Re the question of whether parents or peers have the greater influence on
children: You ask "How did the peers get to be the way they are?"
implying that the parents really are the ultimate "sculptors" of child
nature. In fact, if we release our rather Western notion that "peers"
are only children of precisely the same age and expand to include
children who are several years older, we see that child culture really
does have, to an amazing extent, a life of its own. There are little
songs and games and stories that children always learn from other
children and NEVER from adults. There's probably a lot more besides...
Donna Birdwell-Pheasant
Professor of Anthropology
Lamar University
Beaumont, TX USA
[log in to unmask]
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|