What are some social issues that appear in "Charles"?

The social issues which appear in Shirley Jackson's short
story, "Charles", depend upon what one considers to be an issue personally. Some may
look at Laurie's behavior as disrespectful and that can be considered a social issue.
Others may not see this as a social issue based upon personal
interpretation.

Social issues are, sometimes, hard to
determine if one does not consider them to be an issue in the first place. That being
said, here are the social issues one could determine to be found in the
story.

1. Dis-respectfulness: Laurie is disrespectful to
both his parents and his teacher. In today's society, many people deem
dis-respectfulness as a social issue based upon the fact that children (and teens) fail
to respect their parents and teachers as they have in prior
generations.

2. Sexual gender issues: One could look at the
fact that Laurie has a questionably obscure name as bringing attention to sexual gender
issues. In generations past, names easily detailed if a person were a male or female.
Cross-gender names were not typically given to children so as to define gender very
early in life. The change in society today has allowed for the questioning of gender to
more widely acceptable than during the times when Jackson wrote. Boys were named Charles
or Mike or John. Boys played with army figures. Girls were named Ann or Sarah or Debbie.
Girls played with dolls. Today, gender identity is not pushed as hard as it was in the
past.

3. Parental involvement: In the story, Laurie
repeatedly treas his parents disrespectfully. They fail to punish these behaviors.
Again, social issues regarding this have been raised. Some have declared that parents
simply are not as involved in their children's lives as they have in the past. Laurie's
parents simply do not know him. They do not take the time to put one and one together
regarding their child's behavior. Perhaps the failure of getting punished taught Laurie
that it is okay to act the way that he does.