America is known as the melting pot of the world. Each year millions of immigrants travel from other cultures to begin new lives and try and attain the American Dream. Over the past two hundred years hundreds of different cultures have tried to meld together in a way that would allow cohesive living for all, yet there have been societal problems along the way. Societal changes as well as personal challenges face children who grow up in current society. Their parents are charged with nurturing them even in the face of societal prejudice or other obstacles. Growing up as an Italian-American, I was provided with a dual cultured childhood. The things I was taught and experienced helped me become a strong and able adult.
In, Taking Parenting Public the authors work to illustrate the changes that children today have to face on their journey to becoming adults.
According to the book parenting is undervalued by epidemic proportions in America today. The book drives home the point that society must take an interest in the parenting of its children because of the fact that they are the next generation and will have control of the direction the nation takes in the future. The book uses opinions from many arenas including political, economic, child development and history to underscore the national dilemma being faced by parents who want to nurture their children in under the watchful eye of society.
Growing up as an Italian-American I was provided with the type of childhood that Taking Parenting Public promotes.
My parents...
They came for the purpose of beginning a Ceramics business and to raise their family in America.
I have many memories of my young childhood years that included family members and community members in the process. Culturally Italians are an open and sharing community. It was not unusual as a child for me to get reprimanded by the grandmother who lived three doors down when she saw me doing something I should not do. They didn't come and tell my parents, they didn't ignore my actions, they simply swatted my behind, or told me they would if I didn't change my actions.
There were many positive aspects to growing up in the family I grew up in. My parents incorporated the old world traditions with their new world life to give us a solid and secure upbringing (Italian-American Traditions in Western New York (http://www.loc.gov/bicentennial/propage/NY/ny-27_h_reynolds4.html).The neighbors all worked so whoever was home became the community parent for the day. I remember eating snacks at the neighbors house and helping their children do chores so they could come out to play.
As I became a teenager however, I realized there were some negative aspects to the closely knit childhood I experienced. I had grown up learning to speak my mind. If I thought someone was wrong I said so, immediately, and without sugar coating. This did not always go over well when I entered the upper grades and mingled with other cultures.
My parents had failed to teach me about the changing…
