A Letter to Parents

Parents.
Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. Now that the corniness is over, let's get to the subject. Parents and parenting- where to start?
Obviously, our parents play probably the most important role in our development as a person. They teach you what's right and wrong, what's left and right, and what's north and south. However, there are most likely an infinite amount of ways to raise a child, so who or what dictates which method is right? Parenting definitely differs amount races and cultures, so there is no universal way of raising a child or children. In Psychology, I am learning some of the technical things that go along with parenthood, such as the right times to give her a bottle, or stick him on the toilet. We read a recent article from the New York Times, and I would like to give credit to Mr. Frank Bruni for the quotes that I use.


"MODERN parenting confuses me. The vocabulary, for starters.
Take the word “last.” Usually it means final. Last exit: there are none beyond it. Last rites: you’re toast.
But the “last chance” for a 4-year-old to quit his screeching, lest he get a timeout? There are usually another seven or eight chances still to go, in a string of flaccid ultimatums: “Now this is your last chance.” “This is really your last chance.” “I’m giving you just one more chance. I’m not kidding.”
Of course you are, and your kids know it. They’re not idiots."

I agree with his point that sometimes we make false ultimatums to our children. We can't help it: sometimes we just can't say 'no' to children. I'm pretty confident in saying that this IS universal- probably happens everywhere.


"Help me out here. Why is an adolescent’s TV watching patrolled more scrupulously than his or her iPhone use, which can lead to infinitely greater trouble? For that matter, why does an adolescent need an iPhone in the first place?
Yes, I know, it enables your kids to stay in touch with you, and vice versa. But 13-year-olds in my era didn't have iPhones, and we got home. Eventually."

I believe this is the most valid point he makes. Many pre-teens and teenagers of today have some type of electrical device glued to their palms, and I think it's getting ridiculous. I'm not saying I don't have one; we should take advantage of the advancements of technology, but just that the reliance on technology in this generation is getting out of hand. Sometimes it feels good to have 'No Signal', just fresh air and nature, or sand and the ocean. (Sorry, more corniness.) And I'm not saying it's the parents' faults, the media is probably the second most influential thing on a child. Let's just say that the media are our aunts and uncles.

"About the feeding: explain to me what’s gained by the voluminous discussions, within earshot of little Edwin or Edwina, of what he or she probably won’t eat or definitely won’t eat or must somehow be made to eat, perhaps with a bribe. Any food that lands on the table after that much tortured preamble is bound to be eyed with suspicion and ultimately spurned, in part because it has ceased to be a vessel of nutrition or an answer to hunger at that point. It has become a power struggle: the parents’ wishes versus the child’s defiance. And the battle seems to end one and only one way. With chicken fingers."

I agree. We feed our children to many chicken fingers.

Connecting a little to Ordinary People- They say that you can't let your needs take over the needs of the family as a whole. Your children come first. Beth's actions obviously do not support this argument because she wants to look good to the other adults in the neighborhood. She doesn't want to have bad taste. She doesn't want to look like a 'flake'. She never takes into account Conrad's struggles over the death of his brother. She's selfish.

Here's the article- http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/31/opinion/sunday/bruni-a-childless-bystanders-baffled-hymn.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0