Charles Foran’s “Kids R Hell” presents an array of experts’ analysis on parenting values concerning child discipline (with Foran’s input on the inaccuracy of each one). He postulates, “To approach every disciplinary decision with the thought that it may prove permanently injurious to your child's wellbeing or your own self-worth is to invite madness into your house.” Ridiculing parents who condemn ever physically punishing children, Foran espouses that a slap on the face when a child misbehaves displays severe implausibility of traumatizing that child or labeling the parent as a child abuser; in addition, he finds the notion of never using corporal punishment preposterous and a sure way not to succeed in disciplining children. Of course, for some parents, such as Okonkwo from Chinua Achebe’s Thing Fall Apart, the line between necessary physical force and child abuse becomes blurred, while for others, such as Reb Saunders from Chaim Potok’s The Chosen, the use of more creative methods of parenting seem favorable. Their unconventional means of parenting—either stemmed or influenced by their occupations—cease in effectiveness when each son becomes older; however, because Reb ultimately dissipates his clearly faulty imposition of silence, while Okonkwo stubbornly keeps his narrow-minded bigotry, one father redeems himself, whereas the other never speaks to his son again.
A lamentable baseball accident, in which Danny nearly blinds Reuven’s left eye, prompts the apologetic culprit to visit the impaired victim—commencing an enigmatic friendship between two people of two rival Jewish sects. Reuven notes that Danny, the son of rabbi Reb Saunders, “dressed like a Hasid, but didn’t sound like one.” To an external degree, Danny’s att...
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... never be one of authoritarianism but, rather, one that a former child can grudgingly admit (when reminiscing about his or her punishments) seemed fair. The difficulty, however, lies with the parent’s ability to determine a reasonable disciplinary mean.
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Potok, Chaim. The Chosen. New York: Random House, 1967. Print.
The Chosen, a novel written by Chaim Potok, is filled with a variety of themes that are brought together through each individual chapter. Chapter 7 in the book had a major impact in bringing forth the novel’s theme. For instance, in this chapter, the narrator, Reuven, starts by establishing the basic plot. He states, “The next day, I met Danny’s father” (Potok 112). Having this plot established is key in the chapter for it is the day that could make or break their friendship in a matter of seconds. Reuven and Danny Saunders have become friends since the incident during the ball game. Yet, there is a conflict in their friendship. Danny is a Hasidic Jew and follows the strict rules and beliefs of the Hasidic faith. Reuven, on the other hand, is an Orthodox Jew who does not follow all of the traditional customs, but does honor his faith. Rev Saunders, Danny’s father, hears from his son about his relationship with Reuven Matler, and wants to meet the young teen to approve of this companionship. Danny has never had a comrade who had not been a Hasidic Jew. This begins to show part of how the two must work through numerous hurdles in order to sustain their friendship and let it grow. Another example in this chapter that supports the basic plot is how Rev Saunders not only quizzes Danny on the Talmud lecture, but unexpectedly quizzes Reuven. He needed to test the boy, not only to approve of him as a friend for Danny, but to see what the son of David Malter knew. Rev Saunders approaches Reuven and says, “I am happy my Daniel has chosen you for a friend. My son has many friends. But he does not talk about them the way he talks about you” (141). He approves of his son’s friendship with Reuven Malter.
I believe George Holden chose to focus on parenting styles because corporal punishment has become a common parenting approach, with over 70% of families participating. The speaker wants to introduce and convince families to a better parenting style. Holden presents a paradoxical argument that argues the way to empower children and parents is to disempower parents. He touches on the subject of corporal punishment and its unintended side effects . He transitions from speaking about a “traditional” parenting orientation, to what he considers a better option, “positive” parenting. He goes into further detail in regard to the lite and strong version of “positive” parenting and its core practices.
In the documentary Babies, babies from across the world were filmed interacting with their mothers and the new world. One of the babies was from Namibia. This baby was given little guidance and attention while parents seemed absent at times. At one point, the viewers see the infant smashing rocks together, by himself, which isn’t exactly the safest activity for a toddler (4). The children raised by this type of passive parenting with “few rules, expectations, and demands, tend to struggle with self-regulation and self-control” (5). Without someone teaching children morals and with no form of structure in a child's life, they will have trouble depicting right and wrong decisions. The under the involved parenting style may often seem neglectful, however, there is a fine line between the two. In the memoir The Glass Castle, Rex and Rose are the parents of four kids. Throughout the book, Jeanette is the victim of several sexual misconducts. When confronting her mom about her Uncle Stanley groping her, Rose says “"Poor Stanley," she said. "He's so lonely.”.... “sexual assault was a crime of perception. If you don't think you're hurt, then you aren't,"” (6). Normally a mother, even a passive parenting mother, would immediately stick up for their child and recognize the inappropriate behavior. The walls parents failed to provide their
“Fortunately, children do not need “perfect” parents. They do need mothers and fathers who will think on their feet and who will be thoughtful about what they have done. They do need parents who can be flexible, and who can use a variety of approaches to discipline.” - James L. Hymes, Jr. this quote, I can say, is physically very true. If it wasn’t my father who was rigorous to...
Authoritarian child rearing Diana Baumrind (1971) classified it as low in acceptance and involvement, high in coercive control, and low in autonomy granting (Berk 279). Authoritarian parents force their children to follow and obey the rules unconditionally if not will get punished. Parents will usually appear irritable and angry and will not express much warmth or nurturing (Cherry). There is little open communication between parent and the child. Their way to communicate with their children is usually by yelling and little or
In Western society, there is a common organization called Division of Youth and Family Services, more commonly known as DYFS. DYFS’ main goal is to create a hotline to act as a safeguard to children that suffer from abusive households. When children learn about this, they choose to call this hotline because of the fact that their parents yelled at them in a threatening tone or put their hand on them. Most calls that this organization receives is from children that are not actually maltreated but are just being taught a lesson. Children need to be disciplined if they are misbehaving at home, but in Western society, this idea is twisted to formulate the idea that children are being mistreated at home, which really is not the case. Amy Chua in “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior” exemplifies her opinion on how Chinese children turn out to be more successful than Western children because of their own child disciplining techniques. It is the responsibility for parents to raise their children to be the best that they can possibly be, therefore, if the parent believes that it is beneficial fo...
Cervone, D., Pervin, L. A. (2008). Personality: Theory and research (10th Ed.). New York: Wiley.
The use of spanking is one of the most controversial parenting practices and also one of the oldest, spanning throughout many generations. Spanking is a discipline method in which a supervising adult deliberately inflicts pain upon a child in response to a child’s unacceptable behaviour. Although spanking exists in nearly every country and family, its expression is heterogeneous. First of all the act of administering a spanking varies between families and cultures. As Gershoff (2002) pointed out, some parents plan when a spanking would be the most effective discipline whereas some parents spank impulsively (Holden, 2002). Parents also differ in their moods when delivering this controversial punishment, some parents are livid and others try and be loving and reason with the child. Another source of variation is the fact that spanking is often paired with other parenting behaviours such as, scolding, yelling, or perhaps raging and subsequently reasoning. A third source of variation concerns parental characteristics. Darling and Steinberg (1993) distinguished between the content of parental acts and the style in which it was administered (Holden, 2002). With all this variation researchers cannot definitively isolate the singular effects of spanking.
Intriguing with sapphire eyes, a face chiseled out of stone, and golden ear locks stands Danny Saunders. In Chaim Potok’s book The Chosen Danny Saunders is a dynamic character. Son of Reb Saunders, a tzaddik, Danny lives a life infused with the Talmud. He studies and Talmud by heart but longs to study beyond religious manuscripts. The reading of non-religious books in Danny’s sect earns social rejection¬¬¬, but Danny yearned to study more and did so. Danny Saunders possesses a brilliant mind, a theological understanding, and an inquisitive sprit.
Spanking is an important aspect of a child’s social development and should not be considered an evil form of abuse. In her argument, Debra Saunders says that there is an obvious difference between beating a child and spanking a child, and parents know the boundary. Spanking is the most effective form of discipline when a child knows doing something is wrong, but the child does it anyway. A child who is properly disciplined through spanking is being taught how to control her or his impulses and how to deal with all types of authorities in future environments. Parents can control their child’s future behavior by using spanking in early childhood, because if...
Schultz, D. P., & Schultz, S. E. (2013). Theories of personality (10th ed.). Belmont, CA: Cengage/Wadsworth.
Matthews, G., Deary, I. J., & Whiteman, M. C. (2009). Personality traits. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Friedman, H. S., & Schustack, M. W. (2012). Personality: Classic theories and modern research (5th ed). Boston , MA, USA: Pearson
During an individual’s progression from childhood into adolescence researchers suggest that agreeableness and conscientiousness increased, while extraversion, neuroticism, and openness dropped (Srivastava, John, Gosling, and Potter, 2003). The fall in extraversion, neuroticism, and openness can be due to an individual’s increased responsibilities and time constraint. Individuals later in life tend to be more mature and experienced with emotional feelings and are able handle themselves well in emotional settings, hence getting a low score on
The period of development from adolescence to adulthood offers an abundance of opportunities and confronts (Kroger, 2007). Many theorists argue that an individual’s personality has an increased