Summary Of Frank Bruni's Article Are Kids Too Coddled?

Surprisingly, Blackfish is more Pathos while Race to Nowhere is Ethos. Blackfish highlights pathos by makings us feel emotions for the whales in captivity. As Race to Nowhere highlights ethos by giving us facts on how horrible school assignments are and how stressful they can really be. Proving that both films present a way of hooking us in by the lighting, the music and color, and our thoughts and feelings. Pathos is used in blackfish to make us feel sorry for the orcas.

In “Losing is Good for You”, Ashley Merryman instills the idea that society celebrates the essence of success that children achieve in any aspect of their life whether they deserve it or not. Merryman further explains that by celebrating success or, more importantly, the idea that every child is a winner, society takes away the fundamental ideas of hard work. Merryman states that as society limits the opportunity for children to experience failure, this leads to the destruction of the core beliefs of what is the true meaning of winning is and undermines overall determination, and it lowers the desire for children to work hard.

Lareau, in Unequal Childhoods, focuses on socioeconomic status and how that affects outcomes in the education system and the workplace. While examining middle-class, working-class and poor families, Lareau witnessed differing logics of parenting, which could greatly determine a child’s future success. Working-class and poor families allow their children an accomplishment of natural growth, whereas middle-class parents prepare their children through concerted cultivation. The latter provides children with a sense of entitlement, as parents encourage them to negotiate and challenge those in authority. Parents almost overwhelm their children with organized activities, as we witnessed in the life of Garrett Tallinger. Due to his parents and their economic and cultural capital, Garrett was not only able to learn in an educational setting, but through differing activities, equipping him with several skills to be successful in the world. Lareau suggests these extra skills allow children to “think of themselves as special and as entitled to receive certain kinds of services from adults” (39). Adults in the school system are in favor of these skills through concerted cultivation, and Bourdieu seems to suggest that schools can often misrecognize these skills as natural talent/abilities when it’s merely cultivated through capital. This then leads to inequalities in the education system and academic attainments.

In the article “Do Our Kids Get Off Too Easy?”, author Alfie Kohn argues that treating kids leniently does not impact their future negatively because it can give them unconditional self-esteem. He believes that when children “never … receive something desirable … unless they’ve done enough to merit it” (Kohn) it can create “a fragile, contingent sense of self” (Kohn). Kohn compares this with the arguments of the opposing side to reveal how they have no evidence on how scolding kids’ losses will help them in the future. He notices that when children only receive awards for when they behave well, “every human interaction… is regarded as a kind of transaction” (Kohn). Kohn challenges those that ridicule the competitions that give all the children

How far a student can go in life is already pre-determined by the generation before him. Success is no longer made up of solely intellectual ability, but rather if the streets the student walks through is gang-ridden or not, if their parents are absentees, and other conditions in which the child grows up in. Valerie Strauss expresses these concerns in her article, “What the Numbers Really Tell Us About America’s Public Schools” in which she discusses how income levels correlate with students’ success rate which is further accentuated through Kamiak and Mariner High School’s Standardized Test Results. “Motivation, a Major Factor in U.S. Student Test Performance” by Dian Schaffhauser continues this idea of external problems affecting low scores

It’s the culture that we are creating and allowing our kids to believe that they don’t have to work hard to get an award” (Mark Gibbs). A culture of expectation is created with participation trophies, and we shouldn’t let our kids grow up believing that we live in a world of expectation where everything is handed to them without giving it their

The key point of Beyond Measure by Vicki Abeles is rescuing an overscheduled, over-tested and underestimated generation. After arguing the definition of success in American education system, the author comes up with several ideas on how to revolutionize learning, prioritize children’s health and re-envision success for a lifetime. She believes that high grades, high test scores and admission to one of the nation’s elite colleges should not be the symbols excellence and successful parenting. Currently, the education system are pressuring the children to perform in ways that make them less intellectually flexible, creative, and responsive to today’s world and at the same time, damaging their mental and physical health. Thus, the author suggests

In the excerpt from a book entitled Class Dismissed, Meredith Maran discusses that students’ parents should spend more time on getting involved in their children’s education. At first, the author states that if students want to be successful, their parents and schools should play important roles. However, there is a big trouble that parents have different opinion over getting involved in children’s education. Some parents are willing to get involved in their children’s education because they have enough time and sources to do so and they actually get reward from their parents’ same actions. On the contrary, the other parents don’t believe that get involved in their children’s education is important and majority of them don’t have enough time and material base to support, in that case, their children’s life are going to be tougher than theirs. In the end, Maran concludes that we cannot expect all the parents get involved into children’s education because society is still filled with materialistic unfairness.

Some students prefer to attend trade school, immediately go into the workforce, or not go to college at all. All children, including the economically disadvantage, should have the same opportunity as the less disadvantaged to master classroom standards and skills. The text states, “Some people will be presidents, others will be custodians. We need both. If our society is to function, we need every manner of worker.

As a kid, one is always told that the real world isn’t fair, that it is unforgiving, and makes no exceptions. As one grows older they realize that the world does make exceptions. They see athletes and wealthy students excel, applying to college without a stress while other kids struggle to make it through high school. This world may not be fair, but it is one we’re forced to live in.

Students dream of being doctors, lawyers, and other honorable careers but they fail to recognize the work and dedication it takes. Inside of the purpose lies the main claim that states “There is no guarantee that students will prioritize academic learning at the core of their institutional demands.” This claim is stating that although Arum and Roksa, along with others, are trying to impress on educators to create a higher quality of education, students still have to put in the effort to gain the level of education desired. The work they put into their studies will determine what knowledge they get out in return. Arum and Roksa give many

In the article “Losing is Good for You”, Ashely Merryman claims that children should not be given awards for something not worth an award such as participation. She states that our youth should not be put under the illusion that winning is as easy as one, two, three. Based on her information, receiving an achievement should be earned instead of given. She stresses the fact that constant praise and awards for possible effortless doings will result in a mindset that believes that putting effort into something will not matter in the end because of the expected praise. With that being said, she believes that constant awarding will lead to underachievement and poor problem-solving skills.

Every year around forty kids will take their lives over the stress that school and parents have put on them to succeed. As a society we put too much pressure on the shoulders of our youth to succeed in all aspects of their lives, and in doing so we are causing mental and emotional harm to them. Our children are the future of this country, however, they are still children who need to grow and develop into adults. By putting a tremendous amount of pressure on students to succeed in anything and everything in their lives, we are damaging them from growing up and expanding their horizons to seek out knowledge for themselves.

We love and encourage parents to take total responsibility for their children’s education in whatever way is best for their children. Not all kids are the same, some learn at faster pace and some learn completely different than the other.

The article Do Kids Get off Easy? discusses the ongoing debate between parents and the teachers, coaches, and other authority figures of their children’s lives about how often kids should get rewarded. Nowadays, many kids are rewarded for just showing up and participating. It’s not about who wins or loses, but it’s about putting in effort and trying their best. The article shows the opinion of some parents by stating “… its assumed that the best way to get children ready for the miserable ‘real world’ that awaits them is to make sure they have plenty of miserable experiences while they’re young.” A result of this type of reward system leads to a child growing up with “conditional regard” and “the development of a fragile, contingent and unstable