Leight, Hopper, 2004. “Boy, 12, Begins MedicalSchool.”
New York Times, February 23, 2004.
This news article provides an example of a status
inconsistency, a contradiction or mismatch between a person’s
statuses.A 12-year-old boy named Sho Yano
becomes a
first-year medical student at the University of Chicago.Sho Yano is a getting his Ph.D. along
with
his medical degree and is one of the youngest people ever to attend a
university professional school.
This is clearly out of the
ordinary and not what we would typically
expect from a “child.” How will his
friends and family relate to him? How will he relate to them?We
also wouldn’t expect a medical student to be so young.How will his professors, fellow college
students, and patients interact with him?It seems, at first glance, that this status inconsistency is a
positive
thing, because we want people to be smart, get a good education and job.Sho Yano is doing all the “right” things that
we want people to do, but I wonder if it will negatively affect his
emotional
and psychological development?