Deviance and Perception

When we read Saints and Roughnecks, we found that the Saints were never really punished for their misbehaving because the were from middle class families and treated the police with remorse and respect. The Roughnecks however got in more trouble because they were perceived as bad kids from the start and that's all they where ever treated like. I have noticed this over the years at school as well. There's always one student that walks into class on the first looking like a troublemaker and the majority of teachers are rougher on that student. I think this is either because other teachers have told them about this student and how he or she misbehaves, or it could also be because that teacher has had students in the past that walk around with the same attitude and look as this "roughneck" that walks into class on the first day. But in contrast, I have also seen teachers and other authority figures not notice that some kids act nice and polite in class, but outside they can cause trouble. I think as kids get older, they get better at hiding their wrongdoings as opposed to as when they were in elementary school and kids always got caught doing something bad. I felt bad for the roughnecks in the reading because no one ever gave them a chance to be a good kid and they were stuck doing what the other kids in their gang did. This reading has taught me that one day when I'm an adult, I might be put in a situation where I can either choose to give a roughneck a chance to succeed, or not; and I would like to think that I would make the right decision.