58

From all of the views that I heard there seems to be one overall consensus. The lower in the social structure you are the smaller your chances are for success. However when it came to building relationships there was a mixed opinion. Some people thought that social structure only determined the activities or the conversation within the relationships while other people thought that in fact social structure not only effects the context of the relationship but how it was built and what those relationships mean to one and other.

Some of the observations by other students seem to have the opinion that it's not about class as much as race. They hold the belief that race effects how people build their relationships and that class has very little to do with it. I think that the reason that a lot of people would feel this way is because in our school there aren't very many lower class whites. By that cultural background and not financial situation. So the exposure to that culture of working class whites is not prevalent in S.O.F.

In this unit on parenting I think that there is a lot that I have discovered but still a great deal to investigate. It might have been the fact that we had exhibition week and the debates so I missed a lot of class but I wish that we had been able to learn more about some of the differences in parenting around the world. Something that I find very interesting is how kids can be very different in just their train of thought around the world. It's hard to believe that there are people out there who view a cow as something sacred, and not just a hamburger. Not only is that incredibly interesting but also the differences in our country. Something I have written a lot about is the lack cultural unity in this country. Now in no way am I advocating for nationalism or a ban on immigration but I think that presence of differences inspires this nation to a vast array of parenting philosophies.

For my question about social structure in parenting there is still a lot left to be done but I think that I have been able to figure out some interesting things. For example just looking at the student population of our school you can see how people from all different backgrounds have been changed by parenting. Whether it be the artsy kid that doesn't value traditional book smarts but is highly intellectual or the straight edge son of a banker who does well at all the book work but isn't much for abstract thinking. These are all direct results of culture in parenting. To me that difference is a highly positive thing, not only does it inspire the differences in thinking that we all appreciate around here, but it helps accurately sort people to be somewhat cold and blunt.

56

Questions: What is the single most effective parenting strategy, by that I mean employing love,obedience ect.?

A (paraphrase): Love because from that it is possible for a parent to incorporate any of those other methods but love has to be the foundation.

Q: How do you think that most parents figure out their parenting strategies?

A: I think that most of them feel it out and talk to people they know with kids and probably do the opposite their parents did.

Q: What are some of the worst qualities that you think most if not all parents have?

A: Control. I think that all parents have a desire to be in total control and sometimes they do things that are in the name of principle but aren't necessarily right.

For this series of interviews I thought that it would be most effective to ask general questions because I think that's what most average students in our school have an expertise on so therefore I think that it wouldn't make sense to waste that research and try to give a very detailed and long question. Also I think that having sources to back up my generalizations about kids is going to be good for any sort of paper of presentation on this subject.

QUESTION: What do you see as the difference in parenting strategy by social class and how do you think that translates into the school system?