In my report I’m going to touch on several topics pertaining to how genetic, environment, and what parents teach the child effects the development of the child. I also will discuss my views on parenting styles. I will discuss the consequences of parents working. I feel that the benefits of both parents working are not worth the consequences. If both parents most work their should be at least one home with the kids when they get in from school.
In my opinion efforts to accelerate early development doesn’t work. If anything it slows down the process. Each child is different and will learn and do things on their own time. I never used a walker for my children because I felt they were to dangerous. I have seen babies fall off of porches and pull things down onto themselves. Without a walker or any extra encouragement my son walked at 10 months. As for my daughter she toke her time crawling, walking, and talking. With her the more we pushed the longer it toke her. Once we allowed her to do on her own we couldn’t stop her from talking or get her to sit still. Just like with anything else it is a mind thing. Once they get it in their heads to do it then and only then, they will walk. My advise for new parents is don’t waste your money on a walker.
The interaction of genetic and environment do influence the development of a child. In my experience with raising a child that was not raised by their mother or father and they still have similar habits. I am raising three of my sister children and they all have some of her ways, even though she never really raised them. For example her oldest daughter, by the way she never raised her but they act just alike. That is were I feel her environment comes into play. You see my grandparents raised them both so I figure it must have something to do with how my grandparents choose to discipline them. Because my grandparents are what we call upper middle class. So they had the best of everything. Even so, the children still choose to be wild and crazy. Unlike me, who was raised by my mother along with three brothers and did not get the best of everything I chose a different path. Just like myself, my sister’s other three daughters were raised by my mother, and they are total opposite of their older sister. Now, don’t get me wrong, they still have some of their mothers ways. They just are not as bad as their sister. My sister’s father family has a history of depression, so that gene was past down to my sister who passed it on to her daughter. I’m sure that one of the ones I have my have it too, but it just has not presented itself yet. Taking this class and learning about the interaction of genetics and environment has only further my belief in this theory. A child is a product of their environment too. Children that I know who parents fight each other or other people are in more fights themselves then a child that is not exposed to such violence. I don’t believe that violence on television is the reason for children being so violent. We as parents are our children first influence. So what we do around them will determine what they do.
Which brings me to my next issue. I feel that parents should be the ones teaching their children life values not the teacher or latest super star. If you start when they are young teaching them about respect. Once the child is old enough to talk and understand right from wrong is when you should start teaching them and working on building self-esteem. In this world today a child is never to young to learn the truth about the world. If we do not teach them before someone else does they my end up being miss lead. Parents that depend on others to teach their children the important things in life are setting them up for failure. We must start at home teaching them about sex, loving others, and not to hate people or bring them harm. We must show them love at home so they don’t go out looking for it in the streets. Even though kids will still do what they want if you teach them right from wrong then they will not stray far. Especially these days when so many children are raising children. I feel that this is an affect of parents working and also being single parents. Which causes parents to have to work to provide for their kids on their own. Which in turn leaves the children raising themselves because there is no one home to teach them. That is when children are easily miss lead and to do things that are not right. So even though some parents my have to work, they need to still take out the time to be there for their children to teach and love them.
I believe that parenting styles and temperaments go hand in hand. The reason I feel this way is because parents that were to hard on their children grow up get out from their parents and rebel. Parents that are not so hard or not so easy either, children grow up to be good people. And those parents that were to easy on their children turned out to some of the worst kids you come across. For example my aunt is what we call an authoritarian and both of her children started rebelling in their teenage years. Right now, she has a teenage son that is giving her problems and her daughter did the same around the same age. Now my mother on the other hand was totally opposite and she never had any problems out of me. I never ran away like my cousins and I completed High School on time. My mother taught me when I was young so once I became a teenager she let me make my own chooses in certain situations. I feel her style of raising us was pretty good for the most part because I feel I turned out just fine. It toke my cousin going away to college and away from her mother, to settle down and make something of her self so she would not have to depend on them anymore. Even now with my cousin, being on her own and has a child of her own, her mother is still that way with her. I think that being that way does not build a health and open relationship between parents and their children. When you don’t allow them to express their feelings then that is how we end up with kids shooting up schools. Parents must start treating children like they have brains and be open to them to talk to them about things that go on in their lives without fear of repercussion. Instead of telling teens not to have sex, educate them and let them know that you are always their for them when it comes down to them thinking about having sex. That would be a start at trying to cut down on teen pregnancy. So in the end parents are really the ones that determine what kind of person their kids turn out to be.
In my report I talked about several topics that I feel are all linked together. The link of them all is the parents part in children development. The parents genetics, what parenting styles they choose, and where they choose to live all play a part in a child’s development. I also talked about the effects that parents working have on their children. Temperaments of a child are effected by the parenting styles that parents choose to use. I also touch on the acceleration efforts used to speed up development such as walkers. They do not help the process, but slow it down if anything. Parents must be positive and first influences on a child. Parents can’t expect for the schools, teachers, or preachers to be the ones to teach their children. And being too hard on your children can have a negative affect on how they act as teens. Parents most be more open and honest with their children these days, because there are so many other elements out there to teach your children the wrong things. Basically I chose topics that I felt that I could relate to since I am a parent myself and come from such a big family where so many of us act a lot alike. While going over these topics it gave me proof of what I already believed. That parents and they interact with their child effect child’s development and life chooses.