Imagine you grew up in a different environment, with a different family, you had a different life. Who would influence your decisions? Parental decisions have tremendous effects over their children’s lives. Kids grow up listening to every one of their parents words. Their parents are like a god to them. Somehow they know everything, and they want to teach you that too. Parents can use this power to help their child, or they can abuse this power. Parents influence the environment their child grows up in, what the child believes in, and how their child acts. Their decisions may seem insignificant, but they actually have a substantial effect.

To begin with, parents have a great deal of control over where their child grows up, and the environment around them. Children make decisions based on their environment. For example, if a child grew up in a bad neighborhood, they might think it is acceptable to own a gun, to do drugs, and to make decisions that might not be the best. As stated in “The Neighborhood Effect” by Claude S. Fischer, “a violent crime occurring near black children’s homes in the days before they took a standardized test reduced their scores on the test, presumably because of anxiety and distraction.” This proves how what is happening around a child can affect their lives. This problem does not just stay with those children; it can be passed down through generations as well. The children who failed their test end up staying in the same neighborhood. They have children who end up having the same issues. In “The Neighborhood Effect” it states the effect of children living in a poor neighborhood and their parents who also had, broadens the chances of the second generation living in a poor neighborhood as well. The children of two generations of people living in a poor neighborhood do abundantly worse than those two generations living in a good neighborhood. Over a whole standard deviation worse. This conveys how growing up in bad or poor neighborhood can not only affect a parent, but their children simultaneously. Children are impacted immensely by their environment because it can shape what they are today. 

Furthermore, parents can abuse their power by deciding what beliefs their child must follow. If a child grew up in a family that does not support a male and another male being together, they might not be friends with any of these people, and the child might think that they are not normal. These beliefs that parents build for their children might not allow them to make their own beliefs, or their own perceptions on these subjects. As stated by Time, “It is high-handed and presumptuous to tie a metaphorical label around a tiny child’s neck stating, in effect, “this child believes Jesus rose from the dead”, as calmly as you might write “Blood Group AB.” At very least it negates the ideal, held dear by all decent educationists, that children should be taught to think for themselves.” This conveys how parents should not force their religion on their children because it is not allowing the children to make decisions for themselves, or express their opinion on the matter of religion. These actions that the parents make can be seen as them exploiting their power over their children. In an article by The Huffington Post it states, “there really is an important difference between including your children in harmless traditions, and forcing on them un-evidenced opinions about the nature of life or the cosmos.” This portrays that there is a difference between parents showing children their beliefs, and demanding them to believe in something they are not comfortable with.

Finally, parents can abuse their power by showing their children how to act negatively. If a parent tells their child that it is okay to act stingy, vulgar, and rudely towards their superiors, the child might have a hard time making fiends, getting a job, and working with others. As stated by Livestrong, “Social skills can be interpreted as everything from the basic polite “please” and “thank you” to speaking in front of crowds. Children model their parents and learn from them.” This proves how children mimic their parents behavior. If a parent acts kind towards others, the child will most likely the same. If the parents acts immorally towards others, the child will most likely do the same. In an article by Vanderbilt it states, “it is necessary to recognize the importance of the development of behaviors in children and how this can impact a child’s social development.” This conveys how a child’s behavior can affect their future lives, and their development as a whole. Parents can affect how a child acts, their behavior, and how the develop as a whole.

In conclusion, parents can abuse their power over their children in many different ways. Parents can influence the environment the child grows up in, what the child believes in, and how the child acts. All of these rules do not only affect the child, but their future as well. A great deal of parents think that if their child grows up in an impoverished neighborhood that it will not affect them at all. This is inaccurate. Children are affected by everything around them. Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, “we may not be able to prepare the future for our children, but we can at least prepare our children for the future.”

Work Cited
@BostonReview. "The Neighborhood Effect." Boston Review. N.p., 14 Nov. 2014. Web. 16 Dec.
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Nasser, Umar. "Are Religious Parents Indoctrinating Their Children?" The Huffington Post. N.p., 21
Dec. 2015. Web. 16 Dec. 2016.
"Recognizing the Importance of Parental Influence in Social and Behavioral Development."
Developmental Psychology at Vanderbilt. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2016.
"Richard Dawkins: Don't Force Your Religious Opinions on Your Children." Time. Time, n.d. Web. 16
Dec. 2016.
"Parents' Effect on Child Behavior." LIVESTRONG. Leaf Group, 16 Jan. 2014. Web. 21 Dec.
2016.