Just like children, adults have as much difficulty showing compassion to others. In an article titled “The Harvest Gypsies”, written by John Steinbeck, this topic is introduced to the reader while he documents the struggles of unemployed migrants that had moved into California in the late 1930’s during the Dust Bowl. Towards the middle of the article, John Steinbeck wrote, “The better-dressed children shout and jeer, the teachers are quite often impatient with these additions to their duties…” (Article II, paragraph 10). While describing how the wealthier children make fun of their poor classmates, John includes that the teacher doesn’t attempt to stop them in any way on purpose.…
The emerging sense of empowerment and entitlement in children raised by concerted cultivation can cause major problems in society. In Annette Lareau’s article Invisible Inequality, she talks about the different methods of parenting based on class. She argues that middle-class parents use concerted cultivation and working-class parents use natural growth. Lareau claims that neither method is completely desirable over the other (Lareau, 105). However, both of the articles above give an example of a negative effect from concerted cultivation.…
Shown repeatedly throughout both articles ‘You Are Not Special’ by David McCullough and ‘You Shouldn’t Get a Prize for Showing Up” by Nancy Armour, a common central idea of overused admiration and parents over-sheltering their children is apparent in both texts. While both of the writers show compelling arguments, parents and children act completely different ways than what is assumed of them. Parents do not always show excessive pride for their children nor do they keep them cut off from the outside world out of fear ‘the real world’. Many adults have a different perception of Millennials, describing “No wonder study after study has shown that Millennials, the first of the trophy generations, are stressed out and depressed.…
People naturally wish to share a connection with others; the problem is maturity, or lack thereof. Maturity is on the lower spectrum of society’s priorities. Immature individuals have fallen victim to the “Sibling Society”, so says Robert Bly in “A World of Half-Adults”. The half-adults are oblivious, and seem to forget that there are wonderers out in this world, seeking meaningful companionship, seeking individuals who are intellectual, who thrive in conversations with an impeccable passion in their choice of words. Nowadays there are less and less true adults.…
Firstborn children are typically believed to be serious, conscientious, directive, goal-oriented, aggressive, rule-conscious, exacting, conservative, organized, responsible, jealous, fearful, high achieving, competitive, high in self-esteem, and anxious. They may learn the concept of power at a young age, and this can be expressed in their desire to help, protect and lead others. The firstborn may also have the need to regain praise from their parents that they received before their siblings were born. The first born may come to feel unloved through the perceived loss of mother's love to the new baby. Adler (1964) referred to this as being "dethroned" by the younger sibling.…
The American dream is the foundation of American beliefs and is still achievable but it only impacts few citizens which shows there are huge problems but they can be fixed. Women have trouble establishing themselves and have been discriminated against over their male counterpart all the time. Not only gender, but race as African Americans are having trouble finding jobs and even in the 21st century the employed black population is not as high as people would think instead the percentage is going down. Social status keeps you where start and can basically predetermine your outcome, whether the disadvantages there are or the fact of the low movement rate in America. Discrimination of gender, race, and social class threatens and determines the…
In “Losing Is Good for You,” Ashley Merryman argues that constantly rewarding children is an all too common and toxic practice in society that needs to be stopped immediately since it degrades the true merit of winning. She insists that losing is an essential experience that is imperative to the development of children and their impressionable mentalities. Although she claims that losing is good for kids, she recognizes that people should be aware of the intellectual and emotional differences that are unique to each child before administering constructive criticism. According to Merryman, adults should stop assuring children that they are all identical winners because it drives them to underachieve, leads them to devalue the success of winning,…
Sister-Hoods My mother must’ve known that her children would be great, but I’m sure all mothers make this assumption. She ensured that we were always engaged in the most character building and positively influencing activities. I am a photographer, painter, model, singer, dancer, sculptor, novelist and all that I aspire to be because my mother encouraged me to take on such advantages. It’s funny that now I can brag about having a resume at 12 because my mother not only knew the value of education but also applying what you learn and acquiring experience.…
Learning a Lesson the Hard Way With the turn of the twenty-first century came a new form of parenting called “helicopter parenting”, this is when a parent takes an overprotective or excessive interest in the life of their child. People call these children “millennials”. Many older Americans deem millennials as selfish and entitled. However, in Nick Gillespie’s essay, “Millennials Are Selfish and Entitled, and Helicopter Parents Are to Blame”, he argues that we cannot blame the millennials themselves for being “selfish” or “entitled” but we must blame the parents for their “ridiculous level of kid-coddling”. In his essay, Gillespie uses the logos techniques of giving statistics and inductive reasoning, as well as the pathos technique of evocative language to convince his audience of older Americans, and American parents, that it is their overbearing parenting style that is giving millennials a sense of entitlement.…
Jeannette and her siblings were often denied the basic necessities of food, water, warmth and rest. This brings me to the introduction of “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.” Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in psychology comprising a five-tier model of human needs,…
Margaret Wente’s globe and mail article on the plight of “today’s children being overly protected from failure that they’ll never be able to handle the stresses of the adult world” is a highly opinionated and suspect take on how “reality will soon bite” (par. 22) a seemingly oblivious and obnoxious generation composed of “snowflake children” (par. 23), due to “overprotective” (par. 7) and “rescuing” (par. 8) parents who are “stuck to them like glue” (par. 16). While Wente does make an effectively emotional (almost convincing) appeal, the article falls flat for Wente as she lends a voice to “prejudice” and construes a “black-and-white” way of thinking throughout “without acknowledging any gray areas” (Prinsen 4) whereby lacking any rational…
So George Hadley, bemused, sat watching the dining-room table produce warm dishes of food from its mechanical interior”(5). The parents give their children total freedom believing that it is great parenting skills as they want best for their children but for they don't understand that children need rules. With all the money and freedom given to the children, it makes them expect that everything that they want in life will be given to…
Seven years. Seven years of new chaos in my house. Seven years of sharing my parents with more than one sibling. Seven years of strange little faces coming into my home. Seven years creating friendships.…
A Great Journey An Analysis of Eudora Welty’s, A Worn Path Why do children never value what their parents or other elders do for them? Why do teenagers only think of themselves, and never stop and say thank you to those who help them? Many people say it is because children and teenagers are ungrateful beings who do not appreciate or respect the help others give to them. However, maybe it is not that children and teenagers do not know respect; maybe it is simply the fact they do not know how to show gratitude.…
Justice as entitlement theory which concerns itself with the distribution of property is Nozick’s theory which is founded upon the base that distribution can be deemed just or not depending on how it came about. Nozick states that justice has to do primarily with 3 theories; Justice is acquisition, whereby how acquiring property rights over something that was owned by someone before you. The second one is Justice in transfer, how you acquire property rights over something that has been handed to you by gift from someone else or it has been an exchange. The third one is rectification of injustice, how to restore something to its rightful owner, in case of injustice in either acquisition or transfer.…