The Saints and The Roughnecks

This week in class we read an article called The Saints and The Roughnecks. The Saints were white, middle-class, suburban teenagers. Everybody in their school, including teachers, viewed them as good guys, and they were always given extra chances. The Saints would often ditch school, drink, and pull pranks. The Roughnecks were a little bit different. The Roughnecks were not so rich, and they came from a small neighborhood. The Roughnecks also committed some of the same things that the Saints did. Despite the fact that these 2 groups committed similar crimes, they were given different punishments. For example, if one the Saints did bad on a test, he would get a second chance since he'd was viewed as a good kid who is really capable of doing better. The Saints would also get off easy from the police than the Roughnecks did. What intrigued me about the article was that not only were the boys' deviance influencing the way people viewed them now, but it also influenced their futures. As people expected, most of the Saints went on to college after high school, and they got really good jobs. Most of The Roughnecks ended up not going to college and not getting so great careers. This article proves that your appearance and background, can influence people's perception of you. This reminded me of one my friends who had gotten pulled over for speeding. When my friend got pulled over, the officer knew who she was in school. He knew that she was a good kid, who was involved, and did a lot of community service. Since the officer knew she was a good kid, he let her go. It really proves that in society people's appearances, backgrounds, and social classes play a big role in how people view them.