Last week we discussed Unequal Childhoods by Annette Lareau and her work on different parenting styles and how inequalities in childhood extend into adulthood.  I never really gave much thought about parenting styles and how they affect a child’s access to things in society.  Sure, I knew that parents who were active in their children's lives and who communicated well with them gave them an advantage in that those children knew they were loved, which can go a long way.  I just never considered labeling parenting styles or analyzing the ultimate outcomes of those styles.  I guess this is because I'm a 21-year-old female who has no immediate plans to have any rugrats of my own anytime soon.  
           Lareau discusses two main parenting styles: concerted cultivation and the accomplishment of   natural growth.  With the concerted cultivation style, parents are extremely active in their children's lives.  They play a direct role in sculpting their child's talents, opinions, and skills.  Ultimately, children raised in the concerted cultivation style are skilled in navigating various social situations and systems, have an extensive vocabulary, and they have a sense of entitlement  (ex. "I deserve to have this situation to work out in my favor).  Concerted cultivated children, aside from the positive aspects, often feel the need to be constantly engaged or they feel bored.  They are more competitive and tend to have hostile relationships with siblings.  They are often tired and have weaker ties with extended family members.  Concerted cultivation is very common among middle and upper class families.  The natural growth approach is common among the working class/poor.  With the natural growth approach, parents often have no time to actively participate in their children's activities and have to focus on making enough money to provide for basic necessities.  Natural growth children are in charge of their leisure time and often spend it with friends and family.  These children rarely question authority or directives (ex. They don't challenge their teacher's negative comments on an essay).  Natural growth children are often good at peer mediation, conflict management and resolution, creativity and spontaneity, and personal responsibility and strategizing.  While these observations are accurate, they aren't true for every family and every child.  Also, many families are a blend of these two styles.
          Basically, parenting styles affect where a child goes in life and what resources they're exposed to for personal success.  Parenting styles affect how a child feels about his or herself and how they interact with people and go about professional endeavors.  I haven't really mentioned how race plays into parenting styles (just read the book), but it's definitely an intersecting issue.  However, Lareau sums up that social class matters more than race in how well a person can move up socially or improve their life. She also discusses certain aspects that remain independent of class, such as a family's degree of organization and daily orderliness, and family rituals.
         I think Unequal Childhoods applies directly to our work at IHAD because it offers insight to the struggles that the dreamers face in their journey to better their lives.  They may not be fully aware right now of every little social aspect in their lives that will affect their social mobility, but eventually they will and they'll eventually need the vocabulary and terms necessary to give their issues a platform.

          This book is also relevant to what is currently happening in Florida and the outrage that is spreading across the country.  A black teen, Trayvon Martin, was shot dead by a man claiming self-defense.  However, the general consensus, based on witness accounts and the 911 call, is that the shooting was racially motivated because Trayvon was a young black teen wearing a hoodie at nighttime.  The man is innocent until proven guilty, but there should definitely be a HUGE inquiry into the shooting based on the evidence.  If anything, it appears to me that the shooter actively sought out Trayvon and followed him, however, nothing is easy to decipher in such a situation.  What happened to Trayvon is exactly why I think gun laws need to be improved and be stricter.  Guns cause more harm than good and especially complicate situations like this one where race and age differences are involved.  The law says you have the right to protect yourself, but it gets sticky when the shooting is unclear.  Racism still exists and our country is particularly sensitive to it.  Even though we don't know how this case will end, I think it's good the story is getting a lot of national attention because racism is something we need to keep talking about instead of sweeping it under the rug and pretending the wound is healed since we have laws that promote equality.  We still need to talk about the invisible social "laws" and workings that keep people down.