Socialization Paper Excerpt

This is just what the title says that it is; I recently wrote a 6-page paper for an Early Childhood Education class, and I thought that this part was interesting enough to post here. This specific question asked was: Identify the three (3) most important things you learned from your parents during your formative years. Enjoy!
************************************************************************************

The three most important values that both of my biological parents instilled in me in one way or another were: Equality, Respect, and Sobriety. The reason that my mother divorced my father is because he was an abusive alcoholic. The simple act of her divorcing him caused a very basic idea to be planted in my mind: Everything that he did was wrong! As a result, I have spent a good portion of my life rebelling against his actions by embracing their opposites, and I have come to nurture and incorporate them into my emotional and mental make-up over the years.

 First, women are my equals. In Hispanic culture, Machismo is a very potent value, but unlike my father, I don’t look at men being the stronger and women being the weaker of the species. But, my 4 older sisters and my mother (not to mention all of the strong and capable women in our society at large) have come to show me that women have all of the same possible capacities as men, and to try to think otherwise simply reflects the protester’s own ignorance in my eyes.

Second, because of this fact and that they are basic human beings in general, women deserve my respect. All living beings deserve respect, regardless of the whether or not you happen to “like” them or not. You don’t have any rights to physically, psychologically, or emotionally try to damage them despite any disagreements you might have with them. Respect comes from being able to express disagreement without allowing your emotions to get the better of you and lead you down the path to a physical altercation. To express violence in any form is to fail at being an evolved and respectful human being.

Finally, there are no benefits to non-sobriety. Most people have exception with this rule, and they argue “but alcohol helps you unwind; it’s a social lubricant; it loosens you up and lets you have fun.” This is a slippery-slope argument which can be applied to ANY chemical on the periodic table or any combination thereof. Why not just forget “Bring Your Own Bottle” and embrace “Bring Your Own Crack Pipe” while you’re at it? All alcohol does is provide a crutch for those that aren’t mentally evolved and self-confident enough to have fun without the need for a chemical catalyst. Additionally, how many people have woken up next to someone the next morning and regret it because they had NOT gotten too drunk the night before? How many DUIs would exist without the “Influence” in the first place? How many people would have cirrhosis of the liver WITHOUT alcohol eating away at it over the span of several decades?

************************************************************************************

The last paragraph is what made me want to share with all of you loyal reader(s) :) As the Buddha said, "Every human being is the author of his own health or disease."