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“Cultural Norms” By: Tiffany Rushing Cultural norms are behavior patterns that are typical of specific groups. (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory) We have cultural norms due to how we do things as a country, the community we live in, and how our families do things. We learn at very young ages what is considered normal, which is what a cultural norm is. One of our country’s cultural norms is the emphasis on promptness ands time. We as a country focus enormously on time. We set times for parties, school, activities, and etc.
We limit ourselves certain amounts of time at some activities just to arrive at other activities on time. Our country is in one big rush constantly. Time totally consumes our country it is the one thing people work around and keeps us to our daily schedules. Another cultural norm is our country’s competitive sprit. I have personally grown up around not only my country’s competitive spirit but my family’s competitive sprit. Our country focuses on team playing now more than ever. (Naturally everyone wants to win) We have an overwhelming amount of sports and various competitions in our country.
No matter what the event, if it’s called a competition then you have a stadium packed full of cheering fans. I found myself watching a hotdog eating contest and actually cheering for a competitor. Although a competitive spirit is a great quality to have, I worry we are displaying it in the wrong way for our children. Our culture norms are going to be their culture norms, so if we see the need for improvement we should work on that for the betterment of their future. Our children should see our competitive sprit but also see our natural enjoyment in playing the game and being part of a team.
Winning is not the major part of a competitive spirit. Our cultural norms play a large part in who we are today. We should all take the time to make sure the cultural norms we practice are appropriate for our children and if not work on making changes. Remember if one is planning on changing a cultural norm, it has to be practiced everyday. After all a cultural norm is something we do in our everyday life. References: (www. ncrel. org/sdrs/areas/issues/envrnmnt/drugfree/sal. lk2. htm) North Central Regional Educational Laboratory.