Training of Children and Teens
Life is like playing a violin in public and
Learning the instrument as one goes on.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
The violin virtuoso whose concerts are sold-out has spent
innumerable hours of practice to achieve such fame. That
person wouldn’t think of inviting the public to a practice session
because of the flaws they might hear.
We aren’t virtuosos, yet we’re always on view to others.
Everyone, we hope, gets to see our good performances and not
the bad. We strive with impatience and disappointment in our
striving to “look good” in front of others.
Yet we’re all struggling in front of one another.
Adapted from Night Life, by Amy E. Dean
The processes of socialization and enculturation teach
children to take others, society, and common sense into
consideration in their actions. Whether it is their
impulses, drives, or the pull of pleasing and being a part
of, their behavior can be more likely to be conforming to
the norms/expectations of parents, other significant
others and society than not
if and only if
parents are
making this priority their primary concern.
If the socialization has taken place, but is not
internalized, the only control on the child’s behavior is
the fear of punishment. Complete socialization takes
place when one being socialized doesn’t even think
about reward and punishment, but knows whether the
behavior is right or wrong even before they engage in it.
