The Value of Parenting
Caught something on the radio about the value of parenting. It was somebody pushing a book he had written and I never caught his name or the name of the book. I'm not even sure of the context of a statistic he mentioned about the value of child brought up with good parenting who went on to be a success, but he sure did contrast it with the cost of some bad parenting, that lead to a life with a lot of problems like substance abuse, criminal behavior, and hard time in prison.
Couldn't help but think about Dr. Laura, Dr. Phil, and the Dog Whisperer. They guy had a point if your parents were good, you probably benefited because of their parenting skill. Another piece of conventional wisdom registered: apples don't fall far from the tree.
And the opposite probably applied as well. Absent parents, drug abuse by parents, violence by parents, and general disorganization by parents can cause kids to spiral into other bad behaviors.
At some point the situations become almost self-fulfilling.
We are in love with what we can count or measure. Somewhere along the line we need to develop a more humane way of measuring the value of parenting so that kids from families of modest means are supported in a way like those whose families have enough resources and support systems.
How do you value grandparents who do the day care. I understand GDP but it isn't the only measure that matters. Time off to care for elderly parents is something lots of children need to face unless they were "lucky enough" to just have their parents just drop dead without a ton of end of life expenses.
Couldn't help but think about Dr. Laura, Dr. Phil, and the Dog Whisperer. They guy had a point if your parents were good, you probably benefited because of their parenting skill. Another piece of conventional wisdom registered: apples don't fall far from the tree.
And the opposite probably applied as well. Absent parents, drug abuse by parents, violence by parents, and general disorganization by parents can cause kids to spiral into other bad behaviors.
At some point the situations become almost self-fulfilling.
We are in love with what we can count or measure. Somewhere along the line we need to develop a more humane way of measuring the value of parenting so that kids from families of modest means are supported in a way like those whose families have enough resources and support systems.
How do you value grandparents who do the day care. I understand GDP but it isn't the only measure that matters. Time off to care for elderly parents is something lots of children need to face unless they were "lucky enough" to just have their parents just drop dead without a ton of end of life expenses.
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