Epidemic: The Rot of American Culture -My Review Part 1
Chapter One "Stricken Children, Stricken Families"
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The first chapter of The Epidemic: The Rot of American Culture, Absentee and Permissive Parenting and the Resultant Plague of Joyless, Selfish Children is full of useful information and fascinating observations. I believe I am really going to enjoy the "map" which the author states will follow in the later sections which will direct mothers and fathers in the direction of a great family life and our culture to avoid "the epidemic".
When I started reading the first chapter, I thought to myself that this may not be the book I believed it to be. The concentration on school shootings and major crimes did not seem to apply to my fourth graders or the parenting classes of elementary aged kids school children.
Then the author started to apply the same symptoms to everyday children and their parents. The Shaw's list of toxic factors within our society such as the absence of relaxed family time, the abandonment of conventional values, media saturation and consumerism(page xii) started to be recognizable within the individuals that I work with as well as in my individual family unit.
I recall taking a class on parenting when our kids were younger. The curriculum's concentration on rearing kids who responded to parenting and were also "other centered" was criticized by several of our close friends as well as family with whom many of us shared concepts. The actual idea that babies have to have our admiration and also awareness and yet not control our lives was unusual to many, even two decases ago. Though we did not recognize it at the moment, we were challenging "the epidemic".
Even though I often become overwhelmed as a result of the complexity as well as sheer capacity of the issue, I do like Shaw's realization that our youngsters can and will respond to parenting and there is hope. The children in our educational institutions nowadays tend to be the product of a process that will need to be adjusted. The report of practices which "skew" a child's emotional development on pages 20-22 is actually a great starting place with regard to turning around the epidemic. It looks to me personally that the list should have been said positively (which we may see in later chapters) as ways which help a child develop positively.
For the most part I was in agreement with the methods listed. It's interesting to me though that the last parenting practice listed, "failing to talk things through" was labeled as it was. The author said that "direct, honest, and complete communication should be the constant characteristic of your relationship with your child" (page 22). Even though "direct, honest and complete communication" should be the norm with older children, I see this kind of sort of sharing as component of the trouble when applied to younger kids. Moms and dads should manage the home and be willing to make decisions. Children do not need to be involved with every decision.
The author's reference to moral milestones, social standards, along with behavioral barometers(page 25), makes me excited to carry on reading and learning. I am really looking forward to using these lessons as I work with students, mothers and fathers, colleagues, and my own children.
online graduate courses for teachers
online teacher classes
The first chapter of The Epidemic: The Rot of American Culture, Absentee and Permissive Parenting and the Resultant Plague of Joyless, Selfish Children is full of useful information and fascinating observations. I believe I am really going to enjoy the "map" which the author states will follow in the later sections which will direct mothers and fathers in the direction of a great family life and our culture to avoid "the epidemic".
When I started reading the first chapter, I thought to myself that this may not be the book I believed it to be. The concentration on school shootings and major crimes did not seem to apply to my fourth graders or the parenting classes of elementary aged kids school children.
Then the author started to apply the same symptoms to everyday children and their parents. The Shaw's list of toxic factors within our society such as the absence of relaxed family time, the abandonment of conventional values, media saturation and consumerism(page xii) started to be recognizable within the individuals that I work with as well as in my individual family unit.
I recall taking a class on parenting when our kids were younger. The curriculum's concentration on rearing kids who responded to parenting and were also "other centered" was criticized by several of our close friends as well as family with whom many of us shared concepts. The actual idea that babies have to have our admiration and also awareness and yet not control our lives was unusual to many, even two decases ago. Though we did not recognize it at the moment, we were challenging "the epidemic".
Even though I often become overwhelmed as a result of the complexity as well as sheer capacity of the issue, I do like Shaw's realization that our youngsters can and will respond to parenting and there is hope. The children in our educational institutions nowadays tend to be the product of a process that will need to be adjusted. The report of practices which "skew" a child's emotional development on pages 20-22 is actually a great starting place with regard to turning around the epidemic. It looks to me personally that the list should have been said positively (which we may see in later chapters) as ways which help a child develop positively.
For the most part I was in agreement with the methods listed. It's interesting to me though that the last parenting practice listed, "failing to talk things through" was labeled as it was. The author said that "direct, honest, and complete communication should be the constant characteristic of your relationship with your child" (page 22). Even though "direct, honest and complete communication" should be the norm with older children, I see this kind of sort of sharing as component of the trouble when applied to younger kids. Moms and dads should manage the home and be willing to make decisions. Children do not need to be involved with every decision.
The author's reference to moral milestones, social standards, along with behavioral barometers(page 25), makes me excited to carry on reading and learning. I am really looking forward to using these lessons as I work with students, mothers and fathers, colleagues, and my own children.
online graduate courses for teachers
