respond to two discussion posts on parenting influence
1) After reflecting on my current core values, cultural associations, work ethic and general view of the world as an adult, I would attribute around 50% to how I was raised. I was raised to always work for what you want in life and the saying “ nothing in life is free†is a staple in my home. My reasoning for saying 50% is because as I got older, some of my view started to take their own shape. Some of the views that where highlighted when my parent was growing up had changed. I am mostly referring to the aspect of cultural associations and what they viewed to be wrong in the world they grew up in. Core values and work ethic are not completely the same but present. Core values such as family took me awhile to understand but, after I became a father I began to understand all the thinks that were taught to me.
Nature is commonly known as the genetic aspect of a child while nurture can correlate with the environment of the child. While I believe both play an equal role depending on the person, I would side that nurture is more important. I agree with the theory that early experiences mold the brain and directly affects the way a person views the world and what they see as priorities in their lives (Keating, n.d.). One of the most common things that your hear some adults say is, “I had to grow up fast.†I understand it and can relate because of my experiences I had to go through as a child. If my parents had nurtured me in a different way, I believe that I would be a similar person I am today but have some different views.
2) I think two of the biggest values that I can attribute to my parents is unconditional love and having a positive mindset. Even though my parents divorce was rough, those two values stayed really strong through all of it, no matter how difficult it got and whatever kind of BS would come up. But a lot of my current values were either self taught or learned from my wife and her family or my time in the military, not that my parents were not hard working or anything like that, its just that the divorce consumed so much of everything and took the primary focus. In regard to nature vs nurture, I would have to lean towards nurture because I feel that ones environment can be more impactful on an individual with the exception of those who may have a medical predispositions from genetics. However, according to Mullen (2006), he brings up an interesting point in which he says “no human trait can be solely genetics or solely environmental”. This is an interesting concept to me because I always feel that the arguments are that it is one or the other, but Mullen brings up an example in which he discusses individuals having two thumbs. His thought is that thumbs are genetic, but individuals have them because of the environment we live in, which is certainly an interesting way to look at things and show that it may not necessarily have to be one or another.
