Children's behavior. Nature or Nurture?
By Mark Paul
@Mpaul730 (24)
July 10, 2017 1:53pm CST
Me and my wife have 6 children and one of the best things about that is seeing how they all have their own characteristics. Some traits I see are definitely from me and some from my wife. But I've always wondered if they are learning these traits from us or do they just come naturally. I wonder about that with all children in general. I've seen the worst kind of children come from great parents and vice versa. What do you guys think?
6 people like this
6 responses
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
10 Jul 17
I have two adult children, different as night and day. I believe every child is born with a temperament that parents may be able to tame but not change. The way you raise the child may teach him to control his temperament or learn to overcome or complement it in some way but you can't change it. Everything else to do with their personality I believe parents can influence. They can even influence their intelligence to some degree by making sure they have a good, nutritious diet with few chemicals or preservatives. Having a parent at home growing up will help manage that temperament and physical health, too.
3 people like this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
10 Jul 17
@Mpaul730 Yes, those parents don't deserve the blessings of having a child! I see a lot of bad parents but I try to remember that I am only seeing them at one of their worst moments and don't know how they are the other 23 hours and 59.5 minutes! It still hurts to see a child yelled at or smacked, though.
1 person likes this
@Mpaul730 (24)
•
10 Jul 17
You are absolutely right. I just hate the rare cases where you can actually see a horrible parent forcing their illogical ways and mentality on to their child. I once saw a woman trying to teach her son how to accidentally get hit by a car so they can get money........
1 person likes this
@peavey (16936)
• United States
10 Jul 17
It's probably a combination of things like heredity, environment and opportunity. One thing that can be overlooked is that genes can skip a generation or generations, so that parents can have a child that neither looks nor acts like either of them.
I am the oldest of 8 kids and each one of m brothers and sister are so different, yet in some things they all think alike. Human beings are interesting!
1 person likes this
@TiarasOceanView (70035)
• United States
10 Jul 17
It is a mixture isn't it of both nature and nurture.
I also have seen and read about a child coming from parents who are totally different from the child and how he or she turns out to be.
It really is a roll of the dice..sometimes a child may exhibit behaviors, traits, habits that are nothing to do with their parents or environment.
It certainly is a discussable and debatable topic.
Congrats on your six children.
1 person likes this
