School social worker...that's what I want to be. But is it really? Is that what I truly want to do for the rest of my life? Part of me is thinking no. I know it will bring me great pleasure to work in a school with disadvantaged and ill-behaved children; I know helping those kids is a large goal of mine. It's definitely a job that lets you know where you'll be years down the road, which is nice. After all, my mom became a social worker over 30 years ago and she's been in the school system at least 25 years. And I love education; that's why I chose school social work to begin with. But "to begin with" might be exactly it: a beginning career choice. I'm not completely sure what else I would do instead of working in a school, but I do have some ideas.
Every time I learn of different ways to apply social work or I hear of new injustices in the world, I immediately begin to think of how I would fit that into my life. For example, after reading a paragraph about how homeless people are treated in certain areas and the laws that affect them, I wanted to work with the homeless population and help their situation. When I hear about the plight of immigrants and what they have to deal with, I feel the need to help in some way. When I hear about drug laws and their negative effect upon society, I want to lobby for changes. My need to help people "in need" is pretty strong, so the second I see someone in a bad situation, I want to somehow assist them. A certain part of does want to escape the case-by-case situations and work toward the big picture scenario.
That "big picture" would be two ideas I've had for future opportunities. One idea is something I've been kicking around in my head for awhile, and it involves training government/city employees, and anyone else who would works with people. My company would train their employees in how to handle the population they deal with. If they know their population, they can better serve them in whatever capacity they choose. My second opportunity would involve education, except I would start a school and infuse it with philosophy and social work ideals, such as a respect for persons on the social work side, and critical thinking skills for philosophy. Those are two very reachable goals, but as of now they're still but a dream.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Out of the Blue
Recently, my best friend informed me that his mom broke up with her boyfriend. In the college and high school world, that sort of thing happens every day. But when you're older and you leave the person you've been with for 15 years, everyone is bound to be affected. By my friend's accounts, his mom might have been planning this for quite some time. She left the St. Louis to take a job as a traveling nurse in Colorado, and is now taking the same position in California. So, the signs out having fallen out of love were probably there. But it's not just his mom and ex-step dad who have to deal with this; it's my friend and his step brothers as well. Regardless of how much they'll see their step-mom or step-dad, the reality is that they're being deprived of a figure in their lives. Sadly, this isn't just an isolated case.
All throughout the United States, there are children who have never met their parents and probably never well. For others, the splitting of their parents will be the defining point in their lives. The concept of divorce is so ingrained into our society that I think we overlook it. We think of the divorce rate as just another happenstance; few people really consider its implications. In the the student population I want to work with, parent-less families are the norm. Most of them won't have the same luck as my friend, who will continue to see his former step-dad and step-brothers; they will still be a presence in his life. In inner-city communities, that's not the case. Whether a step-dad or step-mom is dead, in jail, or just plain not there, they have a lot to deal with. Hopefully, I will go from helping my friend in his situation, to working with less fortunate kids.
All throughout the United States, there are children who have never met their parents and probably never well. For others, the splitting of their parents will be the defining point in their lives. The concept of divorce is so ingrained into our society that I think we overlook it. We think of the divorce rate as just another happenstance; few people really consider its implications. In the the student population I want to work with, parent-less families are the norm. Most of them won't have the same luck as my friend, who will continue to see his former step-dad and step-brothers; they will still be a presence in his life. In inner-city communities, that's not the case. Whether a step-dad or step-mom is dead, in jail, or just plain not there, they have a lot to deal with. Hopefully, I will go from helping my friend in his situation, to working with less fortunate kids.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
English
I wasn't always a social work major. Upon entering SLU, education was my first option. I loved the idea of social work, but decided that education was the better fit. The classes I took only reinforced my decision. However, by the second semester a few different things came together and I second-guessed my major, eventually changing it by the end of the semester. One of the main things involved in that decision was the English class I took.
The first semester of freshman year, I had to take English 190. Writing comes easily to me, and this class didn't change that. At the end of the semester, I found out that my professor had gave my name to the director of the Writing Center, who was looking for students to start up a new class. This class, Writing Consulting in a Multimedia World, was to train me to become a writing consultant. I thought it would be interesting, and I kinda wanted the personal glory of taking a 400-level class my freshman year in college. There were two aspects of the class that made me consider my education major. First, the textbook and additional readings, and then the out-of-class work at the Writing Center. The book was very interesting, in that it focused on articles written by professionals in the Writing Consulting that included famous psychologists and linguists. I loved psychology and sociology, so I took a lot of the information to heart. The out-of-class assignment consisted of working shifts at the Writing Center. Students would make appointments, and then I would work with them on their papers. It was helpful, fun, and made me reconsider my future line of work.
The book focused on the history of writing centers, different conceptual ways for working with people, and the actual consultations themselves. A client's right to self-determination was paramount, as well as getting them to eventually be able to help themselves. As I would later find out, those are two central tenets of social work. The book was influential, but the writing consultations proved to be even more so. Working with ESL (English as a Second Language) students made me truly stop and try to understand and work well with people of different backgrounds and abilities. Working with the native English speakers clued me in to how much I loved helping people, and not in the sense that it would be if I was teaching students. It was helping them to work through their problems, and not just teach them the information. These thoughts came at a time when I realized I chose social work to escape my parents' professions. The English class just proved to be the tipping point, and for that I am thankful.
The first semester of freshman year, I had to take English 190. Writing comes easily to me, and this class didn't change that. At the end of the semester, I found out that my professor had gave my name to the director of the Writing Center, who was looking for students to start up a new class. This class, Writing Consulting in a Multimedia World, was to train me to become a writing consultant. I thought it would be interesting, and I kinda wanted the personal glory of taking a 400-level class my freshman year in college. There were two aspects of the class that made me consider my education major. First, the textbook and additional readings, and then the out-of-class work at the Writing Center. The book was very interesting, in that it focused on articles written by professionals in the Writing Consulting that included famous psychologists and linguists. I loved psychology and sociology, so I took a lot of the information to heart. The out-of-class assignment consisted of working shifts at the Writing Center. Students would make appointments, and then I would work with them on their papers. It was helpful, fun, and made me reconsider my future line of work.
The book focused on the history of writing centers, different conceptual ways for working with people, and the actual consultations themselves. A client's right to self-determination was paramount, as well as getting them to eventually be able to help themselves. As I would later find out, those are two central tenets of social work. The book was influential, but the writing consultations proved to be even more so. Working with ESL (English as a Second Language) students made me truly stop and try to understand and work well with people of different backgrounds and abilities. Working with the native English speakers clued me in to how much I loved helping people, and not in the sense that it would be if I was teaching students. It was helping them to work through their problems, and not just teach them the information. These thoughts came at a time when I realized I chose social work to escape my parents' professions. The English class just proved to be the tipping point, and for that I am thankful.
A New Front
Traditionally, social work has involved working in the "real world": helping children in foster care, helping students in schools, or assisting older adults in retirement facilities, for example. They assist people who have been involved in physical situations. After all, social work can only work within the given period; they didn't exactly have the World Wide Web one hundred years ago. Back when social work was created, "social networking" meant interacting with Joe Smith at a party, instead of ILoveCats48 in chatroom. The creation of the World Wide Web and virtual reality means that social work will now adapt to function in the Facebook world.
The Guardian, a newspaper stationed in UK, reported that the Department for Business, Skills, and Innovation asked Fast Future, a research company, to determine what jobs would look like in 20 years with the increase we are seeing in technology. Social work was on the list, and Fast Future thought the profession would be dealing with the effects of social networking within society. That seems only logical. For many people, social networking is a part of their daily life. College is a bastion for Facebook. Almost every classroom features students on Facebook when they should be paying attention to the lecture. I know of students who have given up Facebook for Lent...that's how big it was in their lives. But with this use comes abuse. A quick check on Facebook shows, in addition to random thoughts nobody cares about, attacks on other people. Read the comments section where people are anonymous. People can be vicious. But what does this mean for social work?
One of the biggest negative externalities of social networking is cyber-bullying. It can include hurtful comments, unwanted pictures other people have posted, and just generally anything someone does on the Web to hurt others. Like I said in the last paragraph, this is becoming a daily occurrence. Some may say cyber-bullying isn't as rough as "real world" bullying, but that's not true. Tyler Clementi was a student at Rutgers who committed suicide after a video of him having sex with his boyfriend was posted online. There are very real consequences to what happens on the Web. Imagine all the drama that happens in middle schools and high schools, then add another place where people can hurt others. Social workers will have to deal with these issues. In the future we could see degrees formed that deal specifically with online behavior. Perhaps social workers who work with children will be required to also take courses about cyberbullying and how the Web could affect kids. Anything is possible...only time will tell.
The Guardian, a newspaper stationed in UK, reported that the Department for Business, Skills, and Innovation asked Fast Future, a research company, to determine what jobs would look like in 20 years with the increase we are seeing in technology. Social work was on the list, and Fast Future thought the profession would be dealing with the effects of social networking within society. That seems only logical. For many people, social networking is a part of their daily life. College is a bastion for Facebook. Almost every classroom features students on Facebook when they should be paying attention to the lecture. I know of students who have given up Facebook for Lent...that's how big it was in their lives. But with this use comes abuse. A quick check on Facebook shows, in addition to random thoughts nobody cares about, attacks on other people. Read the comments section where people are anonymous. People can be vicious. But what does this mean for social work?
One of the biggest negative externalities of social networking is cyber-bullying. It can include hurtful comments, unwanted pictures other people have posted, and just generally anything someone does on the Web to hurt others. Like I said in the last paragraph, this is becoming a daily occurrence. Some may say cyber-bullying isn't as rough as "real world" bullying, but that's not true. Tyler Clementi was a student at Rutgers who committed suicide after a video of him having sex with his boyfriend was posted online. There are very real consequences to what happens on the Web. Imagine all the drama that happens in middle schools and high schools, then add another place where people can hurt others. Social workers will have to deal with these issues. In the future we could see degrees formed that deal specifically with online behavior. Perhaps social workers who work with children will be required to also take courses about cyberbullying and how the Web could affect kids. Anything is possible...only time will tell.
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