Book Report on "Unusual Childhood"

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Alexander Williams is one of the children documented in Lareau's book. Alexander is from an upper-middle-class family. One of the main tactics that Alexander's parents use in parenting is using words -- language -- to discipline their son. Lareau (2003) notes, "This approach often leads to extensive negotiation, bargaining, and whining in the course of daily family life." Lareau (2003) suggested early on in the book that this method, which can be viewed as concerted cultivation because of its putting children on the same sort of level as an adult, can lead to a certain sense of entitlement in children. Alexander's whining and negotiating is what his parents have taught him to do when it comes to living. In school, Alexander would probably be more likely to question authority figures, believing that they know just as much as teachers, etc.

Lareau (2003) compares Alexander and his family to Harold McAllister's family who are poor. The author notes how the McAllister family uses language in a more functional manner. Lareau saw that in the McAllister family, children did not talk back to the adults (unlike Alexander). If there was any sort of bad behavior, the McAllister parents threatened the children with punishment, sometimes physical, and thus the children were kept in their place. Interestingly enough, Lareau (2003) states that whining was more pervasive in the middle-class homes than in the lower-class homes.

While whining can be viewed as a bad characteristic in a child, what Lareau (2003) states is that even though those middle-class children are illustrating irritating behavior, they are learning how to use language in a way that the lower-class children are not. Not only that but those middle-class children are also learning a very important skill -- how to negotiate with adults. This skill, Lareau (2003) suggests, "might be useful in institutional encounters in the future."

Alexander's extracurricular activities are extensive -- a testimony to the concerted cultivation theory. Alex takes piano lessons, goes to choir practice, participates in Sunday School and church choir, and also plays both baseball and soccer. Alexander also participates in school plays and concerts and in the summer goes to camp. We can see form all of these activities that Alexander's parents… READ MORE