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Assignment Two

Its 9am on Saturday morning in Manhattan New York, and 8-year-old Lucy wakes up to
her nanny telling her that breakfast is ready. She practically jumps out of bed, excited to show
her mother her brand new dress. She puts on her dress and walks downstairs hoping to see her
mother sitting at the dining room table waiting to greet her. When she gets to the table she finds
her mother missing and a strong feeling of realization comes over her, her mother forgot to tell
her once again that she was going out of town for work. Who knows how long this time will be,
she thinks to herself, hopefully she doesnt forget that its my birthday. Its also Saturday
morning in the South Bronx, and Mikey is just waking up. Hes 12 years old and didnt realize
that he slept through his alarm, so he rushes out of bed and goes to check on his baby sister
Madison who is still fast asleep. He goes to the kitchen and pours a glass of milk and puts it in
the microwave for 60 seconds, he walks back to her room to wake her up and feed her so that
they can get up and start their day. Mikey realizes that today marks one year since hes seen his
parents and wonders what their doing right now.
My topic proposal for this assignment is essentially Parenting Styles, and what are some
factors that can affect it such as wealth or neglect or both. In my introduction examples, it shows
different ends of the social class spectrum, one being a wealthy family, and one being poor.
Wealthy parents play a huge part in my concentrated figured world because it is set on the Upper
East Side of Manhattan in New York, and that particular area is filled with wealthy families and
wealthy lifestyles. Neglect also plays a part in the figured world of Gossip Girl because though
these characters are still growing and learning, it seems that most of them are doing so without
their parents around to help. My position on this topic is that the wealth aspect does affect
parenting styles in the way that wealthy parents expect more from their children and want them
to be taught in the most prestigious schools even starting from pre-school. However, neglect has
a much deeper affect on children because they are not being properly taken care of, and the
children may show signs of psychological problems later on in their lives which includes wealthy
families as well as poor.
I dont have any personal connections to this particular topic proposal, however, the
characters in my figured world do which is one of the reasons why I chose this topic. It isnt an
obvious problem within the community, it is an underlying one which may help the reader
connect with the topic or figured world. With this paper, I plan on digging deeper to the root of
child neglect and parenting styles and how wealth really affects the way parents raise their
children, and the roles that parenting styles plays in how their children end up.
Literature Review:
In the memoir Primates of Park Avenue by Wednesday Martin compares everyday life
parenting to the parenting of Upper East Side children. Whether the mothers are actresses living
in Manhattan NY, or middle class moms working an office job, all of these women have one
thing in common, and its that they are all mothers. However, one thing that may set the higher
class mothers from the middle or lower class mothers, especially on the Upper East Side, is a
term called intensive mothering which Martin describes as a gendered model that [compels]
mothers to expend a tremendous amount of time, energy and money in raising their children.

Comment [JF1]: Your way of including a mini story as


an introduction is very creative. It creates suspense as
to why both children are not cared for properly. I would
focus on your run-on sentences and punctuation in
order to make things more clear YA

Comment [JF2]: Good introduction so far. I would


consider capitalizing on how wealth does not effect the
level of neglect in a household.You have already drawn
this parallel but a more emphasized connection would
be appropriate. HB

Comment [JF3]: I like how you state what you will be


addressing in this paper. It prepares the reader on what
to expect. One suggestion I have is to maybe reword
this sentence. It may possibly be a run-on but I am not
100% sure. JB
Comment [JF4]: This doesn't count as one of my
comments but this sentence does not make sense. In
the memoir"..." is a prepositional phrase. It is not a
subject so it can't compare. A reworded version that
could fix this would be: " The memoir"..." compares..."
so he memoir become the subject and can now
compare. HB
Comment [JF5]: Why is this in brackets?I especially like
this section of your paper and the subject over all. I
think this source is very applicable to your figured
world. HB

This would include starting their child off in the best private pre-school, preparing their child for
ivy league colleges and to be successful in the upper class world. (Tania Lombrozo 2015)
Another source that I used that connects to this particular source would be the primary source of
my observation notes, both discuss the upper class, wealthier family aspect of parenting styles.
Parental absence is a huge problem in this particular figured world, leaving the younger
characters to fend for themselves even while still in high school. A lot of the parents are only
seen a few times throughout the entire series; a few others ditch their children to go do things for
their own benefit or success such as Bart Bass, Chuck Bass father who pretends to be dead for
so long. Another example of an absent parent would be Blair Waldofs mother, she is a fashion
designer and is rarely ever home, leaving Blair to only have herself and her maid Dorota. (Gossip
Girl 2007) Wealthy parents have a habit especially of letting work overtake their lives, and this
figured world shows prime examples of this.
An example of the parenting styles of wealthy families is also given in the source I used
involving a 16-year-old boy in Fort Worth Texas. Ethan Couch was only given probation for
getting behind the wheel of his truck after being intoxicated past 3 times the legal limit, and
killing 4 pedestrians while doing so. He was being prosecuted for 20 years of jail time, however
his defense attorney argued with the prosecution that Ethan was too rich and privileged to know
right from wrong, and has never been punished before. The judge sentenced him to 10 years on
probation, because the boy had Afluenza, Eric Boyles, the father and Husband of 2 of the
murder victims states Ultimately today, I felt that money did prevail. (RT America 2013)
Another example that connects to this one would be an article on how wealth simply isnt good
for children. The specific piece of the book Psychotherapies with Children and Adolescents,
describes that children are children, no matter how wealthy they are or their families are.
However, the dynamics of being raised in a wealthy family may directly influence psychological
distress and that child may need psychological help. Wealth is simply not good for children,
stresses Pittman, mainly because of their image of themselves, and of others, as well as their
relationships with others. Overall, Grinker states that children of wealthy parents are a grossly
neglected minority group (Edited by John D. OBrien, Daniel J. Pilowsky, Owen W. Lewis
1992), which leaves them feeling unloved and undervalued by their parents.
A different aspect of parenting styles Im focusing on for this assignment is how
parenting affects academic achievement and how neglect and/or wealth comes into play. One
group of low income and one group of high income sixth graders were sampled. Each group of
children were tested to see the difference between isolation from parents, as well as parents
view on academic achievement, and surprisingly, the results showed that affluent children
perceive their parents just as emotionally and physically unavailable as the non-affluent children.
Closeness to parents is a huge benefit to all children, and studies show that children with
commonly absent parents, tend to do poorly in school, which leads to parents presence has a
connection to academic achievement. (Suniya S. Luthar, Shawn J. Latendresse 2005) Another
source that connects academic achievement to parental involvement is: This article discusses the
relationship of school outcomes of the adolescents from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic
backgrounds. The primary factor of adolescent academic achievement is parental involvement,
studies show that the more the parents are involved in their childs life, the better the school
outcomes will be. Jacques Rousseau believed that children were born innately good and that it
was up to the parents, as well as society to uphold and teach the children values as they grow
older. (Christopher Spera 2005)

Comment [JF6]: I heard about this excellent


connection. I really like it when you have brought in real
life cases to your paper so far. You have used them
very effectively.HB

Comment [JF7]: I like your direct correlation between


education and neglect. This shows your true concern
with this topic and the vital affects of neglect. Towards
the bottom, the paragraph gets confusing because
there are repetitive phrases. I would reword some
sentences to make things more clear. YA
Comment [JF8]: good use and explanation of a psych
experiment. Those can be difficult to discuss. This
piece is a bit awkward. As a reader i was forced to stop
and re-read this a couple times to understand the
transition. HB

Another way parental involvement can be enforced is through monitoring your


adolescents and their behavior and enforcing rules as discussed is the following source. Chapter
nine of the book Childrens Influence on Family Dynamics: The Neglected Side of Family
Relationships discusses how parenting practices such as parental monitoring, keeping an eye on
your children, can play a huge role in whether the child acts out as an adolescent. Studies show
that its more than likely that parents take action against bad behavior rather than reacting to their
childs behavior, such as creating new boundaries not to be crossed or rules. However, a study
was performed to seek the possibility that a parent might be Reacting instead of acting to their
childs behavior. The results were that most of the parents were indeed reacting to their
adolescents behavior rather than the commonly thought that parents were simply taking action
or acting. (Ann C. Crouter, Alan Booth 2011)
A parents guide to raising financially responsible children in the age of unprecedented
wealth is what this review serves as. The book Silver Spoon Kids was co-written by a
psychotherapist who helps people with money related emotional problems, who wrote the book
to help educate parents on how to educate their children about money and the responsibilities
that come along with it. Parents in this day and age just want to give their children everything
they never had the pleasure of having, and with the rising incomes of middle class and higher
income families, they can easily do so. (Eileen Gallo, Jon J. Gallo, Kevin J. Gallo 2001) Actually
taking the time to teach your children about simple things such as saving money, whats right
and whats wrong, and to study for their test tomorrow can improve parenting immensely.
Everyone has their own way of parenting, however there is no excuse for neglecting your
children or putting intense pressure on them to be perfect.

Entering the Conversation:


Parenting styles differ whether you travel around the world, or right down the street, even
mothers parenting styles maybe different than the fathers. Within my figured world, I chose the
underlying research topic of how wealth and/or neglect affect parenting styles. In the figured
world of Gossip Girl the parents arent very present in their childrens lives, some parents you
rarely see at all. I knew that this was a real problem and wants to see if wealth had any part in it.
Whether a family is rich or poor or even middle class, academic achievement seems to be
important to all parents, i.e. they want their children to succeed in school. (Christopher Spera
2005) In some wealthy families, academic achievement is one of the most important things, they
do of course want their child in the best Ivy league school right? While wealthy parents strive to
have their children in the best schools, working class families and middle class families are
struggling to save the money to save up for their children to go to college in general. Wealthy
children seem to get most things handed to them, and tend to get out of almost anything because
of their last name or who their parents are. Hence the most commonly referred to phrase in
movies Do you know who I am?.
The story of Ethan Couch is a perfect example of what I just mentioned. He was a 16year-old kid responsible for the death of a mother and her child after getting behind the wheel
while intoxicated. Instead of being sent to jail, he was only given 10 years of probation, getting
out of his potential and justifiable 20-year jail sentence. It was clear that he was given such
leniency because of his wealthy upbringing. He was too rich to know right from wrong. (RT

Comment [JF9]: I commend your recognition of the


mutual goal amongst parents: to create successful
children. I agree that there are different forms of
parenting around the world but that does not justify
neglecting a child. Good job with creating a sense of
guilt and urgency with this topic. YA

Comment [JF10]: I like how you notice that there is a


connection between wealth/neglect. I think you should
revise this paragraph and look into ways you can show
that there is a correlation between the two. The last
sentence seems to leave the idea hanging and while
you will continue to address these things in the rest of
the paper, I think you could work on closing the end of
this paragraph. JB
Comment [JF11]: I like how you included these
sentences at the end of the paragraph. They get the
reader thinking about social class, wealth, and maybe
their own experiences. I would recommend not stating
that "Do you know who I am?" is the most common
phrase in movies and instead say it is just a popular or
common phrase said in movies. I knew what you
meant, but others may not approve of this. JB
Comment [JF12]: I found the boy's case very realistic in
today's spciety and a good pick for what you are trying
to prove. I totally agree with the amount of leniency
wealthy people receive. I also believe that morals have
zero correlation with an individual's income. YA

America 2013) I dont believe that being wealthy is an excuse to not know the right thing to do.
Anyone with a moral capacity would know that driving under the influence is wrong and not to
mention dangerous. In this case, along with Im sure many other cases, money won over justice.
Mothers on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and all other mothers all have one thing in
common, and its simply that, they are mothers. The wealthy mommies living on the Upper East
Side practice Intensive Mothering, which includes spending a tremendous amount of time,
energy, and of course money into raising their children. This parenting style ensures that their
children will have a successful future. (Tonia Lombrozo 2015) I dont see anything wrong with
putting all of those things into raising your children, however time is a constraint in this day and
age, and it makes is harder for the lower and middle class families to put forth so much of it.
While wealth does play a role in parenting styles, so does neglect. Studies show that children
who are neglected by their parents, whether its from their jobs or they simply dont put their
children above themselves, tend to have psychological problems when they become adults or
maybe even before hand.
All in all, wealth and neglect do play huge roles in parenting styles, and my sources show
that in different aspects. The way families choose to parent, will depict how their children turn
out as they get older. Its important to take in everything your children are showing you even if
its a small sign that something is wrong, and try to change your ways. No parent is perfect, but
as long as parents try their best to raise their children to the best of their abilities, thats all they
can really do.

Comment [JF13]: I think this is a great point. While the


statement is somewhat general, you might want to cite
it or find a source you could use to prove this. This may
or may not be an issue, but to be safe I think you
should find a source that can back up this statement.
JB

Conclusion:
Wealth and Neglect do play a huge part in parenting styles. Children who have parents
that are more involved in their lives tend to do better in school as to children whose parents are
uninvolved. Wealth also plays a part in parenting styles and correlates with what schools their
children attend to and the clothes they wear and their priorities, etc.
Seeing that with these two correlations to parenting styles interact with academic
achievement, I believe that another great area of research could be how not only these affects on
parenting styles but just parenting style in general: How academic achievement is affected by
parenting styles. There already is known facts about how it is affected in my literature review
such as how wealthy mothers practice intensive mothering which requires mothers to put
almost all of their time, energy, and money into raising their children. Which includes getting
them into not only the best pre school, but the best college as well, ensuring that they have a
successful career. (Tonia Lombrozo 2015) Neglect also plays a part in academic achievement,
which in one of my sources states that it has a direct correlation. The more involved a parent is in
their childrens life, the better they tend to do in school. (Christopher Spera 2005)
Parenting styles vary, but the right thing to do by your children stays the same. No matter
your social status, the more involved you are in your childrens life, the more successful not only
your child will be, but you will be as a parent.

Comment [JF14]: This exact sentence is available in


the paragraph above it. I recommend paraphrasing
your ideas and using more variation in your word
choices. This will help send out your message in
different forms in order to keep the reader interested.
YA
Comment [JF15]: This first paragraph nicely sums up
what you wrote in your paper. After reading the
sentence "Children who have parents who are more
involved...." it made me think about parents who are
too involved. Maybe this could be something you
address in the "Entering the Conversation" part. You
could basically try to disprove my idea about parents
being too involved and what affects that may have on
children. JB

Works Cited Page:


1. Tania Lombrozo (2015) Privileged Primates and The Mothers Who Mock Them; 13.7
Cosmos and Culture; National Public Radio; Wednesday Martin (2015) Based on the
Memoir Primates of Park Avenue
2. Edited by John D. OBrien, Daniel J. Pilowsky, Owen W. Lewis (1992) Psychotherapies
with Children and Adolescents: Adapting the Psychodynamic Process; Robin B. Shafran
(1992) Chapter 14; Google Scholar
3. Suniya S. Luthar, Shawn J. Latendresse (2005), Comparable Risks at the
Socioeconomic Status Extremes: Preadolescents Perception of Parenting; Google Scholar
4. Christopher Spera (2005); A Review of the Relationship Among Parenting Practices,
Parenting Styles, and Adolescent School Achievement
5. Ann C. Crouter, Alan Booth (2011) Childrens Influence on Family Dynamics: The
Neglected Side of Family Relationships; Margaret Kerr, Hakan Stattin; Chapter 9:
Parenting of Adolescents Action or Reaction?
6. Eileen Gallo, Jon J. Gallo, Kevin J. Gallo (2001), Silver Spoon Kids: How Successful
Parents Raise Responsible Children
7. RT America (2013) Rich Teen Kills 4 People and Only Gets Probation- No Justice for
Those with Rich Parents
8. Jaycie Fader (2015) Gossip Girl Assignment One Observation Notes

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