Video Reflection

Today's video was very interesting and beneficial. I was particularly interested in the comparisons between city kids, country kids, and suburb kids and how their environments and lifestyles affect not only what they play but how much play they actually participate in. I was surprised to learn just how much of a disadvantage children in the "suburbs" are. However, my one critique of the movie was that they seem to ignore the small town environment, that many kids, like myself grew up in which in my opinion is a good mixture of the suburb, city, and country. Failure to acknowledge this paints a broad generalization of a large population of the country.

The other issue I do not believe that the video dealt with but that is a major issue in child rearing is the competitive atmosphere that parents in this country in particular fall prey. It is the mindset that "my child must be better than all others" that often leads parents to over plan and structure children's lives. It is also this drive that ever increasing phenomenon of "preparing kids for college" at an early and early age. However, this competive nature is so ingrained into the American phsyce that only by fully embracing the Einstein quote "We can't solve problems using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them" can Americans get past this and finally start doing what is apprioate for thier kids.