What makes you, you? Could it be due to the genes you were born with or the environment you grew up in? This long debate about heredity versus environment continues to prevail, as researchers discover that heredity and environment equally contribute to socialization. The socialization process is best understood by examining how heredity and environment work alone. Socialization begins in the womb and ends in the grave. Individuals learn attitudes, values, and behaviors appropriate to a particular culture through human interaction. We learn from those who matter most in our lives: our family members, our friends, and our teachers. But we also learn from other encounters with people on the street, on television shows, on the Internet, in films and in magazines. The microsociological perspective suggests that socialization contributes to the discovery of appropriate behavior and what to expect from society's norms and values. From a macrosociological point of view, socialization offers a means of transmitting culture to future generations, thus guaranteeing the sustainability of a society. The family is the main and most effective agent of socialization. During the early years of a child's development, they are vulnerable and dependent on their parents for guidance. Parental figures lay the foundation for social norms, such as speech training (language), body control (housetraining techniques), and good public conduct (social control). The power of the family as an agent of socialization is absolute control in the early years and exclusive control throughout childhood into adolescence. By law, parents have preeminent control, recognizing the right of parents to determine what is best for their children as triumphant over the rights of...... middle of paper ...... Print Desk of the government. Higher Education Commission. (2009, June 1). Maryland States Alliance. The Alliance of States. Retrieved April 19, 2011 from http://www.completecollege.org/alliance_of_states/Open Doors 2010 International Students in the United States. (November 15, 2010). Institute of International Education. Retrieved April 28, 2011 from http://www.iie.org/en/Who-We-Are/News-and-Events/Press-Center/Press-Releases/2010/2010-11-15-Open-Doors - International-students-in-USSchaefer, RT (2010). Sociology, twelfth edition (12 ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Company, Inc. Socialization. (April 30, 2009). Xomba: a writing community. Retrieved April 15, 2011 from http://www.xomba.com/socialization Ojelade, J. (director) (February 24, 2011). Socialization. Introduction to sociology. Lecture given at Prince George's Community College, Largo.