Genetics Or Nurture Upbringing Of A Child
Bad Parents Make for Bad Children
Genetics is not the only valid excuse for a child's misbehaviour. Society prides itself in the way a child is raised by parents. Children misbehave because something vital is missing in one's nurturing. These mothers and fathers allow young children to stray from moral equity, challenge authority and use violence as a resolution for anger. Nurturing should include deterrence from wickedness and inducement of morality all the while considering the child's perspective. Laurie the main protagonist of the play "Charles" by Shirley Jackson is a testament to this fact of misbehavior as Laurie's parents fail to stop Laurie's wicked deeds while being ignorant of the five year old's point of view.
When a child does something wrong it is the parent's responsibility to discourage repetition of bad conduct and encourage understanding that the action committed was wrong. Parental guidance is necessary for a child's survival because a it is born into the world knowing nothing, and thus, adapts to the world's surroundings with the help of these leaders. Laurie's mother shows this quality by correcting Laurie's grammatical error as seen here, " `I didn't learn nothing,' Laurie said. / `Anything,' his mother said. `Didn't learn anything' " (107). However, telling a child what is wrong is not enough. A young person needs an explanation for the mistakes that he/she makes and must be given a reason not to repeat it. Otherwise, a child is prone to believe one can do anything one wants. The play "Charles" is based upon Laurie's lie to his parents of there being a boy named Charles at school who misbehaves when in reality Charles is Laurie. This is revealed as Laurie comes home and his mother explains, "Laurie thought and then said it was Charles who was bad today (107) . . . / but later I learned from the teacher that there was no Charles in kindergarten" (111). Laurie's parents, believing that Charles is...
View Full Essay
