Environmental Effects On Children

[Jack]

Ever notice how the way that someone is raised effects the kind of person that they become? Rednecks are raised in the country, high maintenance girls are raised in highly urban/high class suburban areas and rappers are raised in an all black neighborhood usually. But what if it were to get switched up? For instance, would a black person raised by an all white family adopt the speech habits and interests of a typical white person these days? Or is the same true reversed?

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/6780/103220eminemlza4.jpg
Eminem

Eminem, the popular white rapper grew up in Detroit, a state who's population is 82% black. How do you think growing up around other black males with a popular interest effected his interest in rap music? It is a widely shared opinion that black males typically express an interest in rap after all. He even admits to growing up in a community where rap battles often took place. If he had been raised by a loving, wealthy family in a high end, mostly white neighborhood, would he have turned out any differently?

What if the environment doesn't effect a child's personality's growth at all though? What if it's decided by genetics instead? What if it is decided that a musician is going to be a musician before he even comes out of the womb? But then again maybe the kind of person that you become depends upon both the manner of growth/surroundings AND genetics.

Take a look at the environment and manner in which you yourself were raised and think about how it's effected you as a person. How has it changed you? And would you have turned out being a different kind of person in any aspect had you been raised in a completely different way?

Cheers.
-Jack

[kami-sama]

Admittedly its affect everyone.You learn how to act by looking at others, if all your friends drink, you will drink too, if you parents and friends are snob, then the same to you. There is no escape from that. If you change you living place, your attitude will change too, after all, were just animals.

[xX Kai Xx]

See this is a tough one. I started life as a spoiled rich baby i mean from birth till around 10. from then on my parents divorced and my dad lost his job, my mother wasnt able to find work for a bit and i started hanging out on the "wrong side of the tracks" but it never felt right i tried to fit in and be all getto i mean i was able to look the part but i never truly was that way. Now i dunno how they felt truly on the inside because they didint talk about feelings i mean thats gay right? hahahaha anyway i dont necessarily believe its the environment as much as its the teachings and upbringing that counts i was taught how to speak and act in polite society and i guess it stuck, so maybe it is sum what genetic because i grew up in both situations and turned out to be a pretty normal person with normal values and actions. s i believe that its bullshit to say i grew up with shitty people being all ghetto so i am. you are what you choose to be and act how u choose being ghetto is a choice, as is being posh.

[Jack]

i grew up in both situations and turned out to be a pretty normal person with normal values and actions.

Sure, you may say that but what officially constitutes being "normal"?
It seems that there are only stereotypes in this day and age, yet society tries to come up with so many labels for people and their lifestyles and most want to believe so badly that they live up to that one label that makes them feel like they belong. Normal.

Besides we're all a little weird... No matter who you are.

-Jack

[xX Kai Xx]

Sure, you may say that but what officially constitutes being "normal"?
It seems that there are only stereotypes in this day and age, yet society tries to come up with so many labels for people and their lifestyles and most want to believe so badly that they live up to that one label that makes them feel like they belong. Normal.

Besides we're all a little weird... No matter who you are.

-Jack

By "normal" i mean that i dress in a subtle way and try not to scream for attention as in when i walk through the mall people dont gauk and i guess im more of a chamelion seeing as how i look "normal" like a sears catalog guy hahaha but sumtimes i guess i look like a "skater" or a "punk" but i duno i think as you get older being "loud" in you dress is wel it gets old. I never once said my thoughts are normal it just depends on who im talking to weather or not i let them in. but i think screaming for attention in the way you dress is, childish and we all need to grow up at sum point. (and i know its a bit garbled but as i said in anther post i cant express myself as well in writing as i can when speaking, dang i need to work on that.)

[sasnin14]

This is a really hard question... sense i think that it depends on all kind of details. It depends in the environment they live in, like me, my neighborhood is kind of bad, and i feel like i act like everybody else...so i'm guessing that to be bad too >.> It depends to a lot on the family members, i say family members cuz i don't think is just parents. The aunts, uncles cousins, grandparents etc. are as important as the parents. Like me, even though i'm halfway across the world away from my family(my parents are wit me) they affect me in every kind of way, when my aunt is sick it affects me(she almost dyed the day after x-mas)i'll be concerned about her and it changes my attitude and that affects who i'm around etc. It also depends on who u hang around wit, the friends r really important, one of my friends almost made me f*** this one dude that i didn't even know, but my best-friend got me into conscious and made me realize that i shouldn't YET. but i'm going to say that it all comes down to u, who u r inside. EX. my dad had a reputation of being the one that beat the hell out of everybody. My mom the same, would mostly fight boys, but she told me she loved fighting gurls cuz they had long hair..and she would swing them around. And so on and so forth, but u know what? i'm not at all like that, u would have to get me to a point were i got no more verbal opinion or get me super mad for me to fight u. So yes, i think that environment does effect ppl act, sense is what they know, and sense it's humans' way of thinking that what they know or think is right, then they'll keep acting that way. (and so now i realize, that being away from ur childhood, can bring u good things, cuz u'll see another face of life)

[Limabean]

If you ask me I say genetics has nothing to do with how you grow up. If I look at myself and then look at my mother and father I am nothing like them. They are disgusting people like in so many ways. Well genetics may have something to do with it if you think of it as like..your parents ugly-you ugly...then you might get picked on and become like a shy person or something. I do say that my surrounding have had a big effect on me. Like because my parents are so disgusting I can see how much I HATE disgusting things and why I hate them and if they were not around for me to see what they do i would probably like a lot more things then I do now. My parents also spoil me so if they were not around to do that I would probably be less needed and weirder looking.
(I like Eminem's music.)

[Katana]

I think a person's surroundings have a lot to do with how they turn out, but I am also very, very strong in my belief that a person's mentality has a lot to do with it, too. I think that this is proven when there are many outcomes to people from the same type of background. For example;

If you have two people who are raised in abusive families, one of them could turn out being suicidal and hateful, wanting nothing more than to crawl in a hole and cease to exist. But, the other could turn out wanting to prove that they're strong, and that they can survive through anything, and so try to better their life with their own hand, showing that nothing can bring them down.

Or...

You could have two people brought up in very wealthy, sophisticated families who care a lot and want only the best for their kids. One of them could turn out exactly like any other member of their family; happy and wealthy, with a spouse and children of their own. However, the other one could be feeling smothered by all the love and could think that they are being pressured into fulfilling loads of expectations, and so could end up feeling angry at their family, and never wanting to see them again.

Or...

Take two kids being bullied at school. One could end up as being shy, and without any self-esteem, self-concious and nervous most of the time, resulting more taunts and abuse from people who want to take advantage, but the other could take what happened, and let it go, turning it into an experience instead, and learning from it so that they can prevent any such things from happening again.

I'm not saying that those are the only outcomes to situations like those, but those are probably the most common ones. Probably. From what I've experienced, seen, and heard, I know that there are a lot more ways a person could turn out. These are just some examples.

So, I don't necessarily think it's the environment in which someone is brought up that determines how their personality turns out to be like, but more to do with how they are able to both mentally and physically handle the situations they face in the certain environments.

Looking at what a person turns out to be, whether they turn out to be in the entertainment industry, or the medical industry, etc... I think that, if you're talking about that sort of thing, it does depend a lot on their surroundings. For example, someone could want to become a doctor after witnessing someone near and dear to them die of a fatal illness. Or, someone could want to be a musician because they had a friend who was into music and so introduced them to that sort of scene. There are endless situations which can spark a person's interest in a certain subject. So, yeah, I think this does have a lot to do with environment.

But, yeah, personality-growth, in my opinion, is a matter of the mind, which is, pretty much, impossible to understand.

((Oh dear, I've written an essay... ^^; ))

x

[Kaseru]

I believe this could under the fact that we are the products of our environment. Whatever your environment is about you will most likely be just another person with that beliefs. Which is why there normally isn't any controversy unless somehow someone new moves into the community and then they become just another face in the crowd. Which brings the point of being able to get outside of that environment and study abroad. Being able to do that will allow you to learn other cultural "normalcy." For example, American has been know to slaughter cows in order to eat. But in another country cows are sacred and must never be killed just because of the use of food. To study abroad is the only way we as humans are able to get "outside of the box" and to finally once and for all change the environment we were grown up in.

Some environments are very conservative as in they don't believe in same sex marriage nor dating, whites people are the majority of the population, and of course being a republican. This environment is one of the worse because you are taught under strict values and are not able to see other points of views that are actually in the world. This view could be I suppose a "tunnel" view. All you can see is what you learned from growing up and when moving and realizing that there are so many more views out there then you will feel out of place and amazed at there is actually out there.

This is the same for all environments. Which brings me back to the point of saying, We are and will always be products of our environment unless we moves to a foreign place or if our family life changes drastically.

-Kase-

[zuluedison]

looking at it scientifically, genetics absolutely do have an effect on how you grow up.

every moment of your being is spent reacting to what is going on around you. Lets say your seritonin flow leve is lower than someone elses, then you will react to the situation differently than you would otherwise. Genes are not nescessarily obvious concrete things (such as hair color). you may be nothing like your parents but your genes have directly influenced that as well. You have reacted to things they have done and said, with the genes they gave you, affecting your decision.

[Jack]

Some environments are very conservative as in they don't believe in same sex marriage nor dating, whites people are the majority of the population, and of course being a republican. This environment is one of the worse because you are taught under strict values and are not able to see other points of views that are actually in the world. This view could be I suppose a "tunnel" view. All you can see is what you learned from growing up and when moving and realizing that there are so many more views out there then you will feel out of place and amazed at there is actually out there.

I disagree with you. I was raised in a Christian, republican, home schooled lifestyle (might as well have been raised Amish) and I appear to be more open minded and familiar with things than my own democratic friends who have only been brainwashed and beat down mentally by the public schooling system. Same goes for my older brother and younger sister. I am not bashing anyone that has gone to public school here, just shooting down a ridiculously assumed stereotype. You cannot judge, literally, thousands of people based on the behavioral patterns of one. That's like saying, "I met a black guy once and I didn't like him so now I hate all black people."

Anyways, back on topic: I think that both Katana and zuluedison have made an excellent point in that a person's growth does not completely rely upon one's surroundings but rather how they choose to react in certain situations.

-Jack

[Kaseru]

But you also have to know that so many factors as put into this as well. For example, the internet. You learn a lot of other people's lifestyles on here especially when going into an anime forum or chat box. You then learn about other people and their values which causes you to stray away from the original environment or reality.

And I do believe at first when someone doesn't like a certain person from that stereotype they are more likely to not like the people in the stereotype. Just because that's how they first perceive someone. It's like not likely a certain food because it's different and you have never had it before but once you get use to the different taste of it you then begin to like it.

And yes, I do agree with both katana and zuluedison.

[Jack]

Whoa there, are you actually insisting that everyone who is raised within a conservative environment or lifestyle are oblivious to the world and that I am merely an exception? That's showing bias to a stereotype, my friend. Look, I may have been able to take in info from the world wide web but I've also gained knowledge from other kids. Being home schooled these days is basically the same thing as being public schooled without the typical distraction-filled learning environment. If anything, I think that your view is close-minded.

-Jack

[Katana]

And yes, I do agree with both katana and zuluedison.
Not to be a bother, but while it's great if you really do agree... By doing so, aren't you completely contradicting your own argument??

x

[Kaseru]

Katana I agree with the fact that the environment has a huge impact on someone and how I am contradicting myself I'm not sure. Which brings the "products" of our environment. Being a product can have it's positives. I wasn't trying to direct toward all of the negative effects.

Jack, I never said there were exceptions I had merely said there were factors. And I was speaking towards the general audience when speaking about the stereotypical ideals.

[Katana]

My main point, as Jack said before, was that a person's growth depends more on how they choose to react in situations, rather than the environment itself. What you're saying, or at least what I'm understanding from what you're saying, is that a person brought up in a certain environment and around certain people, will make them exactly like the people in that environment. The two contradict each other. I may just have read wrong, so please correct me if that is the case.

x

[sasnin14]

hmm, don't ya think that EVERY single thing that happens to the person, is how they react to everything around them? It depend on every single detail, from the place they live at, to the persons they hear out in the super-market. Also, every single person, sense they were babies, were born with a certain character. My cousin's daughter, sense she was a baby, would do mean stuff to MY grandmother even though her environment was, I would say, "ok" HER grandmother (note: that would be my aunt) Was rich by that time, and she always got what she wanted. Her dad had this blood disease and he could dye any day without notice, but he was the most sweetest guy I ever met. Her mom was cool and everything, always taking care of her. Now, the thing is, she was evil sense i have memory, like i said before she would do stuff to my grandmother, like putting her leg out so when my grandma would pass she would fall and stuff like that... She was straight up evil. And at 3 and a half you really don't know what's going on around you, so it really wasn't influenced by her dad being sick and whatever. So i think that in this situation, is going to be different, every body that read this will think i'm crazy/weird/ and creepy so be prepare.
I think this is mostly pass by generation, HER grandmother has been known to be a b**** and she is just like her grandmother, and i think that sense she was really little she was like that, then she had to be born with this character, cuz like everybody knows, ppl don't "create" their characters until they're, like, ergh i don't know the age, but i bet is not 3. lol. But ya, what i think happen here is something more of an abstract situation then something that can be proven so easily.
The funny thing is, 2 brothers that have gone through the exact same thing, can have totally different characters....
And ppl that have gone through totally different stuff can be so equal that every time they say something, they'll be saying what the other one was going to say XD
~sassy~

[analogZero]

adaptation
one of the most steadfast characterisitics of any human is that they will adapt to their environment. In fact this can be said of many species. It's known as a survival mechanism, and though some people may act on it unconsciously, it's what makes many situations tolerable. you may not like work or the people there, but you can adapt to your surroundings to make it more suitable (or quit, haha). You may make more friends at school if you're more similar to them. I'm not talking flakes that try to be something they're not. But, for instance, I smoked a lot of pot when I was younger, and it could more than likely be attributed to the fact that everyone around me did too. in certain circumstances we can become something we're not. However, when I gave it up, I was the only one to do so. Yet I didn't lose a single friend over it.
As a counter, it's also true that we constantly shift ourselves to create our own individuality. Even going so far as to rebel against what we've been taught to be true. For instance my taste in music has shifted in it's primary over the years. As a boy I used to listen to a lot of my dad's tapes. By the 90's I was listening to grunge and garage stuff, most likely due to the fact that it was popular then. but could that be excused by the fact that it was dominant and therefore I was more exposed to it? Later I listened to rap almost all the time, and though I still do today, I'd say it's a minority in my playlist.
Homeostasis and transistasis: anybody seen evangelion? probably where most of us would've heard of it. one is a marker of change, while the other is a marker of how we stay the same. There's an infinite amount of possibilities, and a equal amount of influences that can change us. but while we may stay the same, we are also subject to change. did you know that over the course of 3 years all cells in the human body are replaced thereby making it completely recomposed of different materials, while retaining the same semblance? 3 years ago I was completely different matter, but am I all that different?
the question remains though. If I were to be cloned as a baby and raise in this day, would I turn out the same?

[Sun Tzu]

Its an obvious fact that you are influenced by the culture that you experiance every day. Regardless of whether you wish it or not, or are conscience of it. But it isnt simply the people around you as it is your scenery, objects you interract with, and your pre set genetic emotional disposition that eventually completes the transformation that creates the every day person you see on the street.

None of you will argue that if you beat a child daily for no reason whatsoever, it will begin to have an effect on his both his behavior, emotional, and mental well being. Subjecting him, perhaps, to a greater disposition towards anger, fear, and most likely a large portion of self loathing. All having an effect on the way he/she interracts with the outside world.

Likeways if you took that same child and placed him in an environment where his every need was doted upon, and an extreme lack of punishment he/she would begin to develop a sense of superiority.

Its the slut mentallity, if a women was sexually abused by her father she might then begin to think and believe sexual activity is the only way to recieve love from a male figure, simply because when she was young this is how her father expressed his "love"

Now of course none of this is this simple, there are many different types of quarks that decrease the impact of the environment on the finished "product" that we call the adult human. Genetic predisposition is a main one, it effects how easily they respond to certain emotions such as anger, happiness, and sadness. Often times these nuts and bolts can effect the environment around them having a further impact on the psyche of a child.

So in the end, think of the childs psyche as a car. The engine, wheels, and all other essential parts are the genetics, while the body, frame, and paint are the environmental impacts. A child's environment certainly has an effect, but it is by no means the nuts and bolts, rather it simply gives a recognizable shape to the mind and attitude.

[Koopaking]

Wow, all of you people are so... deep. I don't really have any philosophical insights to give but I think that how someone is raised doesn't always effect how they act, at least after a certain age anyways. I mean, I was raised by females for my early life until around when I was 7 when my mom remarried after being divorced 7 years earlier. I was brought up moving a lot too, I never really stayed in one place long enough to settle in there, I mean I went to seven different elementary schools until we did finally settle in one place for 4 years but we ended up moving from there again too. I never made too many friends a lot of the time so I suppose that's why I stayed inside and played games and watched anime. So this kinda made me hate moving and I decided when I got a place of my own I would stay there for good and never move. I also got tired of having to wait on the parents to go places, and I had to do yard work, and I decided I would live in the city where I could walk everywhere and I would have no yard to do work on. My parents always tried to get me to not play games and sit inside as much, but haha, here I am.