Cultural Values

Society is built upon values and beliefs of what people feel are important. Values within the American culture can be quite different. My values and beliefs originated from my God fearing parents. Being raised, disciplined, and loved by my parents helped me to develop my personal value system.

As a young child, my thoughts, my ideas, and my behavior were immature. When there was a family gathering or family outing, I would run around, touch things that were not to be touched, and had to be told more than once to stop misbehaving. Through the discipline that my parents brought upon me, whether it is a spanking or taking away my privileges, I learned very quickly on how to conduct myself in public.

“The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.” (Proverbs 29:15). Notice that God, here, says, "the rod and the reproof." He puts spanking and verbal instruction (correction) in the same process. Both of those together will point the child in the right direction, to correct behavior ….

So we parents are to give them "wisdom." This is knowledge and understanding to do what is right. We do this through punishment and verbal teaching. If we fail to do this (if we are absentee-parents, as it were), we are going to create a monster (Ritenbaugh, 1999).

My parents’ disciplinary actions and the way they reverenced themselves were my guides to form my personal values. Pastor David Peters of Church of the Great God states it nicely:

Most of us acquired our personal ethics over time, primarily from family members, teachers, religion, friends, and social and professional interactions. While a good source to help us choose between right and wrong, these are not always the best sources. The beliefs of individuals (like parents and teachers) and organizations (like the church and corporations) vary over time… (Peters, 2003).

As I entered into my teenage and pre-adulthood, my values were changing. At this point of adolescence, I am surrounded by my peers who also have values of their own and not necessarily the same as my values. Also, junior high, high school, required some organizational skills that I was not aware of. In junior high and high school, a student was required to study six to seven subjects. Juggling various subjects in grade school was an introduction to organizing class work when it was time to enter college. A college student, enrolled as a full time student, was required to take five to seven subjects. College was a big transition. From being dependent to partially independent, enjoying the campus life, having the ability to come and go as one pleased, and most important, having the ability or inability to take on extremely difficult courses. This was nothing compared to high school. I had my parents to tell me what to do and when to do it. In college, I was on my own. My values kicked into overdrive; from mediocre to this is for real. It wasn’t a matter of not knowing what needed to been done. It was at what level of capacity I was willing to continue to do what was required of me to excel in my courses.

“To help students stay on task, … parents should talk to their kids about not only academics, but also applying the ideals their parents have taught them (Anonymous, 2005).

My college years have taught me how to organize my time and schedule. I have learned to respect others opinions, cultures and their aspect on life. College was a place for young students to grow and sow their wild oats. Even though there were some good times, there were times where decisions had to be made. Should I attend class? Should I attend a social function tonight and study tomorrow? Should I drop this class because it’s too difficult? During my five years of college I found myself making adult decisions faster than I