Deviance

This week in class we discussed deviance. Deviance is repeatedly or seriously violating society's norms. In class my teacher had us choose what we considered to be deviant on a list of 18 different things. The topics ranged from talking to oneself in public to two men kissing. In my class we discovered how different individuals think of what is considered deviance. For example some students only mark 4 of the 18 to be deviant, while I had 6, and others had up to 10! I thought that dropping out of high school was a very relevant deviance or non-deviance situation for my life. In the city it is about a 50/50 whether of not a student will graduate from high school; however, at my high school it is basically forbidden to say you're going to drop out of high school. If I were to drop out I would be known for being deviant throughout my community. Another example is two men kissing. In my high school we have many kids who are open about their sexuality, however, it is frowned upon by many other students (unfortunately.) When walking in the hall way if two men were kissing there would be all kinds of inappropriate comments and many people would consider those two guys to be incredibly deviant. On a different note, however, I consider it completely normal to drive 80 m.p.h. down Port Clinton Rd. because I do tend to speed when I'm driving and lets face it, I am a teenager. However, if I told my mother that I drive that fast she would consider me to be very deviant, and probably ground me.