Misenas Sandico, 1
Maricel Misenas Sandico
English 2
10/26/2014
Refute of Alfie Kohn’s Claim
Children are out of their parents’ control. The way that parents raise or treat their children does not always mean it will reflect towards their actions. Alfie Kohn’s claim, “The kids who do what they are told are likely to be those whose parents don’t rely on power and instead have developed a warm and secure relationship with them. They have parents who treat them with respect, minimize the use of control, and make a point of offering reasons and explanations for what they ask.” is false. The following evidence through a few stories and an essay refute Kohn’s claim about unconditional parenting.
Evidence from the story, The Veldt written by Ray Bradbury, represents the children’s disobedience although they are given everything they want from their parents. “We’ve given the children everything they wanted. Is this our reward – secrecy, disobedience.” George Hadley, the father of the children, says this to his wife, Lydia, when they were discussing the way their children have been acting lately. George says this to his wife because their children were being disobedient. The quote represents the thesis because although the children have been given everything they wanted, they continue to disobey their parents. Another quote supporting the thesis is the following, “We’ve never lifted a hand…they come and go when they like…they’re spoiled.” Lydia says this to George when they were continuing to talk to each other about their children’s misbehavior. The quote connects towards the thesis because although the parents have not taken advantage of their power by not laying a hand on them, the children continue to do whatever they want with no intent of permission from their parents.
Evidence from the story, Games at Twilight written by Anita Desai, represents the children’s actions towards their mother; explaining how they do not do what they are told. “He tore himself out of his mother’s grasp.” The narrator says this about Ravi towards the end of the story. Ravi tore himself out of the grasp because he wanted to claim that he won a game of hide and seek but his mother was holding him back. The quote connects to the thesis because it
Misenas Sandico, 2 represents the son refusing his mother’s affection. Another quote supporting the thesis is the following, “Only in the veranda…Mom said to stay in the porch! No one stopped to listen, all he saw were their brown legs flashing through the shrubs” Raghu, the seeker of the game, is the one who had said it. He said this to his brothers and sisters when they were running off because they were playing a game of hide and seek. The quote supports the thesis because the children did not care to follow what their
