27

 

 

Unit IV

Raising Children

(Chapters 12-15)

 

Childrearing should proceed according to the child's readiness in each realm: emotional, moti­vational, social, intellectual, and physical.  This unit shows that if children are to develop to the fullest, growth rates must be considered carefully and the environment planned accordingly.

 

 

35

 

Values Clarification

 

Castle's resistance to the child-rearing practices is readily evident in the nurseries.  Frazier re­torts angrily, "You wouldn't understand, however, because you're not so far advanced as our children." In this same style, he adds:

 

1. On emotional development: "But sorrow and hate and the high-voltage excitements of anger,

fear, and rage are out of proportion with the needs of modern life, and they're wasteful and dangerous." (92)

 

2. On self-control: "But don't be misled, the control always rests in the last analysis in the

hands of society." (96)

 

3. On school grades: "The grade is an administrative device which does violence to the nature

of the developmental process." (109)

 

4. On children's motives for learning: "Our engineering job was to preserve them by fortifying

the child against discouragement." (114)

 

Place a check beside the remark which you would like most to discuss with Frazier.  Remember that he is a social philosopher with a practical side, too.

 

In planning your discussion with him, focus on the importance of his remark for you.  Show why it is especially important.

 

Consider briefly the solution or outcome Frazier desires.  Reread the relevant passages, if nec­essary.  Do you agree or disagree with Frazier?  Why? Give primary attention, however, to the im­portance of the issue, not its solution.