Parenting According To Freakonomics By Steven Levitt And Stephen Dubner

Nil’s neglected son experienced a very brief period of an innocent and blithe lifestyle; however, the baby in Carver Raymond’s “Popular Mechanics” is robbed of its adolescence almost immediately. This short story hyperbolizes the effects that a broken relationship has on a child. The couple fights over possession of the child, the woman thinking, "She would have it, this baby" (Carver 1). Throughout the story, the infant is referred to as an “it”, which implies that the baby’s parent’s view him or her as an object rather than a precious life. In the parents’ vain desire to prevail over one other, concern for the child’s safety completely vacates the their minds. As they continue their struggle, the child’s wails grow louder and louder. They

-Dominating/Authoritarian: This is a parent who is a strong believer in rules and provides high expectation for a child’s behavior. These caregivers seldom show affection toward their children. They are harsh when correcting bad behaviors. Kids have low self-esteem.

Sometimes people don’t realize how much their decisions and choices can effect others around them. Parenting is one of these such cases. The thought of having to raise children is loved by many people, but it is often a feared reality. Many people don’t see themselves as being capable of being a parent, even though they are very capable of being a good parent. Some of the best examples of good parenting fall into the book To Kill a Mockingbird. In this book, Atticus Finch is a loving father who is raising two children, Jem and Scout. He is often a misunderstood individual and is frowned upon by many in his town. By looking at the examples of Atticus Finch’s parenting style, it can be seen how he is a good, loving father to his children who teaches them the proper way in which they should go.

Making countless mistakes is part of being a parent, there is no definition for a perfect one.The characteristics of a “good” parent do emerge throughout literature and in the world around us. “The Secret to Not Getting Stuck” by Jay Woodruff is a short story in which a teenager deals with his dysfunctional drunk of a father all the while pursuing his own passions in life. Through his struggle with his father’s demise, his mother embodies what it is to be a good parent. She continues to be strong and resilient for her grieving son while letting him pursue his passions. Being a good parent involves having an authoritative yet understanding and pliable view on a child’s wants and needs in life.

Parenting is one of the most important if not the most important responsibility someone can undertake. A good parent is responsible for the physical and emotional development of a child who in the beginning is totally dependent on parents. Parenting is not an easy job. If you are incapable of this responsibility, you should not be a parent. At the beginning of her book, The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls, her parents were incapable of providing a safe environment for their young, innocent children. As the story continued, the father and the mother did not show improvement, which made them unqualified parents due to the lack of providing for the basic survival needs or their children. According to Abraham Maslow 's theory of "the Hierarchy of Needs” there are five different types of needs that should be provided to all human beings, which are “the physiological needs, the needs for safety and security, the needs for love and belonging, the needs for esteem, and the need to actualize the self” (Boeree 2). Those are the needs that have to be satisfied for someone to have a healthy, successful, and a happy life. At the end of the story, the children received all their needs on their own, without the help of the parents. They only addressed those needs, when they escaped home and their parents. Their parents held them back from their true potential, which affected their lives and their future, physically and mentally.

Will good parenting skills change a child’s bad behavior? Some people may say that to fix a child’s behavior parents should involve punishment. Maybe they will also say that punishment leads to having a well-disciplined child. In the article, “No Spanking, No Time-Out, No Problem,” Olga Khazan proposes a parenting intervention from a child psychologist, she utilizes it to persuade readers along with parents into believing that punishment cannot change negative behavior. Kazdin discusses the causes behind a negative behavior from a child and utilizes it to prove that punishment does not need to be utilized. Discipline causes children to center their consideration and outrage toward an “unfair” parent, maybe than on learning upon their claim

Being a parent is much more than being the parent. One must care for and nurture their children to insure their children grow into their full potential. Parents must supply the foundation required to build their children into efficient members of society. Without a parental figure guiding children through life, children would be completely and utterly lost in this world. In the short story of Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, Victor is a prime example of a neglectful father whose child is lost in the world. Victor was not a parent to his creature, although he might have labored in making his creature, he deserted him when he needed him most and was not there physically or emotionally for him.

Levitt and Dubner classify Freakonomics as a book having “no such unifying theme” (14), but all the unique topics discussed throughout the text connect back together in order to show the hidden side of human nature. The argument that the wide variety of topics and their abstract descriptions all link together draws the attention of a large audience and connects to issues that society is currently facing or has recently confronted.

There are a lot of talents and interests I have. I also possess a background story. Though, as I only have 650 words or less to tell you something about myself in a desperate attempt to make myself likeable enough to accept into your school, I will pick only one of these talents, interests, or background stories.

Strict parents tend to make their children become sneaky. When you want to do something and you know that you shouldn’t, it makes you want to do it even more. In the short story “Teenage Wasteland” by Anne Tyler, the parents, Matt and Daisy were very demanding when it came to their son Donny. Donny’s parents were trying to help him but they came about it the wrong way. The stricter they got they got with him the more they pushed him away. Donny and his parents never seen eye to eye. Parents should not be strict with their children in order to help them succeed because it negatively impacts a child’s emotional, academic and social well-being.

This also goes back to the levels of self control. A child that is disciplined and taught to respect others is more likely to show signs of self control. It is a learned behavior. A child that is not taught to consider others or disciplined when he misbehaves, will act out and continue to test the limits of their freedom. This is purely genetic. Take ancient civilizations for example. Nowhere will you find an empire that had great power that had no leader. Lawless communities have no morals and go into chaos as a result. People, and children in particular, need rules. Despite the fact that Hitler was an evil dictator, he led a powerful infamous army. The people under his reign didn’t necessarily respect him as a person, but they respected him as a ruler and did as he wanted for fear of negative consequence. A child is much like that. A child that has a parent who sets down firm rules will turn out better behaved than a child raised in

There are many different types of attraction you can feel towards another person. Depending on if you are in a serious or short term relationship you always need to feel some kind of attraction for that other person for that relationship to be even remotely satisfying. It helps if you can identify your specific likes or preferences in other people. For me I believe attraction to the others’ personality is most important. Being able to properly get along with the person is the first step in forming a good and healthy relationship with anyone. Having someone who shares the

Macoby and Martin’s simplification of parenting styles as seen in Bee’s The Growing Child (Source: Adapted from Macoby & Martin, 1983, Fifure 2, p.39.).

Growing up my parents ran a daycare in(at) our house so I was always surrounded by children (the good and the bad). My parents were the type who had no problem enforcing physical punishments such as spanking, the flick of the hand, a pop on the mouth, etc. All these punishments are within the definition of acceptable punishment as stated by Oklahoma law (qtd. ---). They practiced this on me, my siblings, and the daycare kids (with parental consent). In different instances, this would come up in conversations and the reactions were for the majority “that’s awful” or “poor thing” or “I can’t understand how anyone could do such a thing” and I never fully understood why. My mother was raised with an abusive father and a compromising mother (who too was dealing with the abuse), so I have seen how a negative experience can have a positive impact/result (message) on a person/child. I have now grown a curiosity to understand the different limits of child abuse and believe what my parents did benefitted me and any other children who received this discipline. With that in mind, I am going to define, and explore different aspects of child abuse with some modern examples.

Instantly, several parents are struggling to find a way to raise their children effectively. Permissive parenting is one of their choices. Being permissive is treating children with plenty of love, caring and nurturing but not much authorities, rules or punishments. They might make their children lack of self-control or aggressive, but alongside with these disadvantages, there are also numerous benefits. Permissive parenting helps children to be successful, have the courage to achieve their dreams and gives parents greater understanding of their children.