Tammy

It is very sad to see how poorly Tammy and her family live, considering how hard she works. Yes, she may only work at Burger King, but look what she does just to clean bathrooms. She walks 10 and a half miles BOTH WAYS. Most people would just give up and live on welfare. Growing up with 22 siblings, obviously it was hard for Tammy to ever go to college. Her oldest son thinks she is not trying hard, but really she is.
By dressing preppy, the son thinks he can get out of this class. I think there is a chane he can succeed. Even though most people believe you can't change things like that, he seems to be on the right track. At his school, he wins awards for his athletics and his academics. Clearly he is trying really hard. He will be able to go to a community college.
He will still probably end up being working class, but at least he will have made a little improvement.
Just because someone is living in povery does not mean he or she is lazy and won't find a job. There are many factors, like family or even having access to a car. Tammy is doing as much as she can under her circumstances.

Saints vs. Roughnecks

The article we read this week in class was a little surprising, but close to accurate at the same time. The Saints were the people who got good grades and seemed well behaved in school, but they engadged in plenty of illegal activity. The Roughnecks did the same illegal things, but they didn't do well in school, so they were seen as bad people.
This can be seen at our school ("and most likely all high schools). If you know how to work the system, you can get away with more and get second chances or "warnings". Other students, who are known for doing "bad" things, will usually get in trouble the first time, even for the littlest things. People can also be judged on how they dress. The Saints were higher class, so they dressed nicer. The Roughnecks on the other hand did not have money like the Saints, so they weren't dresses as nice. These specific examples of Saints and Roughnecks may not happen at our school (it may not be as extreme), but these divisions do exist. Like we said in class, sometimes athletes are treated better and are cleary favored by some teachers.

independence

Although we are legally adults when we turn 18, I think adulthood comes with more experience. Most of us have lived in our parents houses all of our lives, with their rules, and their money. Even in college, parents still come and visit, bringing us things we're going to need.
Adulthood definitely comes later in life. At a point where a person can support him/herself, and possibly have a family. Even though 18 is an age where  we are legal... we do not have nearly enough experience to consider ourselves adults.
For most of us, we have been pretty sheltered most of our lives, so when we're thrown out into the real world, it may be pretty difficult. As teens, I feel we get sent such mixed signals! Sometimes, parents want us to act like children, but other times, we need to be more responsible.