Monday, April 14, 2014
request for response: april
All of these texts appeared in yesterday's New York Times. The first two focus on raising/educating children, and the latter two focus on finances for Millennials. Please respond to the ideas in one or all of them with a well-organized, concise, analytical/persuasive essay of your own. Post your essay to your course blog and copy/paste it as a comment here so that we can discuss our ideas in a "micro-commons." Mahalo.
For the "Parental Involvement Is Overrated" article it was very interesting to read about however I feel that the topic isn't just one sided like the author is making it out to be. My personal belief is that it's important to provide a certain amount of guidance for a kid however if that certain amount is exceeded then this is where the problems start to form/come up for a kid in school.
ReplyDeleteHey Preston! Does this essay have to be a certain length ?
ReplyDeleteLincoln.
DeleteHahaha. Alright, thank you!
DeleteAfter reading the article on how to raise a child right with the correct morals it was interesting to me that there was plenty of research to show the statements being made in the article were greatly supported. With that in tact I believe the author is correct on parenting styles and how we are unaware of how parents bring up their children. Adults are the role models and there is a less chance for a child to learn when just being spoken to repeatedly to do something when the individual themselves are not corresponding their actions with their words. Raising a child is not in easy job and we all know this because no one is perfect but if we just come together to our senses and collaborate with people who have experience, finding an expert or local psychologist or read this article to get an idea on where to start, we could initially raise a child right! Think about it.
ReplyDeleteResponse to "Parental Involvement is overrated..."
ReplyDeleteThe studies done to support George W. Bush's No Child left Behind Campaign, was ideally the only correct way to help children academically. But come to find out that this evidence was not fully concluded and open for more studies because there is a controversy argument to it, is just astonishing. I thought that being more involved in the children's school studies would really improve their curriculum. Come to realize that it is complete opposite! How should we feel now? After so many years thinking that we had the right idea on how to help our children academically, come to a false reality? "In fact, there were more instances in which children had higher levels of achievement when their parents were less involved than there were among those whose parents were more involved." -Keith Robinson. As parents not always does it hurt to be involved in the child's academic studies and there is studies to support that idea. So with the knowledge shared, we need to start taking a look at the evidence and put two and two together if we want the best for our future generation of beautiful children!
I was shocked to see an article by the name of "parental Involvement Is Overrated" because to me, it's very important to acquire the right amount of guidance as a child for this builds a foundation for how that certain child will act/be overall in the future. Regardless of the ethnicity, it was very interesting to read about how some parents can actually have a negative effect on their child's learning due to helping them with certain things here and there such as homework. When you break it down though, how does this even make sense?
ReplyDeleteGrowing up I have always had a memory in which one of my parents were involved. My mom is a teacher so if I needed help with a math problem and or any school related subject she was the person to go to. If I had a question about history and things of that nature I would then turn to my dad. Now that I'm in my Senior year of high school, I have noticed that I have been needing my mother more so now than ever due to "adult issues" such as filing taxes, dealing with Fafsa related issues and so on. I just can't picture not having any guidance from a parent at all during my years of elementary school to high school for they have played such a detrimental part in my life from the time I was born to now, my young adulthood. While reading the parent article, I found this quote from the readings: " Even the notion that kids do better in school when their parents are involved does not stack up." All I can say is I turned out fine...regardless of help or not.
I agree with you. And you made a few very good points. Especially talking from your own personal experience.
DeleteI agree with just about everything you said. One thing I found strange in the article was how it talked about if they asked children how their day was and how it reflected on their school work. To me it seems like they pointed out things that didn't really matter regardless. Like how we view people of Asian history to be good at science and math and so forth :) for me to believe what that article said I think there should be a much broader look into it with much more studies around the world
Deleteif anyone would like to read what i had to see you can see it on my blog at:
ReplyDeletehttp://mattrey18exposcomp.blogspot.com/
Through this article it talks about retirement for young people. It says that we as young people will be worse off when we retire. He states that if we do the same type of retirment plan as australia ( the superannuation plan ) that we would be better off as americans. meaning that it wouldnt just benefit the younger people but benefit americans over all. with the superannuation plan it would just take the retirment money right out of our annual pay along with taxes, which would profide 25 trillion dollars through investment assets. In my opinion that sounds like a really good idea for americans although we still have the national debt that we as the young millenials have to figure a way out to extinguish. I feel that this is a big problem and we as young people may not be able to live as well off senior citizens. to me the debt is a really big problem.
ReplyDeleteThis article kind of confused me. I am hopefully gonna be able to understand more of this financial conversation in class tomorow. I will be doing a follow up to this post about what i finally got to understand about the crisis this poses.
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IS OVERRATED
ReplyDeleteNow at first this article confused me, it wasn’t until the second time around that I actually got the idea of what it was trying to say. Parental involvement is a bad thing when it is done too much, and also if it is done too little. Both seem to affect the child in a bad way and again parents have to decide just how much to be involved with the child when it comes to their schooling. Children seem to do well under different conditions, which is why I think parents should not step in unless they’re absolutely needed. Based on their findings here it seems that most of the ethnic groups did better when there was almost no parental help at all. However, there are still some that did worse because there was no involvement. For this reason I say that this article is full of it, yes if parents are too involved the child will grow dependent on them but they are still needed. What I got out of this article is that they think no parental involvement is better for the kids, that they should learn on their own so they grow more dependent on themselves instead of their parents. I think that’s terrible, kids should learn a majority on their own but still everyone needs help at some point and need others to help them out. This is why I think helping children when they absolutely need it is a more effective way of having them learn than just letting them struggle through it. Children will learn by themselves and also get the help they absolutely need, being treated a little more like a person instead of something that is unable to act on its own or some kind of machine that should learn on its own. We have to treat them like they’re humans and help them when they need it.
There is absolutely no doubt that children are impressionable upon their parents or other forms of parents and role models. All too often a child's behavior is reflective upon their parents, usually focusing on one of the two; the one they identify with most. These behaviors can be good or bad and a child's social life can be determined by how their parents are. It's simple science and psychology really. When a baby (animal or human) is born, it has a natural instinct to find out how to survive from its parents or other figures they see as role models, and this is a root problem of peer pressure as well; they identify with the group, so they yearn to be like them.
ReplyDeleteOne of these fundamental behaviors is cooperation and team work as it is natural in the wild; a necessity for survival many times. And from this interaction comes a symptom of generosity and morality. Having an understanding that doing good things, is a good thing. But how does a child know what is a good deed to be repeated and what is a lapse of good judgement that should be avoided?
The answer lies with the parental figures. Just like how a dog is trained with treats and praise, a similar principle applies to children. Now I'm not say that children should be taken to PetsMart for hours of obedience training, but the equal amount of effort should be taken upon the parents in studying their behavior to watch for signs of trouble or praise good deeds. For this action, the method is just as important as the reasoning behind it, if not more. The article Raising a Moral Child by Adam Grant featured in the NY Times showcases just how these behaviors should be reward. Grant states that it is more important to use nouns instead of verbs when praising a child. Instead of "Don't cheat" saying, "Don't be a cheater" is more effective. Around age 8, children start to develop a sense of identity so this is where shame and guilt come in to play. Children don't want to be something they know is bad, like a cheater, so by associating a negative action with its negative identifier, cheater, a child is less likely to be a cheater. Another method is to praise a behavior instead of an action. If only an action is praised, than the child will only do it when the reward is available as to benefit them. By praising a behavior, the child will know that just by the way they act, they are being helpful and the feeling of gratitude is reward enough.
Moral of the story here is that when a parent actually takes the time to properly praise and motivate a child, he learns that being a good person can be natural. By copying their parents and having it reinforced with praise, it gets ingrained in their mind that they should be this type of person. By playing off of a natural feeling of shame vs gratitude, raising a moral child might be easier than once thought.
Parental Involvement is Overrated-There's nothing worse than an overbearing parent, especially when it comes to school. And usually the longer it goes on the worse it can get, since the stakes get higher. It seems that the older the kid gets the more the parent(s) should begin to ease off. But in most cases this doesn't happen. There are multiple reasons why this may not take place as it should. Whether it's the parent(s) that wants the kid to succeed at a high rate. Maybe even that it seems to the parents that it feels like the right thing to do. There just needs to be a certain line to be drawn. It's already bad enough that you have this kid who is growing up and trying to figure things out for themselves but when you add the possible pressure the parent(s) can add it can get hectic. Every parent wants there child to succeed that's a given, it just wouldn't hurt if it was done with a little more distance in certain instances.
ReplyDeleteAll children are different so why does society try to fit all of them into one big group? As said in "Raising a Moral Child" it is better to award or praise the behavior because it will make the child a better person morally. Instead of yelling at the child you could say "do you think that was a good choice?" Now whether the child learns or not may be up to what example you set as their parent. Kids are mirrors and sponges, they absorb what they see or hear and then project out the same thing. Knowing this makes me more aware of what I say and do around my brother who is six years old.
ReplyDeleteIn the article "Parental Involvement is Overrated" many valid points are made such as parents hindering learning and that parents should limit their involvement. My mom is a math teacher so when I ask for help she explains it another way in which I was not taught leaving me more confused then when I started. Therefore I do agree with the article, parents that are involved, although are trying to be helpful, are holding their kids back from their true potential.
Kids are kids why can't they be kids now a days? The government says that every child is the same, not all are and they should be learning at their pace, not the pace the government says they should be.
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ReplyDeleteIn the article titled “Raising a Moral Child”, it was great to be able to see the links imbedded into the article that lead to the research it talks about to show that it isn’t something made up and they have resources to back up what they say. After reading that article I can say that I fully agree with what the article says with parents caring more about good attitude over achievement and how it is good to teach children to be caring it is almost never easy to show them at a young age as well as how some children are getting to be too good-natured. But what really caught my attention was when it talked about how at a young age, we should praise our children when they do good things but how you do that has a risk to it. When a child does something good and you praise action and offer a reward you run the risk of the child only doing good things when they know they will get something good in return or won’t do it if there is nothing in it for them. That is different if you praise the child and not the action. An example of this in the article is when they say how a couple are careful to say, “That was such a helpful thing to do” compared to, “You’re a helpful person” see the difference.
ReplyDeleteAnother research that caught my attention was when they explained an experiment done where they basically studied the differences between children who were told to be generous to other kids and give them tokens they have received while the person who told them to be generous was being selfish and children who were told to be generous to other kids and give them tokens while the person who told then to be generous was generous as well. Not surprisingly, the children who saw the adult be generous with his token, ended up giving more than those children who saw the adult be selfish. This experiment really shows how kids learn better through action more than words.
After reading the article 'Recovery to Whom' it really made me think about how our future is going to turn out because of this economic downturn. The article states that 'nearly 16 percent of those in their mid 20's to mid 30's were in poverty in 2012', and it really makes me think if those high numbers of poverty happened in 2012 what does the future hold? Are we going to keep spiraling down or are we as a nation going to really work on the growth of the economy? It actually really worries me that my generation is going to have to suffer through these tough times. One thing that really caught my attention is what the article said about our generations education saying 'in the 20-to 34 age group are the best educated cohort in American history'. Having to read that really irritated me because does that mean if I pursue to go to college that it really wont pay off in the long run because education doesn't create jobs and opportunities that lead you to prosperity(said in the article)? But isn't education suppose to lead you to prosperity and now I'm being told that it doesn't because of how bad the economy is? Its really unfair and absurd that we have to be put in this predicament and how our economy cant find a way out of this downturn.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading the article "Raising a moral child" i was thinking to myself, well obviously everyone wants their child to be a good and moral child right? Well than you have to be a moral parent because most likely that child will pick up on the things that they people who they are surrounded by do. Most parents should realize that they are more influential to their child's life than they think, especially at a younger age. You can raise your child right but once they are surrounded by different people with different morals and different characters, that's when things are out of your hands because your child can be surrounded by bad influences.
ReplyDeleteThen i read "Parental involvement is overrated" and i thought that those articles somewhat contradicted each other. First of all let me say that I believe that the more involved the parent is in their child's life, they better they child will do.If my mom wouldn't care about my future and my grades i feel like that would probably discourage me from wanting to do my best. So, how are you supposed to raise a moral child but not be involved? Honestly, this just had me stuck. Unless i didn't understand the articles because i had that question as my focus thoroughout the entire reading.
So reading these articles made me think a lot on how being raised right will effect you're overall life actions and decisions. Now through my own personal experiences I can say that parents who make an effort in their child's life usually end up giving that child great personal qualities. I'm not going to say that if the parents aren't giving one hundred percent it is not the end of the world. I have met many people who were kind, compassionate, and gracious but had parents the complete opposite, so a child can positivity develop by his or her self but it is rare. I feel that it is important to just support a child and show them the love and compassion you would expect. As for us we need to find the importance of being a good person and respecting others. I have always lived by an understudying that everyone is different and likes different things so I make sure to never say anyones personal beliefs or opinions are wrong or incomprehensible. This was something i really just come to on my own. If anything the second major aspect to a good personality is also the environment in which they are in. If you are raised in the wild with a pack of wolves, the chances of you becoming the next mother teresa are almost slim to non.
ReplyDeleteRaising a moral child is possibly the most important thing a parent could do in the world that we live in today. If the older generation of today expects us to be able to run the country later on the future and be able to set good morals for our children, they should teach their children some. Their are so many kids today in this generation that are so disrespectful, rude, non-caring, etc. and who's to blame? Their parents. They are responsible for raising and teaching them good responsible morals that need to be passed down to future generations.
ReplyDeleteBut then again, I know plenty of parents that were raised well and taught great morals, but when it comes to them and raising their children they don't apply many of the principles that they were taught and don't discipline their children the way that they were. It really depends on the person and how they choose to go about raising their own children. They just need to realize that the kids of my generation are the way they are because of how they raised them, not necessarily bad just not good enough.
For me personally when I see a person walking towards the especially elderly people I make sure that I hold the door open for them. I do it because I know it makes some people happy, and I know I would like some one my age to do the same thing for my grandparents and family. It just depends on how the persons brain works because I know some people who's brains just don't tell them to do these simple things.
Raising a Moral Child
ReplyDeleteI'd say that a parents worst fear is raising a child that turns out to be a monster not caring about anything around them. We see parents try different ways at trying to alter the way their children think so that they have a sense of morality. Personally I'd say that half of the way a kid acts is already predetermined because I've seen many kids that had a good sense of morality when they were younger because of what their parents tougher then but as they grew up, they slipped away from that. Not to say it's hopeless to change a kid but it's good to stay on them. The other half is how the parent teaches them and I agree with the article on what they have to say about teaching children. I've never been much of a believer in the reward system because it then just becomes something the kid does when a prize is waved in their face and that's not what you want. You want the kid to do acts of kindness and respond morally because they know it's the right thing to do and people are happy with what they have done. I've noticed even with myself that I like it a lot more when I praised for what I've done right then to be given a reward for doing it. I don't want to feel like a pet begging for attention, I want to do something to satisfy others. Another thing I truly believe is that the hard you force something on a kid, the more you push them to doing the opposite. For instance making a kid play sports when there younger is only going to make them hate it later. I know this is another lame example but look at Miley Cyrus. Growing up she was expected to be that role model for kids but all that was forced upon her. Now she's this crazy person we see today. So parents do need to help their kids understand morality but also let the kid develop it there self without feeling pressured to do something they're not.
The first two articles discuss the roles of parents and how they influence their children. Parents are a child's first and potentially most important role model and teacher in life. The very first article, "Raising a Moral Child" by Adam Grant explains the influence of parents and adults have over the development of their child's character and development as a person. It explains studies that have proved that children learn by example and will in some ways learn from watching the adults around them. It also explains how, as a role model, you should parent and which actions you should take in order to be successful in raising your child. A huge factor in teaching kids to become high achievers in the world is to know when and how to praise them accordingly. Researchers suggest that praising effort instead of actual ability is crucial to help children develop stronger work ethic and become more motivated in general. Praise is found to be much more effective than actual rewards. Rewards may teach the children to only do good things when there is something in it for them, where praise makes the child feel good about what they have done and will make them want to do those good things again. Its also been found that when a child's character is complimented or praised, that child is much more likely to repeat those actions until they become good habits rather than if the adults were to just praise whatever the action had been. When a child's character is praised, it helps them identify with their identities and who they are becoming as people. "When our actions become a reflection of our character, we lean more heavily toward the moral and generous choices. Over time it can become part of us.", this quote from the article explains the process of how praise to a child's character can help shape them as they grow up. Negative feedback is just as crucial in a developing child. How parents and adults respond to bad behavior has varying results as well. Typically there are two moral emotions felt by children after doing something bad; shame and guilt. Shame is not something we want our children to feel, shame being a negative judgement about one's self which can make the child feel worthless. Guilt on the other hand is a negative judgement about an action which can be changed with good behavior. I believe that it's extremely important and necessary for parents and adults to realize the effect that how they handle certain situations can have on their children or any child for that matter. How they choose to react to a specific situation multiple times can really shape the child's character in a positive or negative way.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that there are enough people out there who realize how much of an influence they are to the children in their life. Children listen and react to everything they see those around them do. They are sponges absorbing everything that is going around them which is really important to realize and remember, making sure to lead by a good example. Although I have not yet personally raised my own child, I have three younger siblings and have watched my parents do their absolute best in raising all of us and I have seen how important it is to praise your children when it's necessary and how to properly care and be there for your children. I think that ultimately, every parent's real goal is to not only have happy children but to have their kids turn out to be good people; generous and caring people. It's necessary to start leading them towards the right path at a young age in order for them to develop good character.
RAISING A MORAL CHILD
ReplyDeleteChildren at a young age are like sponges. They observe and take in a lot of influential information that build the foundation to what kind of person they will they will be 10 years from now. Teaching a child to have moral values is harder than teaching a dog to sit. You have to show by example, verbal, action; real life experiences. In reality you can only do so much to teach or try to teach your own child how to 'think". Tactics like praise and discinplinary action play key roles in forming a child's mentality. If a child is raised around drugs, yellings, no organization your typical pycholoigist might predict that child will not grow up to have moral values. WRONG. Children are influenced outside the household. Great teachers or mentors can potentially save a child's well being! In all honestly raising a kid to be perceived as "good" can be done many different way. Studies and studies can be conducted but there will never be a right way. Some will grow up in safe and comfortable enviroments while others might be growing up around the ghetto and gun shots. Millions of children in the world therefore millions of situations to take note to. In my own life I was never raised in a wealthy town or had lots of money. But I can say I am rich in family and friends. I believe it's key to have a strong connected family, positive friends, great food, and an open mind in order for a child to have good morals. The experiments conducted in the article, in my eyes, are strongly biased. Why do we have children coming from ghettos becoming NFL stars, go to college, turn into millionaires? There is moer to the equation that just praise and action. A child needs love and compassion. Needs to know someone actually cares for them. A child knowing someone actually cares for them will think twice about throwing that apple to the principal, or stealing from the liquor store.
We need more mentors and strong teachers. More understanding adults who can help aid adolescents on their journey in life. Households can do so much.
Cool. Good to know you realized that morals and what not are acquired outside of the household more so than inside... I think it really does depend but overall ya I agree with you.
DeleteSaving Young People From Themselves
ReplyDeleteBasically this article brings up the point that young people don’t have enough time to save their money, as well as not enough government programs and guidance, which I don’t agree with. Money is money, if you’re too stupid to properly manage your own you don’t deserve a comfy retirement. If people were genuinely concerned with how they wanted to spend their golden years, they’d plan on saving at an age around mine.
With student debt, you’re kind of fucked when it comes to saving large amounts of money, I agree with that. However, people don’t seem to realize that even with a part-time job just putting aside 50$ a month into your IRA you’ll be setting yourself up for hundreds of thousands in retirement funds. Just a minuscule amount equal to the same amount of money as your typical movie date.
The most beneficial things to do around my age when it comes to investing is investing in equities and anything that has compound interest on it that’ll let you withdraw that money later tax free. With the consistent trend of the stock market, which is generally rising over the years, equities will have the highest returns. And compound interest on a savings account is a no brainer, even if you’re only depositing 50$ a month.
All in all, forcefully taking money from people for their retirement isn't as good an idea as it sounds. If people cared enough they’d take care of it. However, there needs to be much more awareness to this epidemic.
My pitch for a solution to the problem would be to change the high school economics class to a year long class and teach students how to invest and financially plan their futures. As well as teaching them how to do important financial things like doing taxes or buying a house.
Raising a moral child, is probably the biggest subject in child development today, because it seems as the generations move on parental habits on raising their children have changed as well. I can definitely relate to this article, because I experienced both the calm, cool, and collected parent that never physically punished me or did or said things to depleat my motivation. But I have also experienced the highly stressed out, impatient, and abusive parent as well which has made impacts in my past that I do at times struggle with now. The reason why I say this is basically because my parents grew up differently than each other. So both have their own view on parenting, but only one is right. As I read the article I could do nothing but constantly look back at myself and see how I was raised by my parents. My up bringing was pretty interesting do to the fact that my parents are divorced, but I experienced two types of parents. One being my Dad, now my dad is a calm and very easy going person he grew up with both his parents together so his upbringing was more stable. While my Mom, she was a bit more of the opposite and grew up with a single mother and a father who left his family for another. So looking back at my parents pasts I begin to realize a pattern. From my Dad I see more acceptance and understanding, someone who will watch you fall but as soon as you hit the ground they pick you up and tell you "you see, that's why you have to pay attention." My dad never hit me or my sisters or ever displayed any reason to want to hit us, he rather use other punishment techniques like grounding or taking the phone away. While my mom was more impatient and hot headed, she always seemed more stressed out and too focused on making money and giving material things than showing love or effection. She always got mad over the littlest things and at times me and my sisters had to pay for the mistakes some way, either through word of mouth or slap/punch to the shoulder. The reason why I bring up these examples is because through out this article how to raise a moral child, I think they forgot one key element. And that's raising a child doesn't start with the child it starts with the parents and their history of how they were being parented at the time which I have constantly heard that we kids of our day got it "easy." Which I can agree with but I don't believe is a bad thing. Because reasons for discipline were more physical and stern than they are now. I think raising a moral child is simple as long as you show the child and teach them to understand good common values and to respect and love one another, especially themselves, then I think the child will be fine. But if the child lacks any of these qualities it maybe a point of concern and the parents should try and figure out the problem and help their child learn to understand and deal with the solution. Life is a constant struggle but without a good set of parental guidance you won't be able to understand the true reality and meaning of life unless the parents learn themselves to deal and cope with their past upbringings and how to make their children have a better life than they had. All in all, it all starts with the parents to raise a good moral child you must first learn to understand your own childhood and make changes on how things should be handled from how they wetmre in your past. Because history has a tendency to repeat itself, I should know.
ReplyDeleteMy initial thoughts on this article was, "Why would we be reading on how to raise a child?" But as the article went on, I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that this article made you take a deeper look on something that many people think comes so naturally. Parenting. It's supposed to get easier with experience right? Well, in some aspects this may be true such as learning the better products for your child. However, who says a first time parent can't be just as good as a parent on their sixth child. I feel like with this article's help, you can raise your child to be "morally good" with the help of understanding a few differences in how to react to your child's behavior.
ReplyDeleteA difference I found intriguing was the difference between guilt and shame. This article describes shame as "...the feeling that I am a bad person...". However, contrary to this, guilt is describes as the "better feeling" for a child to feel in that "guilt is the feeling that I have done a bad thing" The difference in the children's reactions from these feelings can be closely analyzed. When I first read this I thought that shame was the better of the two. However, I was proven wrong as I continued to read and realized that the feeling of guilt is actually what sets a child up for success in the long run. Guilt, as stated, is a negative judgement about an action. When a child feels guilt, it is said that they want to make it right and will make it right by good behavior. The small distinctions between these two overlooked emotions can be crucial to the development of a child. In order to raise your child "morally", one must distinguish the difference between these and then implement them.
"When our actions become a reflection of our character, we lean more heavily toward the moral and generous choices. Over time it can become part of us." This quote struck me as a crucial point to touch on. This article emphasized over and over again that one must focus on the character of a person to see improvement in them long-term. When a parent compliments a child's behavior, they are more likely to repeat that behavior. In a study of which a group of children were complimented on their actions and a different group of children were complimented on their behavior, the children whose behavior was complimented were more generous in the weeks following the test. By barely changing a phrase from "Please don't cheat" to "Please don't be cheater", or something similar that changes from an action to a character statement, huge results are seen not only in the moment, but in the time to come as well.
Overall, the emphasis placed throughout this well researched and presented article on moral upbringing is how easily our words can affect the outcome of many situations. With slight wording changes that is focused on your character instead of your actions, a major impact is instilled into a child without them even realizing. Our character is what is with us everyday for the rest of our lives. Many times it is easily overlooked and people base their judgements on simply a person's actions. However, this is not the best way to view someone because their actions may be a one time thing, where as their character shows what they will continually do or be. Building character is the main focus on this article and it's truly never too late to start.
I thought that "Raising a Moral Child" was the most interesting article of the four, and you hit all of the main points. Good overall analysis of the text.
DeleteIt won't let me post my essay in a comment - apparently it exceeds the character limit. It's up on my blog (shanecheverez.blogspot.com).
ReplyDeleteRaising a moral child article is spot on with real life events. While I was reading this article I had flashbacks of how my aunt, uncle, grandparents and dad raised me to be a respectful person. They showed me by setting examples and not just telling "don't play with matches you'll burn the house down". Then they'd show me how easily things can be burnt to ashes with a single lighter. I didn't believe them though, it was the day after 4th of july and my cousins and I were lighting the rest of fireworks off, a brush fire almost started because my cousin lit a firework in dry grass.The fire department came and we all ratted her out pretty quick because we knew if we'd had done that we'd be grounded for weeks like she was. No matter what you do, right or wrong its sets morals for you and the people all around you.
ReplyDeleteSaving young people from themselves: It's obvious to us that most young people don't take an interest in taking aside their own spending money and putting it aside for a later time in their life. Most young people this day in age are starting to get jobs earlier and earlier, and in this case they are obtaining money to do as they please with, like going out to eat or going to the movies or getting new things to put or their cars ect. But what they don't realize is that in these upcoming years they're going to be having to pay for college and the books and materials that go with it, along with if they're planning on buying/renting a house. And if so living away from home they're having to pay for food. It's going to be a huge change for most and for many a struggle. So the sooner we can get in the habit of saving and putting aside money, the better off we'll be. Because if you have a job now and are always able to take off and spend it how you want, that means that you also have the chance to set aside what could possible be what you depend on in the near future. As for your later years in life you may have a steady job and pay check, upon saying that, you should take the opportunity to take part in which I think is a great idea if you are financially stable, is to go by the Australians superannuation way of thinking by putting a percentage of your pay check away into your retirement account. Although many of you think I don't need you need to worry about this as of right now, you should absolutely start as soon as possible to be prepared for what to come in your future.
ReplyDeleteSince I have a tumblr and you can't comment on my essay I'm posting it to this..
ReplyDeleteMany people today question “What does it take to be a good parent?” The problem is many people ask this question by the time their last kid they’ve had is already a middle-aged teenager. Every parent knows to teach their kid to always try their hardest, get good grades, be kind to others, and to never give up. I don’t know a parent who has taught their kid to not try, get bad grades, be mean to others, and to give up.
"…the evidence on how parents raise kind and compassionate children flies in the face of what many of even the most well-intentioned parents do in praising good behavior, responding to bad behavior, and communicating their values." This quote is straight from New York Times article, Raising a Moral Child. New York Times is making a good point… But, I don’t fully agree with it. You can raise a child anyway you want, but just because you raise them to do something a certain way doesn’t mean they’ll want to go by it their whole life. Yes, I agree communication is good. And you should teach your child right from wrong by encouraging and pointing out when they do something bad by explaining to them it was very bad and not to do it again. For example: you can raise a child to do nothing but well in life and to be kind to everyone, but they can end up being a bad kid that picks on everyone. Another example: is how people say that when kids are bullying other kids it’s happening to them at home, that isn’t necessarily true. There can be a kid that has a great life with super encouraging parents that give them attention and teach them right from wrong that still bully kids. Every parent should always teach their kid right from wrong, be rewarding to them, and teach them morals to be kind to others, doing so will have a huge influence on the child; but there is always a small percentage that have parents that do this but the kids still have a different mindset and don’t comprehend with it.
“Most people, asked whether parental involvement benefits children academically, would say, ‘of course it does.’ But evidence from our research suggests otherwise. In fact, most forms of parental involvement, like observing a child’s class, contacting a school about a child’s behavior, helping to decide a child’s high school courses, or helping a child with homework, do not improve student achievement. In some cases, they actually hinder it.” This quote is from the first paragraph of Parental Involvement from the New York Times. I think “parental involvement” is good in some cases, such as when your kid is in elementary school. It is always good to help a child with their homework when they are in elementary school or maybe when they are in junior high/ or high school and you see them struggling with their work just simply ask if they are doing okay or if they need help (but don’t ask this too much, just once in a while). Parental involvement doesn’t mean just helping them with school (like this article is making it seem). It means that you get involved in their life; you are there for them when they are sad, you acknowledge their achievements with a reward or just a simple “I’m proud of you.” , you make sure they know you love them (but don’t smother them or embarrass them with it!!), you go out and do something with them every once in a while so they know they aren’t invisible to you, or even just have an ACTUAL conversation with them!!! Communication is the number one key to parenting. Talk to them like a normal human being, don’t talk to them like they’re little if they’re a teenager, don’t talk to them like they’re an adult if they are a little kid, don’t talk to them in a questioning or awkward voice’ talk to them like you’re actually interested with what’s going on in their life.
Recovery to whom?
ReplyDeleteThis article makes more sense when I put two and two together. The high class individuals are living in more satisfaction than ever and the more they get wealth, the more the poverty line gets pushed down! This is a major problem I see in many cities, even the highest cost if living Sates. The millenniums of today are struggling more than years before, the morals of young people are falling apart and overall living the life is a struggle. There is only so much that could be 'sugar coated' until that coat fades away. Looking at all the data and evidence that supports what is being stated in the article is clear enough to be that there is a bigger problem than what it seemed! Please someone explain to me why and what needs to happen for the government officials, the states, senators, the congress to understand that this problem needs to be fixed NOW! Thinking of our future generations and how worse hasn't even started with unemployed and uneducated human beings, what potential does society have without the right tools in the economy to succeed at it's best and full potential? How does that benefit the world we live in today?
Excellent questions, wonder if we can find a politician who's willing to Skype with us and provide some answers?
DeleteToday was a long day. After writing the Should vs Must essay I had planned on coming home and working on my response essay. After I had gotten home I got a text from my mom telling me that my grandma was rushed to the ER because she had two blood clots, one in each lung. I got home not to long ago and sat down to write my response when I realized that the response that I was doing felt like I was writing about something that I really didn't care about. I intended to write about one of the options but it just wasn't feeling right. So this is me, writing about something that I do feel is worth writing about.
ReplyDeleteThese past few months have been a challenge for my family. We found out my grandma has stage 4 lung cancer which had spread all over her body. Since then we have been on a never ending rollercoaster ride. Just two months ago my grandma was walking around, going to family birthday dinners and now she is confined to her bed and battles daily with aches and pains. The first month was probably the hardest because it was an adjustment. We hadn't ever gone through something like this before. She had been placed on tons of meds because one of the cancer masses was pushing so hard on her back that it fractured a disc.She started her chemo and of course she felt sick but we all assumed it was just part of the process. After she stopped eating and was vomiting continuously we all started to worry. She lost 17 pounds within a week and the doctor said if she continued to lose weight that he'd have to stop the chemo.
While all this was happening I would try to visit my grandma after school at least 3 or 4 times a week, asking friends to drop me off at her house or the hospital, where ever she was at the time. It was crazy seeing the shift of the dynamics at my grandparents house. My grandparents have been married for 50 years and they are as traditional as it gets, she does the house work while he goes to work and relaxes when he came home. Seeing my grandpa learn to wash clothes, cook his own food, and cater to my grandma was a change. He does whatever he can to make her happy or smile. Their love for each other is incredible and proves that love conquers all. As a week or two went by my grandma stopped going out to the living room and would remain in bed all day, my grandpa went out and bought her a brand new tv so she would be able to watch tv in HD.
The hardest thing about this battle is that their are good days and bad days. Dont get me wrong, im thankful for the good days, but at some point the good days give you hope only to be followed by the eerie reminder of the cancer inside her. Last week had been going good, she even considered going out to dinner for my grandpas 75th birthday. ( it was a big deal because she doesnt like going out in public because of the affects chemo had on her body) So yesterday when my grandpa birthday came along she had been having a bad day. Her breathing seemed short and she seemed to struggle. We brought my grandpa a steak dinner and he ate it in the kitchen while she was asleep in her bed. It was heartbreaking to see him eat alone. We sang happy birthday, ate cake yet the fact that my grandma wasn't truly there was in the back front of everyone's minds.
So today she was scheduled for an appointment to see how the chemo had been working. After her scan her doctor sent her to the ER. They found two clots in her lungs. One is blocking 2/3 of her artery making it hard to breathe. She was put into the critical care unit and was put on blood thinners in order to help dissolve the blood. All you can do at the hospital is wait. Waiting is hell. You are left wondering of the outcome, and hoping for the best. She was tired all day and seemed weak but I continued to remain hopeful. Visiting hours were over so we came home. Going home when a loved one is in the hospital isn't great. You're still "waiting" your just not confined to the visiting area. About an hour ago we were told that she had to be taken off the blood thinners because she was passing blood. Back to square one, waiting.
DeleteTo be blunt, this situation is crap. It seems like every time we hope for good news we get bad news. Remaining positive throughout this whole situation hasn't been easy by any means but I do my best to keep a smile on my face for my mom and family members that aren't in good spirits. I guess what keeps me going is that I look at my grandmas life and its inspiring. She found true love, started a family that has expanded and grown, and she grew old with her husband. She has lived a great life and I can see it in her eyes that she loved her life and is content with it. Her strength give me hope, its keeps me going in hope that other people will see me still smiling and realize that even though things get rough it doesn't mean we need to stop being happy. Coping with the fact that she wont be here much longer is hard, but I want her to see me happy during this time. I want her last moment with me to be a positive experience not me being sad and negative.
I know this was way off topic, and its not much of a response. But I felt like it was more worth writing than a response on an article that I cant relate to at the moment. In this moment this is what matter to me. Writing this didn't seem like homework because it something that I am passionate about, something that I care about. I guess you can say this entry was my "Hack This Course" moment.
whoops mine was longer than i thought so it didnt fit so i just did it in two parts above ^^^ sorrryy lol I kinda rambled
ReplyDeleteDaniel, thank you for this-- I'm keeping a good thought for your grandmother, your family, and you. I appreciate the way you made the assignment your own and wrote about something so personally meaningful. We'll look at mechanics a different day.
Delete"Recovery for Whom?" was the name of the article I read out of the four. It talked the recent recovery that the US economy is going under. Yet there is bit of confusion about who is the recovery targeting because there are different generations in the workforce. The older generation the babyboomers are being helped out the most with the recovery because they have the money. They are the rich and being helped out the most out of everybody. The poor working class should be helped out more than the rich because the poorer generations are the ones who have it the worst.
ReplyDeleteFor example, the millennials, the generation born in the 1980s and 1990s. They are far worse off than the previous generation; Gen Xers (born in the 1960s and 1970s) were at that age. Not only that but the generation before Gen X, the babyboomers had it better than them at the same age. The millennials have had it rough when entering the workforce for when they entered it the recession hit. Instead of securing a stable economic future they struggled with underemployment and unemployment. Many of them had fallen so far behind that it is almost impossible to catch up.
According to the latest census data, nearly 16 percent of those in their mid-20s to mid-30s were in poverty in 2012, compared with just above 10 percent of Gen Xers in 2000 and baby boomers in 1980. Not only that but nearly 14 percent of that age group were living with their parents which is a higher percentage than the other generations. This only goes to show that the recession majorly affected the younger generation in the workforce.
This only goes to show that there has to be more programs or government involvement to get the young up and running. The recovery should focus more on the young because true prosperity is impossible when the productive potential of young adults is being squandered. The recession set them back a bunch and now they have to play catch up without any support.