Southern Rural Child Rearing Research Paper

2678 Words11 Pages
Child Rearing in the United States Northern Urban vs. Southern Rural Kathleen Arnold ANT 101 Kristina Stutler June 10, 2009 From the time a person finds out she is pregnant until her child arrives, she is constantly being told what to do and how to do it. However, what does she actually take in? Does she listen to others or read books? What really influences her on how she chooses to raise her children? Throughout time there have been differences on how children are raised in different areas, from their manners and social activities to their cultural influences. Even within our own country, the United States, there are many differences, especially from the northern “city” life to the down home “country”…show more content…
443). As we take a closer look at a southern rural environment you can see that family kinship and friends play an important role in raising children. Even though friends are no “blood”, in rural communities they are treated and considered family, at least those that share the same values and beliefs. People who act like kin are kin (Miller, 2007, p. 203). Referring to the interview above, most of their time is spent with their extended families. They genuinely enjoy their time together. They spend their time being creative and learning from each other through stories and experiences. The children do have friends outside of their family, but their time with them is limited to school events and church socials, and the majority would rater be with their family. As stated best by Coleman, Ganong, Clark and Madsen (1989) “This can be due to the frequent contact they have with their extended family”. Being so close to your family and community has a feeling of security. Basically, people have a support system literally in their back yard. Everyone seems to know each other and their children (Ramp, 2001) to the point of a community tracking system. Mothers and fathers can always find out where their children are or have been. Almost like a “neighborhood watch” for tattle tailing on each other’s…show more content…
Being in the urban city, parents and children are constantly on the move. With both parents working, the children’s activities and friends, there is little time for “family time”. Family time is usually saved up for the special occasions like holidays and birthdays. Sometimes even those events do not guarantee that all members of the nuclear or extended family make an appearance. With the statement by Coleman, Ganong, Clark, and Madsen (1989) that with the urban population so mobile and has fewer close kin available, it is rarely a surprise when family is missing from an event. A majority of social activities or family time almost always requires mobility. Usually an event is held at an outside location instead of at the home. Referring back to the interview there are so many more activities readily available in the city, especially when it comes to the
Open Document