Parenting skills, behavior patterns, discipline procedures, parent-child bonding, conflict between parents regarding what is 'right' and what is 'wrong', dependency issues toward parents, toward religiosity, towards the school system, and the curriculum offered, to just reference a few.

Idealism rears it's ugly face and wouldn't it be wonderful if all was IDEAL. As you have aptly described it is far from that. Your children are so blessed to have such 'adjustable' parents.

But you and I know that this is NOT the case for so many. So we often take a stand on the proverbial 'soap' box and become as vociferous as we can get away with to attempt to help things to be better.

CBM; ***One very likely possibility is that those who ran into problems had never been outside of the home setting before.***

And that has many angles to it as well, like money, environmental, social, being some of the restrictions that come to mind. In my own case how about the mile and a half walk to school and it being a 'two' room one that had first through fourth grades in one room with one teacher, and fifth through eighth grades with another teacher. Add to that 'no facilities', the potty was a "two" holer on the other side of the playground. Add to that I was the 'only' student in my class, there were no other kids my age in the area.

Then the schoolhouse was struck by 'lightning' two weeks before the seventh grade and burned to the ground. Here comes the School Bus, and I started the eighth grade with thirty four classmates and the social skills of a dead skunk! Add to that at the time I was four feet eight inches tall and weighed a whopping eighty one pounds at age fourteen.

Culture shock would be an understatement. Funny thing now is that I have VERY few recollections of it all. It's like, I only know that it happened. It's like Albert Ellis says, "Most people grow through childhood into adulthood not because of their upbringing, but rather in spite of it".

Those that grow up with good parenting tutelage are fortunate. Many if not most are lacking that important element. Those that are exposed to your ways are among the blessed.

I did not write ANY of the article, I only passed it on.

Regards,