Summary Of Unequal Childhoods By Annette Laureau

According to Annette Laureau, sociologists and writer of “Unequal Childhoods”, asserts that the working class and poor class parents use natural growth whereas middle class and upper middle class parents use concerted cultivation. She doesn’t imply that one style is better than the other, but that the styles are different based on their social classes. Parents are here to steer their children in the right direction. Concerted Cultivation is more prone to following footsteps of what was taught, Natural Growth allows the children to be more prone to make mistakes and lose their path. I agree with Annette Laureau (Unequal Childhoods, p. 2) when she says that “concerted cultivation… causes a sense of entitlement which plays an especially important role in institution settings…” She then further more gives an example with how middle class students learn to question adults and is able to address them as equals. I agree because this is helpful when it comes to …show more content…
By addressing their concerns, sharing their lives, and maintaining a constructive perspective, parents can contribute to their children's personal growth and development”, with this it proves that children have a better future if at a young age the parents sit and listen and interact with the children more. This is a sign of concerted cultivation. The parent during natural growth doesn’t spend the time needed with the children to teach the moral basics of society so that they will have it for the future. They rely on the community to do so or even expect for them to learn it on their own. They consider it smothering but who will be there to tell them what they’re doing is a mistake and how to fix