Just working on a psychology assignment and trying to get lots of ideas.
I think the breakdown of our educational system is huge. Also the breakdown of societal structures: sense of close community, spiritual support systems (used to be your "church" family stepped in anytime your family was in need or crisis!), and family structure. In a world where both parents are absent from the home a great deal of the time, children are growing up with far less structure and with less intimate emotional connections to their own parents. You have to wonder what effects this has on their own development – ethically, educationally, in terms of self-image, etc.
One more point. I do a lot of genealogy. It amazes me how capable kids were a century ago – by 18 they could handle adult life and responsibility. This is mostly because a lot more was expected of them. They learned life skills and self-discipline from their parents at a very early age. Nowadays the leisurely lifestyle provides teens with little responsiblity or direction – and that equals little self-esteem and poor life management skills, little preparing them for adult life until into their mid-twenties or later.
9/11, The Internet and Hannah Montana
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I think the breakdown of our educational system is huge. Also the breakdown of societal structures: sense of close community, spiritual support systems (used to be your "church" family stepped in anytime your family was in need or crisis!), and family structure. In a world where both parents are absent from the home a great deal of the time, children are growing up with far less structure and with less intimate emotional connections to their own parents. You have to wonder what effects this has on their own development – ethically, educationally, in terms of self-image, etc.
One more point. I do a lot of genealogy. It amazes me how capable kids were a century ago – by 18 they could handle adult life and responsibility. This is mostly because a lot more was expected of them. They learned life skills and self-discipline from their parents at a very early age. Nowadays the leisurely lifestyle provides teens with little responsiblity or direction – and that equals little self-esteem and poor life management skills, little preparing them for adult life until into their mid-twenties or later.
References :
You could pick something like Nickelodeon or Disney.
On the more serious & influential note the Department of Education, an unconstitutional organization responsible for ruining public education. It’s shifted education responsibilities away from local communities into the hands of federal bureaucracy creating a cookie cutter approach towards school curriculum.
For a single person, I’d go with Thomas Jefferson. He, along with other Founders, are responsible for the foundation of today’s society.
References :
http://www.cato.org/research/articles/gryphon-040211.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_jefferson#Political_philosophy
It’s still the human community that create3s human beings, and that is still represented first by the child’s family. So the answer is "family and society."
I hope this psych class you’re taking includes a healthy dose of Dr. Alfred Adler and his "Individual Psychology." Here’s our web site, to give you some info on him, including fifty of his main concepts: http://www.lifecourseinstitute.com
Adler was the only one of the Big Three (Freud, Jung, Adler) to include relationships, family, and society as influences on the development of personality. He was the pioneer in the formation of the field of child development.
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