Swimming With My Friends At A Pool example essay topic

When I was in the eighth grade, my friends and I loved to do certain things that might be labeled "bad" but at the time of things, they were actually quite fun. One thing that we loved to do in the summer time was go swimming. My friend, Leo, had a membership at a local pool and we always went there to swim. We would have a blast just sitting around and talking or playing games in the pool.

One night when we were hanging out, a few friends made the suggestion that we should go swimming. My initial thought was that nobody had a pool and all of the public pools were closed. Dan and John then suggested that we sneak into the public pool and go for a "quick dip". At first, everyone had qualms about jumping over a fence and entering a pool when it was closed, but slowly Dan and John convinced Ryan that we should do it. Then all three of them convinced Vijay that we should go swimming. Pretty soon I was the only person in the group that was still not convinced and even though I knew that it was wrong, I went along with my friends, as to not be left out and to have some fun.

We jumped the fence and went swimming for about an hour until the police came and we should have got into trouble, but we were young and the police took pity on us and just yelled at us. I could have got into trouble with the law as well as my parents all because I went conformed with my group of friends. Even to this day, I distinctly remember my chance of telling my group of friends that I didn't want to go, but I didn't want to be left out so I went along, even though I knew it was wrong. In Doris Lessing's article, "Group Minds", she discusses how, "it is the hardest thing in the world to maintain an individual dissident opinion, as a member of a group". (Lessing, 307) Lessing believes that everyone conforms to a group and this group develops a "group mind". (Lessing, 308) I agree with Lessing; even as a I child, my parents told me to make as many friends as possible and friends are a form of a group.

A group does not have to mean a religion or political party, it can simply mean a few people in which, according to Lessing, are, .".. intensely resistant to change". (Lessing, 308) I think it would be beneficial to learn, at an early age, that humans are group animals but I disagree with Lessing that it should be a main topic discussed with children; we are still entitled to our own opinion and should teach our children that they can express their thought and act them out at any time, regardless if they are in the company of a group or not. In the article, "Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem", Erich Fromm discusses the seductive comforts of obedience. Fromm poses an interesting point on obedience; there was a certain comfort I felt after I decided to go swimming with my friends at a pool that was closed.

The fact that I decided to go with them did not put me on the outside of the group, as it would have if I had decided not to go with them. Going with my friends showed them that I still had loyalty to them and wanted to be part of the things they did. Fromm discusses that, "obedience to a person, institution, or power is submission... ". (Fromm, 362) So in that context, I was not being obedient to my group of friends. Fromm points out that, "obedience to my own reason or conviction is not an act of submission but on of affirmation".

(Fromm, 362) When I agreed to go swimming at night with my friends, I was not being obedient to the group, but rather following what I wanted to do. By following my own thoughts and reasons, I was not conforming but rather expressing my individual thoughts. Fromm and Lessing agree that humans conform to groups but each thinks of conformity in two different ways. Fromm maintains that as long as a person is following their convictions and judgment they are being themselves and not conforming. Lessing believes that conformity is part of our nature and we will conform when we are present in a group.

Had I gone swimming with my friends on the basis of following my friend's decision blindly, then I would have been guilty of conformity according to Lessing's definition; however, I believe that when I agreed to go swimming in a closed pool with my friends I was following my own convictions, therefore, I was not conforming to my group's consent.