Concerted Cultivation Pros And Cons

Concerted Cultivation is a process of engaging a child through organized activities and critical thinking, normally used by middle class families to prepare children for interactions within any given institution. Concerted Cultivation is easily critiqued citing it does not allow for a child to form their own schedule, and often the child is so involved in activities that they are disassociated with anyone not in their immediate family, it creates unhealthy competition between siblings, and often times forces children to focus more on activities and less on academics. However, it has also been researched that concerted cultivation helps children to face authorities in institutions which causes them to be more likely to demand a program cater to their needs instead of going along with a system that does not work for them
specifically, it allows them to preform in front of adults, therefore making them comfortable in adult situations, teaches them crucial team building/social interaction skills, and overall prepares them to enter social institutions with ease. I propose to write a paper that promotes concerted cultivation and the need for mandatory participation in organized activities for elementary level students; because it is a crucial time in social development. I intend on using research conducted by Annette Lareau, as well as a variety of other sociologist and psychologist to establish the basis that some form of concerted cultivation is necessary for a child to be able to successfully interact in social institutions (i.e. School, church, work place, etc.).

Halgunseth, Linda, Catherine Cushinberry, and Tashel Bordere.
"Race, Ethnicity, and Parenting Styles." Points & Counterpoints: Controversial Relationship and Family Issues in the 21st Century. Los Angeles: Roxbury Company, 2003.
144-151.

Hagunseth, Cushinberry, and Bordere, doctoral students at the University of Missouri briefly analyze different methods of child rearing in reflection to cultural differences. Although they cite specific sources they only address 2 different races Latin and African American. They give examples of how each race would typically react in a given situation. Even though race is an important factor to consider when critiquing parenting skills, they base they claims largely on stereotypical situations, with stereotypical responses. This does not fully cover an entire race, or properly represent a race. The article is written in simple words and is targeted at other college students.

Harris, Judith. “The Outcome of Parenting: What Do We Really Know?” Points & Counterpoints: Controversial Relationship and Family Issues in the 21st Century. Los Angeles: Roxbury Company, 2003.136-141. Harris, a published author on the topic of nature versus nurture, rebutts Lykkens article by stating that socialization is not based on good or bad meme, but rather on the society in which the child is socialized.
She agrees with Lykken that parents do have a impact on their children's outcome (i.e. Children that were not abused tend to make friends more easily than children that have been abused.) Harris states other causes for the rise in crime such as increase in violence in the media, and the lack of unity against an enemy since the Cold War. Harris uses or disproves specific examples; however, she also uses many reference to herself, and what she got out of certain statistics. This is an informative piece written for scholars. Since she makes references to herself it is important that the reading have a well rounded knowledge of the topic in order to form their own opinions based on Harris'
claims.

Ireland, Corydon. "Harvard University Gazette Online." The Achievement Gap, Looking Into the Cause. 22 Mar. 2007. Harvard University. 29 Mar. 2007 .

Ireland, a journalist at Harvard University, examines the language gap between middle class and poverty level students, he uses quotes from affluent sources to base his point. His main example is from Paul Tough, an editor and writer for the New York Times who has done extensive research on the achievement gaps in schools. Ireland also uses specific studies where children raised in professional homes were likely to have learned twice as many words as those children in poverty homes. Furthermore, Tough states that it is incomplete to look just at parenting styles when examining whether a certain method boosts achievement, but also to look at what schools had to offer. As this is based on claims, examples, and statistics by a researcher the evidence is relatively unbiased. It is written for college level students, as it is in a college level newspaper, and uses words slightly above the average reading level.