Chapter 1 Related Activity C

Web Exercises
Michell Maynes

Is Ethnicity Solely Responsible for Choices by Children?

America is a very unique country in that there are ethnicities of every kind
residing within its borders. There is not one group really more prominent than
another in any given area of the United States. This makes for a lot of diversity in
upbringing, background and culture. As noted in a common psychology textbook
(1), the many customs that people bring offer insights into the broad spectrum of
human experience and attest to the diversity of the U.S. population. I am a part of
this great country. You are a part of this great country.
Every day there are events happening within our country, events that are not
so much exciting or worth celebrating. People are born every day and people die
every day. Choices are made every day, both positive and negative. Children are
born to young girls, teenagers and children are arrested for violent crimes, mothers
are dying during child birth, the list is quite lengthy. How do these choices affect us
a country? Are they all choices?
Some of these choices may not affect you or me directly in our day to day
activities. They may not have anything to do with how we teach our children, talk
to others, or see the world, or do they? How do the differences in culture and
ethnicity affect our country? How do these things affect our children? Is our view of
our countries success or failures based on how we feel about an ethnic group?

I chose this assignment as a learning experience for me. I have never felt
one way or another toward any ethnic group. I have always felt that you cannot
base an opinion of someone based on how others see that persons ethnic group as
a whole. This assignment was something that I did not feel one way or another
about.
I started by searching the given website (2) for the statistics of each ethnicity
in America. The site was very helpful by showing a broad spectrum of different
choices made in America by different groups and some statistics that were probably
not a choice per se but possibly an affect.
Moments in America(3), the first search I did through the given website (2),
shows different statistics from moments of time in America for each ethnic group,

Whites, Blacks, American Indian and Alaska Natives, Hispanic, and Asian and Pacific
Islanders. I say group because you really have to group them. There are so many
different cultures in each group. Hispanics can be from Peru, Brazil, Mexico, Spain,
etc. The same scenario goes for the other groups as well.
Each search showed results that impact children. The Moments in America
results were types of things that happen, every _____day, or every ____minutes, or
even every _____ seconds to each group.
The statistics showed the following for each group:
# of children killed by abuse or neglect
# of children or teens killed by guns
# of children or teens that commit suicide
# of children or teens that die from accidents
# of babies that die before their first birthdays
# of children arrested for drug crimes
# of babies born to teen mothers
# of babies born into extreme poverty
# of public school students corporally punished
# of babies born at a low birth weight
# of babies born without health insurance
# of babies born into poverty
# of children confirmed as abused or neglected
# of high school students that dropped out
# of babies born to unmarried mothers
# of children arrested
# of public school students suspended

These statistics were shown with both searches. Both the Moments in
America and my second search (4) Each Day in America. The statistics are based

on information from January 2014 for both searches. The statistics from Each Day
in America are based upon on given day in America.

As I studied the statistics given I highlighted different themes, birth, death,

education, crime and children. Because the research was based on children of
different ethnic groups the results of course had the same children theme. There
were various results that were for each ethnic group. When analyzing and
comparing, you could come up with many assumptions. You could assume that
bases on ethnicity the statistic for ____ and _____was high. Could this have been
based on lack of _____ or ____? I dont feel that any type of these assumptions
would be fare because I feel that there are far too many other questions that could
be asked and none of these statistics could be based solely on an ethnicity.
Questions to ask could be, What age range was considered teen or child?
What is the educational background of the parents and or children? What kind of
environmental forces were present? What is the medical history for those with low
birth weight, mothers dying in childbirth, babies dying before their first birthday?,
etc. How many people were participants in each statistic? How long have the
participants and or their immediate families lived in the United States? Are the
participants part of a multi-ethnic family, for example a Black father and a White
mother? What was the parental involvement? Are the children parts of a family
that their guardians are grandparents or not related at all? How many of these
children are in foster care? The questions really could go on and on.
I found many of the statistics to be interesting. I was glad to see that the
death theme was the least present in all groups. I was saddened to see that crime
was all over the board from the least present to the most present. I was sad to see
that some events were so high in my ethnic group. I did not think that some events
would have the numbers that they did. This project was very eye opening and I
want to learn more about it.

Ive never considered myself to be against one ethnic group or another or to

base my opinion of someone solely on their ethnic background. I feel that it is
highly unfair as each person had different things that influence their lives not only
their ethnicity. Ive always been intrigued by other ethnic groups and cultures. I
hope to be able to have a better understanding of others with different cultures and
ethnic backgrounds than mine by getting to know others from these groups on a
more personal level. The best part is that I dont even have to travel out of the
country to do so.

References:

1-Human Development A Life-Span View Fifth Edition, Robert V. Kail, John C.

Cavanaugh
2- www.childrensdefense.org
3-Moments in America (www.childrensdefense.org search Moments in America)
4-Each Day in America (www.childrensdefense.org search Moments in America)