Analysis Of Do Our Kids Get Off Too Easy By Alfie Kohn

Education means something different for everyone. According to Mike Rose, “a good education helps us make sense of the world and find our way in it” (33). The truth to this is that education affects us in every aspect of our lives. Rose emphasizes the value in the experience of education beyond the value of education for the purpose of custom or intelligence; he explores the purpose of going to school in terms of how he defines himself and his personal growth in the stages of his academic career. In Rose’s exploration of the purpose of school, he also reflects on his personal experiences and how those experiences gave him tools that are applicable for his daily life. Mike Rose’s Why School?: Reclaiming Education for All of Us persuades his audience of the importance of education beyond the classroom, emphasizing how those experiences become crucial to one’s personal growth and potential.

Within Kohn’s essay he responds to the accusations of selfishness and ungratefulness given to the younger generations today. He finds it ridiculous at this point how stereotypical the beliefs of older generations are about younger generations and their more liberal thinking, it's always the same accusations again and again. Kids are always ungrateful and they never learn to appreciate what life they have been given, is too overheard within this topic, “ they have become our society’s conventional wisdom about children...it will almost be from this direction”. Kohn also says, that too many always claim that discipline from the parents is too common, “If the subject is discipline (and limits imposed by parents), the writer will insist that kids today get too little”. He states that these claims are all misconceptions and both the child and the parent should not be at fault because these myths are just not true, there is no evidence to show, “what impact, if any, this practice has on the kids”. Statistical evidence also shows how these assertions are wrong by showing how all articles that condemn young people are merely recycling the same information and, “only 27 percent of educators in the sample report having seen “many” examples of overinvolved parenting”, this is a very low number from a sample of families within school districts. Kohn demonstrates that even educators who see the children year-round don’t see the “common” overbearing parent raising their children to be narcissistic and egotistical adults.

A child who utilizes his/her affect as a coping mechanism is relying upon the ability to express or ventilate through emotion. He/she will require opportunities to share anxieties, fears, anger, sorrow, and grief, and have those emotions validated by the adults in his/her life.”

Many parents disagree would disagree with the authors perspective of how children should be raised, however

The lives of children are greatly influenced by the environment they grow up in, and the people they come in contact with. For years, psychologists, researchers, and social workers have studied children, and why they do what they do. All have developed many different perspectives on how to view social problems and the development of individuals.

Children must be allowed to grow and mature at their own natural pace. The old saying ‘kids must be kids’ is based on this basic need. Dr. Sigel of the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey says “Denying, or at least not recognizing, the child’s active outreaching curiosity has negative consequences.” (ProQuest, New York Times, pg. 2). When hothousing a child occurs parents run the risk of the children having what is known as achievement anxiety. This is when a child “come(s) to believe they are valued for what they memorize or produce or achieve”. (ProQuest, New York Times, pg. 2). It appears that there is more evidence that supports the belief that ‘mother knows best’. Meaning, children belong in the care of their mothers, at home, where they can be allowed to play, daydream, and explore their environments.

Many are quick to disregard education’s role outside of the classroom. According to Mike Rose, “a good education helps us make sense of the world and find our way in it” (Rose 33). Rose emphasizes the value in the experience of education beyond the value of education for the purpose of custom or intelligence; he explores the purpose of going to school in terms of how he defines himself and his personal growth in the stages of his academic career. By reflecting on his personal experiences and how those gave him the tools applicable to his daily life, he emphasizes why education should never be overlooked. Rose’s use of referencing relatable experiences in a logical manner makes his argument persuasive to the readers and he succeeds in making the readers reconsider why education matters to them. Mike Rose’s Why School?: Reclaiming Education for All of Us effectively persuades his audience of the importance of education beyond the classroom, which proves true in our everyday lives because the essential aspect of education is what we do with it and how it helps develop one’s personal growth.

Alex Kotlowitz’s There Are No Children Here is a documentary exploring life in inner-city Chicago during the late 1980’s. The book follows the lives of two African American youth, Lafeyette and Pharoah Rivers, who live in Chicago’s Horner Homes over the course of two years. It tells of a lifestyle that is a reality for many Americans and forces the reader to acknowledge a broken system that so many turn a blind eye toward. Kotlowitz does not sugarcoat the struggles and hardships that the citizens of the inner-city face every single day. The Rivers’ boys, like all the children of inner-cities, experience situations and know of unimaginable horrors that rob them of their innocence and childhoods. Lafeyette and Pharoah have to face and overcome many forces that can change their lives for the worst, such as: gangs and drugs, the social system, the Chicago Housing Authority, and the battle within them to give into the worst of society. Sociological concepts, including: racism, strain theory, and social stratification can explain some of the exploitation of Lafeyette and Pharoah.

Would you have come out different if your parents used a different parenting style? If you are considered “cool” now could you have come out a nerd if your parents would have used a different parenting style? “Parenting style is one of the primary determinants of your child’s outcome whether he succeeds, achieves, meets the challenges, flounders, gives up, or runs from or fails in handling life.” (6) The purpose of this paper is to describe the outcomes, processes, labor, and techniques of parenting in a psychological point of view. Parenting styles are defined as the “manner in which parents express their beliefs on how to be a good or bad parent.” (4) Each parenting style has its weaknesses and

Parents have a significant amount of influence on how their children will act, behave and do certain things in today's world which base off of their skills. Not all parents will acquire impressive parenting skills and be able to raise their children properly in society. In a memoir called The Glass Castle, by author Jeannette Walls shares her life story and how it may be perceived as normal. In Jeannette’s life, she along with her siblings are raised by a father and a mother who raises their family in a way that society would view as unusual or problematic. Parents are the adults who have certain ways and skills on how their children are raised in which could be considered a problem, society, on the other hand, has certain views but isn’t necessarily the problem.

The line between being an acceptable and unacceptable parent is often blurry and is seen on different perspectives when it comes to class, culture, and generation differences. Based on the two stories of Amy Tan’s, “Two Kinds” and Tillie Olsen’s, “I Stand here Ironing” we see these two perspectives that derive from different maternal upbringings of the children in the stories. What is found between them is the conflict of being too little or heavily involved in a child’s life has had more negative outcomes during their childhood than positive.

The type of social environment that you are born into will affect the rest of your life. Our Kids by Robert Putnam describes the lives of 20 kids around the United States and the type of social environment they had growing up. The main topic of Our Kids is how socioeconomic status relates to upward mobility and unequal opportunity in society. Previously, people from all socioeconomic classes were experiencing upward mobility during the Golden Age of Capitalism, but nowadays only the upper-middle class and the rich are experiencing upward mobility.

Margaret Brady Mrs. Papageorge 10 Honors English Period 3 6 December 2017 State and Nature     Society has taught everyone that the proper way to raise a child is by their parents teaching them appropriate values and beliefs. Parents, whether they realize it or not, do have a lot of influence on their young. The way children are raised truly does build them into the young adults that they will soon become. But what no one realizes, is how easily children get shaped by other things as well, such as our society and surroundings. But what if children get ripped away from everything they know: their society, their home, and their values?

Good grades do not mean success. Parents tend to expect the most of their children, one big expectation is doing excellent in school. They want their kids to have all A’s, join extracurricular activities, and volunteer outside of school. Julia Lythcott-Haimes explains that all these expectations does not define kids and that there are more important aspects to a child than simply grades. In the TED Talk called “How to Raise Successful Kids—Without Over-Parenting” presented by Julie Lythcott-Haimes, the speaker’s presentation of pathos is more successful that the presentation of ethos and logos concerning the topic of child raising.

Children who attend my school are from poor, working families or off of the streets. No one was giving these children too much credit for success; however these children become avid learners and love to work and study. Watching them develop was a great reward for me. (Theory of Childhood, Carl Mooney 2000) I try to make a comfortable environment in my school similar to a nice home setting. However, we got some obstacles to overcome, the children are not adults, and they need proper size of furniture, and tools because nothing was available we had to make our own. I try to give a child a chance to a comprehensive development: physical, spiritual, cultural, and social development through spontaneous activity. For help them to develop their personal traits. I think we should review our concept as we look at the child. Child is only a small person with their own, independent personality and we should let them develop their own talents, interests, and strengths.