In the book, Shenk gives several examples of children who were brought up at a very young age to learn a certain skill. Yo-Yo Ma, for example, was taught by his parents and immersed in music ever since he was born to become a great instrument player(93). Beethoven was forced by his father to study music and play the piano and violin(116-117). Mozart was also surrounded by music and his parents made him play music at a very young age(61).
Was it right for their parents to force them into music at such a young age? At that point in their live, they do not know enough about the world around them to think about what they will do when they grow up, yet their parents, by constantly making them study one thing, have limited their child's future because now their child only studies one thing. Is it okay for parents to choose their child's life for them? Future experiences, for example, might have shaped their children through GXE to become something else that they chose for themselves, instead of something chosen by their parents.
I think it is right for their parents to force the children into music at such a young age. As Shenk says that at age 3 Yo-Yo Ma "dazzling his piano teacher at age three, playing difficult work by Bach on the cello at age five," shows that he had talent since he was young so there is nothing wrong with being forced into playing music. If the individual was forced to a certain subject and didn't succeed in it, then in the long run they would change, but if the talent exists there is nothing wrong about being forced to it.
ReplyDeleteIn comparison, Michael Jordan never showed much talent in Basketball, and didn’t even make the varsity squad in school. But in the end he turned out to be a great basketball player, so forced or not, each individual will just fall into place on their given talent. Shenk says that “for every wonder child….there is a long list of child prodigies who never become remarkable adult achievers,” this clearly states that not everyone is becoming great in what they have done in childhood, therefore I can say that there is nothing wrong with parents to choose their child life, because if it doesn’t click with the individual, then they wouldn’t be continuing it. I personally wouldn’t call it forcing it, but more like guiding the child in one direction, and if that doesn’t work, then the Individual can take a different path.
http://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug00/parents.aspx According to this article, the parent’s influence will automatically affect the way a child thinks and acts, and parents are only trying to do what they think is best for their children. When a child gets older they can realize what they “want” and be able to choose their own path in life. The parents will influence them no matter what because the parents are part of both their “environment” and “genetics” that would be incorporated in GxE.
Sruthi(gangasruthi@gmail.com)
Like Sruthi, I agree that parents are justified in pushing their children to pursue a certain area of skill or academics, except perhaps for different reasons.
ReplyDeleteThe first is that no parents are very intuitive. At an early age, David is correct in stating that at an age that young, children don't really know much about the world and what it is that they are passionate about. But when parents are very intuitive in picking music, a sport, or an activity for their child; they base their decisions on what they observe about their children. For example, my parents saw that when I swam, I was able to hold my breath for a long time and saw that I had very good lungs. So at a young age, they decided that I would start flute lessons. It is something I still continue to enjoy and play now, and most definitely, starting earlier helped me to build my skills.
Also, something that goes side by side with this point is that in the end, no matter what it is - music, sports, academics - that parents may push their child to puruse, it is up to the child to decide what it is they'd like to continue to do for the rest of their lives. The only thing that parents can do by pushing their children at a young age is to build a framework at an early age or to create a set of skills that they believe can prove valuable in the future. But once that child grows up, he/she will have learned more about what they enjoy doing and it's ultimately up to them the path they choose to take for themselves. Because no matter how much parents may keep pushing, forcing someone to do something they aren't passionate about for a living is futile. He/she will always feel something missing and will never realize their true potential. So I disagree with David when he says that parents "choose their lives for them" because all they are doing is providing a framework, and it's up to the child to continue building upon it.
Lastly, pushing children to pursue something like music will ultimately prove beneficial to them. By learning from a young age the skills and work that goes into learning an instrument fosters invaluable skills. As studies show, learning music also helps develops skills such as "Powers of memory, physical dexterity and concentration...communication skills..teamwork..self management." (http://www.prospects.ac.uk/options_music_your_skills.htm) These are all skills that are useful in the 21st century modern society. Like the taxi driver that Shenk describes in Chapter 2, music causes "specific parts of the brain to adapt and organize themselves in response to specific experiences." (35). So even if she may choose not to pursue music, she'll have the skills that she's fostered from learning music all those years.
Sara Yoojin Lee (yoojin3795@hotmail.com)