Week 6

I don't know how I survived my teenage years. I know I am not the first person to say this, but it's true. I was the typical "crazy teenager." I remember raging at my parents and teachers, sneaking out, and many, MANY other things I shouldn't have been doing that I will not put on the internet (just use your imagination though--whatever you are thinking I probably did it). My parents were amazing and forgiving, but I just don't think there is any way they could've ever stayed engaged enough on what was going on with me to give me the type of control I needed.

I remember being extremely influenced by my friends. At the time, I didn't think of it as the old "giving into peer pressure," but that's totally what it was. Whatever my friends wanted me to do, I was doing it. I remember acting on impulsions all the time, but then feeling guilty afterwords--it was like I didn't have any forethought (and after reading the article this week, maybe I REALLY didn't have the ability to think about the consequences of my actions).

I had a friend my senior year of high school who had gotten a felony and wouldn't tell any of us how it happened--he was very ashamed. One day he finally told me it was because he had slashed all the tires of every car in an entire parking lot. When I asked "why," he said "I have no idea." I think this really sums up the way teenage brains work...

Week 5

Reading about the topic of parenting and different parenting styles this past week really made me reflect on my childcare experience. The article especially made me remember a few parents that were not very involved with their children. I am certainly not saying that parents who have nanny's or take their children to childcare aren't involved--after all, it takes a village to raise a child. I have, however, nannied for a few parents that were never around for their children. 

I think it is important to note that the author of the article was made it seem like all parents are uninvolved or permissive, who allow their children to have T.V.'s in their room or watch certain T.V.shows. I don't think this is that case. I think times are changing; the potential for a child to be exposed to sex and violence in the media is rising exponentially, and the economic stress and need for jobs is making it so many parents have no choice but to be uninvolved, authoritarian, or permissive by default because they are not ABLE to be around enough. Of course, many parents who are busy are wonderful, involved, authoritative parents, I am just saying that the media and socioeconomcs are making parents face more challenges.

Week 4

Everything is changing so rapidly in our society it is hard to get a grasp on the way it is effecting children. Everything is speeding up, including in some ways, the growth of children. I can't help but feel that childhood used to be something that was more cherished and guarded; however, now you can't  go anywhere without seeing the media advertising for things only adults should be worried about. The clothes they sell at childrens' clothing stores look closer to something Snooki from "Jersey Shore" would wear than the clothes I wore as a child.

The hurriedness of our society puts children in a position where they are often exposed to things which have a trickle-down effect that can actually alter their physiological state. One theory some researchers have is that a reason many young girls are starting to menstruate so early is because of the huge amount of sex in the media. I am not talking T.V. only either; I am talking about billboards, magazines, you name it.

Something the author of The Hurried Child talk about, is the fact that many children of divorced parents are forced to play the role of a peer or even a mediator for their parents. Being thrown into a very adult role can have a deep effect on a child and alter the physiological and psychological course.

Week 3

Of everything we learned about his week, in the text book, artical and podcast, I think that learning about gender is the most interesting. I love learning about the dynamics of gender and what goes into gender identity and sexual identity.

Unfortunately, our book hardly glazes, if at all, Gender Dysphoria (gender identity disorder). Growing up I have known a few people with Gender Dysphoria, and I have always suspected that somthing biological must be the cause.There are several theories about what may cause Gender Dysphoria, with most researchers learning towards something chromosomal or something during prenatal development (sort of like the CAH babies we read about in the What's the Difference Between Boys and Girls article.

Another interesting quality of gender  and sexual identity is how it seems to me much more of a spectrum than we had once thought. One cannot put any person into a "catagory" of gender or sexual identity. People identify all over the spectrum and each individual is unique in that way.

Week 2

It is interesting to think the we are all the product of 50 percent "nature" and 50 percent "nurture." That is, our personality, even our physical state, is influenced half by our predetermined, biological, genetic coding, and half by our environment and who influences that environment.

It is not as simple as how it sounds, 50/50. There are aspects of our personality or how our body works, I think of it like a switch, that can "turn on" given the right environment. This weeks article, Sense Of Self, talks about how some children have a gene for shyness. With a certain type of parenting, a child can outgrow shyness. This is a perfect example of how even though a person can have a gene for something and are predisposed to it, they won't necessarily show that trait their whole lives.

It can go the other way as well. Many of my family members struggle with anxiety and depression (which is VERY genetic). I never experienced any trouble with depression or anxiety until I was 18. When I was 18 I started taking birth control pills which had Estrogen in them (I know now that is a trigger for my depression). The extra hormones added onto my already raging teenage hormones caused me to spiral into a severely depressed state. I ended up being hospitalized for a week. During this week they took me off the birth control pills and In a few weeks (with the aid of antidepressants and and talk therapy) returned to "normal." The hormones I was taking chemically turned the "switch" on for my depression. Since then I have struggled with depression on and off but never as severely as when I was taking birth control pills.