The thing I liked about Ch. 9 was that it was very relevent to me, being I just graduated high school in '08. Although most of what Shipler sais about parent-student relationships, and how that transfers to students performances seems to be the case, it is not always true.
I have always had a great relationship with my parents and they were very involved in my education growing up. They always made sure I was on track and getting my work done, and usually attended parent-teacher conferences. Throughout elementary and middle school, I was always a good student. But when I got to high school, I started to become unmotivated and I really did not want to put in the work. I felt that a lot of stuff we had to do was pointless, and I definitely became lazy. My grades gradually went down every year and I really did not care. Although I was not a good student for a period of time, I have matured and grown up a lot the last few years and have realized how important my education is. So even though I may be feeling unmotivated/lazy sometimes, I am making sure that I get all of my work done and force myself to study for tests and exams.
Another example is I have is a few friends that I have. It's sad to say but they haven't grown up in the best environment with the best parents. Really, it seems like their parents could not care less about their kids performance in school and overall life. Because of this, they do not do well in school, they don't live the healthiest lives, and they do not have a plan for the future. So in this example, what Shipler sais about good parents produce well-performing kids, and poor parents produce the opposite, does apply.
If you do not feel like reading the whole response, my point is basically saying that parents play a huge role in their childrens lives, but no matter what the parents do the kid still has to make his or her own decisions and choose whether or not the way they perform in school and other aspects of life is important to them.
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Ron, you are so right!!! Kids can be brought up in the best ways with parent's always being involved in school and participating in their after school activities also and in the end it is the child that chooses his path. When my daughter was in high school, I participated in every single event that went on, I was her Girl Scout leader, Sunday School Teacher, and accompianed her on many school trips. She was always on the honor roll and busted her butt to be there. She will graduate from Kent with her BS in August. My son who is 19 had all of the same involvement from me and barely graduated high school and has hit one dead end after another. This goes to show that the success/failure does not always reflect back on the parents and like you said they have to make their own decisions. My son is starting to show improvement in his choices and I hope that he keeps maturing.
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