“The human being is a remarkable psychophysical unity, each one a unique person, never again to be repeated in the entire universe” said Stefan Swiezawski, a famous Polish historian. What makes us different? Surely, there are some important things such as our heredity, education and life-long experience. However, one more powerful factor exists. It is family up-bringing. I believe everybody at least ones has heard the idea that every problem has its roots in a family. In my opinion, this is really true and I will try to prove my point of view.
Why does our family influence us a lot? The first reason is that we spend the majority of time among our family’s members. Family is the first society we find ourselves and it gives us behavior patterns that we easily absorb with our mother’s milk. Family is aimed to be a rock between us and the world, it provides comfort and support both financial and psychological.
Fortunately, there are many happy or almost happy families all over the world. One of the greatest examples we can find in Russian Classical Literature is the Rostovs, the heroes of the worldwide famous novel by Lev Tolstoy “War and Peace”. Natasha Rostova who has been brought up in an aristocratic family, where there were love and reciprocal understanding, is a wonderful young lady. She is able to love and be loved, she is educated and smart, she is well-mannered and respectable. All these traits are applied to the rest of her siblings.
But if anything happens and family’s harmony disappears, problems are likely to start. One of the bright examples of negative family’s influence on a young personality we can find in the writing “The rainbow” by David Herbert Lawrence. The author’s attention is focused on seventeen-year-old Anna, a tall awkward girl who is touchy, full of spirits, easy to flush, and always uneasy, uncertain. She only likes to be at home, she mistrusts herself and the outer world, but nevertheless she wants to get away. The reason of her strange, sudden and incalculable personality must be hidden in the relationships within her family. Her parents live their separate lives and very distant to each other. Although there are no conflicts and all misunderstandings are invisible, the girl is very sensitive to them.
As it is clearly seen the atmosphere and family upbringing are extremely important for development of a child. To create a positive microclimate at home is not only one essential thing for appropriate upbringing. It ought to be a complex of actions linked in a system. First of all the best method is personal example. If parents want a child not to do any things, they should start with themselves and don’t do these things. “To err is human” says the proverb and it is quite natural that children sometimes make mistakes. Sometimes they repeat mistakes. Sometimes they do them on purpose. Then parents have to use a punishment. Certainly it shouldn’t be too severe or unfair; it should be adequate to an offence. Only a wise parent could meet the challenge of proper upbringing.
The reasonable question arises: How does a parent receive such a valuable information and skills? I am absolutely sure that family upbringing should be taught for young parents, because the parent culture of modern young people is at a very low level. They don’t get such education at schools and universities, but there is a necessity in it. I suppose the government should think over the current situation and take some actions to normalize it.
