy process. We are living in a scary world and I just really hope something is done about the gun violence in the US #so345

[em @earobbie26]

Something that really stuck with me is how easy it was for these young boys to get ahold of guns and how many had some form of weapon because they felt they needed it. When Rios asked the boys how to get a gun and how much it would cost and they all laughed it shocked me #so345

[em @earobbie26]

The quote at the beginning of the Chapter by Dead Prez has really stuck with me. Prez says that in today's society people in the ghetto are given two choices to be either a rebel or a slave and I think that is extremely powerful and just something to think about #so345

[em @earobbie26]

These boys that Rios discusses were given these labels of bad, deviant, and criminal and it seems like they felt as if they had no choice but to follow these labels and become what people thought they were. If they were not given labels would they still commit those acts? #so345

[em @earobbie26]

These are basic skills that I know my high school taught classes on, but that would be little help to the people that dropped out. It would be nice if there was a place where people could learn these skills and be able to borrow nice clothes for interviews #so345

[em @earobbie26]

People like Ronny are expected to be able to get a job and be successful when they are not given the resources to do so. These people have no idea what to wear or what to say during a job interview and in many ways that contributes to them not getting a job #so345

[em @earobbie26]

This doesn't necessarily relate to the reading, but it is something I felt like mentioning because it showed how people of color are still be treating to this day and how these racial biases are unfortunately still present in today's society #so345

[em @earobbie26]

Recently at the University of Kentucky, there was an incident in which a young white female was both verbally and physically abusive to a black female student. This just made me realize how little we have actually come in terms of racial equality #so345

[em @earobbie26]

Hearing Tyrell's story is disheartening because it shows how hard it is to escape a label that people put on you even when you do not necessarily fit that label. #so345

[em @earobbie26]

In my mind, these older individuals should have influenced the youth in a positive way and helped the youth not end up like these older convicts. It's a hard cycle to break but it does start with the youth and I think that's what society needs to focus on #so345

[em @earobbie26]

One part of the reading I found particularly interesting, was how the older men in these neighborhoods often influenced the youth to commit crimes and in some ways forced them into the world of crime when they didn't necessarily need to end up in that world #so345