20/20 special- Waiting on the World to change

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxDPbdCTQeQ

For this assignment, I chose the documentary called 20/20 Special Waiting
on the World to change telecasted by ABC television. This video shows how
people specially kids struggle to survive in Camden, New Jersey. According to
television journalist Diane Sawyer, Camden is the poorest city of US as well
as most dangerous cities in year 2004 and 2005. The surrounding of the city
is full of drug dealers, murders and other socially unaccepted activities.
Three kids struggling to survive in this dangerous environment allowed
document their life for 18 month to 20/20 team. Specially Diane interact with
these kids and identify their self-concept about them. One of main character
is 6 years old Moochie, who want to be a judge in the future but struggling
within the family with drunken father and parents fighting every day. The
other one is teenager name Billy Joe. His academic dream is to be a first high
school graduate in his family, but while he wanting to fulfil his academic
dream, he has to fight for living by working part-time and control himself not
to look for easy drug money from his surrounding neighborhood. The other
kid is Ivan Stevens, 20/20 team found him near the park. He was with his
mother and brother and they spend most of their time as homeless, without
food, dirty with no place to go. This kid has a dream to go to school and
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having a house. During this documentary, it compares the kids in

Moorestown once designated as the best city in America, which is only few
miles away from Camden. The kids has very happy families, nice houses,
good food while kids in Camden suffering their life.
According to Comte, individual rights are more important than rule the
person. In this video, we can see that there are illegal activities happening
every day in Camden. There are powerful authorities such as police, court
and other government agencies in the city. They could not control these
deviant activities. If we consider about the three kids in this video they all do
not want to be part of their society. They all have higher goals and
expectation from their life even though they struggling for their lives even
without food. The idea behind Comtes believes is that person can achieve
any goals from their life based on ones individual freewill, nothing cannot
stop them. Bills story is a good example of that. With having many
difficulties after a year 20/20 team found that, he has graduated from high
school as he determined. Marx idea is going through out this video as it
shown conflict between different social classes. The existence of the society
is based on different social classes. All over this documentary, we can see
the differences between kids life of Camden and other kids in United States.
Lack of opportunities, poverty, uneducated parents, illegal social behaviors
such as drugs, murdering is embracing the kids from their birth. This is the
bad side of distribution of resources of the society.

Durkheim was supported to the functionalism theory and he can be viewed

this as interrelation between different parts of the society. Because of city
became dangerous the company move to different cities that safe to running
their business. Therefore, the people in the city have no opportunities to
make money, and then the young generation persuade to find easy money
with drugs, these activities may end up with murdering or living in the prison
in the rest of their lives. Therefore, that the part of the complex social
system is interrelated and working together and each part is influencing with
other parts. It also shows how school, family and peer group work together in
socialization process of a person.
In this video is most represented conflict paradigm. All over the video it
shows that the kids struggling for basic needs of food, housing, and affection.
It also shows the difference between the life, education, and dreams of kids
in Camden and kids from different social background. Also shows how they
are socializing with others in the society. This conflict based on gender,
power, money and other factors and all over the documentary, it pointed out
the consequences of these things in the society. In one scene of the
documentary one man who is running a boarding in the city gave them
opportunity to sleep their place at night but all three people in the family has
to sleep in one chair and he also put a padlock to the refrigerator that this
poor people cannot steel the food. This scene is a good example for conflict
theory. In another scene Bill feed his young sisters with small half-and-half
mixed with water to stop them being crying due to hunger.
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The outcome of this kind of program is to open the eyes of the other people
in the society and help the poor kids who they are looking for a better life
even if they really wanted to change their life with positive behaviors. If the
society do not help with these people their life could ended up in a prison
who he or she labeled as convict or felony. This kind of consequences could
negatively effect to not only individual but also whole society. As a
responsible citizen of the society we all should work together to make a
better world for the future generation.