Those Pesky Norms

In school I hated the concept of “norms.” They were wishywashy, hard to pin down, hard to define clearly. We were studying civics and the teacher was explaining that our country was governed by norms as well as laws. I wanted nice, clear laws to memorize. Norms required me to think, I suppose, and like many teenagers I felt that was a lot of unnecessary work. Lately I find myself revisiting the concept. My dictionary says a norm is “an authoritative standard; a principle of right action binding upon the members of a group and serving to guide, control or regulate proper and acceptable behavior.”

To read more please log in or subscribe to the digital edition. http://etypeservices.com/Fayette%20County%20RecordID96/