Agents of Socialization

In any persons life, they will have many people who socialize with them and help accustom them to the world and change the way they look at things. I believe that this happens on a continuing basis with the people who we interact with in our day to day lives. I believe that the time in life when the most influence is on someone is when they are going through puberty. This is a time in life where many questions are being raised and kids are starting to learn more and more without their parents help.

The major socializing factors early in my life were my parents and my sister. I was always very close with my mom and my sister specifically (mainly because my father was often working, however he would make sure that he could come to everyone's events). My sister is the closest sibling in my family to my age, and always treated me very well, because of this, I emulated her in many ways and began a close relationship that remains so until this day.

As I aged, the influence of family became less and less (though I still remained close to them) and began to fade towards my peers. As with many teens, I was very concerned about how well liked I was, and how I appeared to others. This led me to emulate the more popular people in my school as well as try to catch on trends from people in pop culture. At this point in my life, I feel I could have been enticed into many crazy things if I thought it would have made me popular. This seems to be a common feeling among adolescents.

To this day, I am still greatly affected, but it is not to the extent it previously was. I am more careful now about what activities I undertake because of the people I socialize with. Though now, and before, the people I socialize with have affected how I speak, dress, and act in given situations.

I feel that I will always be affected by the people I socialize with in some form. This seems only natural with anyone who keeps a social life. I believe that the ability to learn from others, and modify your behaviour based on what you learned is an important part of life.