Basically the article discusses parents who have very strong political beliefs who then really go out of there way to push them onto their kids. Kids then often grow up and switch sides.
What do you all think? Do you see kids growing up to hold different beliefs from their parents?
I for one, definitely see the parents beliefs making a difference. But its not always clear which way they will go.
I see it both ways a lot, nothing indicates to me that retention or rebellion has an advantage. I think the major reason people change beliefs is by moving to a different environment or to hook up.
I have a teenager. From observing him and his friends, I would have to say it really depends on the personality of the kid and the parents. I’m firm in what I believe, but don’t expect my son to believe exactly as I do. We have great conversations and I’m always pleased when I find out we agree on topics, but discussing topics we don’t agree on is interesting, too.
Some of the kids with parents who are very adamant about their beliefs, rebel against them (ex. the atheist girl with super religious parents) others not so much (ex. the mildly religious boy with very religious parents).
I’ve enjoyed watching these kids grow up and I can’t wait to see how they all turn out as adults. I wonder if the rebels will go back to the fold or stay firm in their new beliefs, etc.
In my family it seems that the parents are growing up to have different beliefs than they instilled in the kids.
My parents used to be poor blue-collar people who for a while were on government assistance. Dad is a veteran and a union man. Mom was a SAHM until we went to school then she got a job.
My brother and I are very liberal, very pro-union, very pro-diversity, very pro-equality, very pro-government even. Our parents are scared old white people who think everyone and everything is out to take their money. And “those people” are horrible.
Basically they kind of put us on the path to one set of beliefs then totally abandoned them.
“Push them on their kids” I think might be the key point here.
I was a Red Diaper Baby ( commie parents ), but my folks never tried to indoctrinate me politically. They were atheists, but we celebrated Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving as secular holidays with all the traditional trimmings minus Jesus. I received a quiet lefty upbringing with all the subtle influencing factors that presumes, but no demands I adhere to any party line or participate in any particular activity. The one exception was that when I was very young I ended up at many a demonstration or march due to the occasional lack of babysitters - that did scar me. I won’t participate in crowd political activities to this day :D.
As a result I did not grow up to be even remotely communist and I am far more mellow about things like personal religious faith and the conservative political opinions of others than my parents ( I have plenty of religious and libertarian-type friends, my folks not so much ). But generally speaking I am a progressive-ish, leftish, liberalish, pro-unionish sort of guy who my parents find perfectly congenial and acceptable to socialize with ;). No real rebellion or backlash against my upbringing at all. And probably mostly because my parents were rational and pragmatic about their child rearing and didn’t try to force their own ideology on me.
That’s one thing that bugs me, making kids your billboard or little sounding board. You see these people all the time making the kid stand there holding a sign or something.
Eh, I never had to do that, thank the deity or philosophical principle of your choice ;).
But lemme tell you political activist parents of young kids - standing/hanging out on a picket line for hours is a dreadfully dreary experience for most five-year olds. And even at five or six I’m pretty sure I found megaphone sloganeering hokey.
I know lots of people who have fairly similar beliefs to their parents, and a lot more who are more liberal than their parents. Oddly, I know only one (my cousin) who is significantly more conservative than his parents. I’ve always wondered whether being more conservative than your parents is particularly rare, or whether I just tend not to cross paths with people fitting this description.
I think that either they do or they don’t - but there’s no in-between. Either you consciously want to keep in line with your parent’s beliefs because you respect and admire them, or you consciously don’t. It depends on the temperament of the teenager, the parents, and many other factors.
I am one of 5, all raised by the same parents. Our politics and religious beliefs (or lack thereof) as adults are all over the place. My bro is a business executive and quite conservative in most respects, one sister is a bartender and mostly liberal, except for thinking everyone in the country should speak English, dammit!!! The other 2 sisters have never expressed any political inclinations, and I’m pretty sure they still go to church like we did as kids.
I’m a liberal-leaning moderate who gave up on church years ago. I’m not an atheist, I just don’t believe in religions. I’m sure my mother is convinced I’m going to hell because I don’t fulfill my Sunday obligation. Whatever. Her faith seems to fill a need in her life, and I can tune her out as necessary without creating a stink over it. I don’t think it’s rebellion on my part, it’s just a different point of view.
Anyway, how a kid reacts to parental influence is dependent on the kid. The answers are as varied as the individuals.
I’m curious about the kids of atheist parents who rebel and become super religious. It seems much less common than kids of religious parents who end up liberal atheists. I mean if kids are going to rebel against their parents and be contrary, it would happen on both ends. The reason I think this trends toward the more liberal/atheist direction:
-people who grow up in conservative religious households tend to be under the heel of more rules. Their religion isolates them from some of their peers. Some adolescents push against these restrictions and choose a path(s) with more options in life.
-Those who weren’t raised under a conservative religious household might be more aware of their choices early on. While they might choose to follow a religious faith, they might choose to rebel in some other way (a child of vegans taking up hunting, becoming a racist cop, joining the military, etc.).
Since they see more choices, there’s mute directions they can go. For the child of the conservative religious parents, the direction they generally take when rebelling is “away from anything to do with that religion”
I remember happily playing baseball in the street, when my brother (12 years older) would yell, “come in and get ready, we are going to church”. And I would reply, “I’d rather play baseball”. Well, he was bigger (and would use force), so off to church I went. In these days “church” was a six hour event (Mormon). And I hated it. And I began to question what kind of god would want me praising him, inside a building, when it was beautiful outside?
Needless to say, when I had off-springs, I didn’t force them to go to church. If they wanted to go, I would take them and attend with them.
When my daughter was eight years old, she wanted to be baptized Mormon, because all her peers were being baptized. We lived in Utah. I told her it was a big decision. Maybe better if she waited a few years before making this decision. She is now 33 years old, and has thanked me many times for this counsel.
It can go that way. Cults like to attract kids who are rebelling against their parent’s lack of “direction”, their parent’s “materialism”, and their parent’s “lack of spirituality”. I used to have these types importune me all the time when I was at university.