Things that Make you Go Hmmmm....
Well, it is always my goal to stretch your brain out :-) when I write and I was reading an article over the Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend that piqued my interest.
There is a debate heating up over the 'super parent' phenomenon. They, being mass media, actually call it super mommy but I think that is unfair to those stressed out fathers out there. Using a sociological perspective, it is trying to explain why mothers two generations ago were having broods of 12 children and seemingly coping while parents of families as small as two are having troubles juggling responsibilities in this generation.
The article went on to offer interesting insights such as changes in the economic market place forcing more competition and parents who want their kids to succeed are making choices that give them a competitive advantage. All these explanations are 'gimmes' in my mind. However, one struck a chord in my sociological heart.
Nature vs. nurture.
There has long been a debate over whether you can influence what skills (IQ, disposition, looks) you are born with and mold them for success. By long I mean for the last 40 - 50 years. About two generations ago. The article posits that in our grandparents generation, genetics research was limited and parents felt they were there to deal with the cards as they were dealt so to speak. Sure was easier to parent when you did not have to worry about piano lessons, KUMON extra curricular activities, hockey, skating and Yu-Gi-Oh clubs. If the child was meant to be a successful prodige they would be - without all those extras.
Parents then simply categorized their children: the good one, the easy one, the smart one, the bad one. I suppose that would have been easier than remembering their names. Since there was nothing to do but allow them to be 'themselves' there was no pressure to develop them and test their limits. Hmmm...
Filled with gross and easy to refute generalities? Yep. Rings a bell of truth as a hypothesis? Absolutely. Jon - add this to the sociological study of why European urban planning is so different from North America. Hope that Todd wins a lottery soon cause I want to go back to school to figure some of this out. Imagine a world without knowing these things!
There is a debate heating up over the 'super parent' phenomenon. They, being mass media, actually call it super mommy but I think that is unfair to those stressed out fathers out there. Using a sociological perspective, it is trying to explain why mothers two generations ago were having broods of 12 children and seemingly coping while parents of families as small as two are having troubles juggling responsibilities in this generation.
The article went on to offer interesting insights such as changes in the economic market place forcing more competition and parents who want their kids to succeed are making choices that give them a competitive advantage. All these explanations are 'gimmes' in my mind. However, one struck a chord in my sociological heart.
Nature vs. nurture.
There has long been a debate over whether you can influence what skills (IQ, disposition, looks) you are born with and mold them for success. By long I mean for the last 40 - 50 years. About two generations ago. The article posits that in our grandparents generation, genetics research was limited and parents felt they were there to deal with the cards as they were dealt so to speak. Sure was easier to parent when you did not have to worry about piano lessons, KUMON extra curricular activities, hockey, skating and Yu-Gi-Oh clubs. If the child was meant to be a successful prodige they would be - without all those extras.
Parents then simply categorized their children: the good one, the easy one, the smart one, the bad one. I suppose that would have been easier than remembering their names. Since there was nothing to do but allow them to be 'themselves' there was no pressure to develop them and test their limits. Hmmm...
Filled with gross and easy to refute generalities? Yep. Rings a bell of truth as a hypothesis? Absolutely. Jon - add this to the sociological study of why European urban planning is so different from North America. Hope that Todd wins a lottery soon cause I want to go back to school to figure some of this out. Imagine a world without knowing these things!
posted by y-vonne at 4:02 AM
1 Comments:
I wonder all the time why it is so hard for us nowadays, when in the past parents seemed to bring their children up effortlessly.
I think a lot of what you summarized from the articletrue, but in addition I also think they bottled things up, didn't "talk" about the hard parts. And if you ask them NOW, it was so long ago that our parents and grandparents have forgotten the really tough parts! Sure, they admit kids presented challenges, but they aren't living it in the now, and time has a way of making you forget.
I am seeing a trend now in parenting resources of "simple and stress free is better", so hopefully this super-parent phenom will gradually go away...
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