An Open Letter to Parents

One of the many important topics covered in Ordinary People is parenting. Everyone has their own opinions on this important aspect of a child's life. Though some are good and some aren't so much, there are a few things every parent should make sure to do.  One of the seemingly simplest and most important things a parent needs to do, and something Beth just couldn't do for Conrad, is to show affection.  Although she does love him - he is her son - she just can't put things in the past and show her love for him. Now although he is a better parent, Calvin isn't perfect either.  Toward the end of the book Conrad told him he ought to scold him more often; he loves his son so much he couldn't even think about causing him more pain.  He thinks he didn't pay enough attention to Conrad before the suicide, so now he's overcompensating.  Though these are good intentions, he needs to see that Conrad is growing up and is doing a lot better now.  Of course, there are many other shortfalls of parents that don't arise in this book, but there are still parenting lessons that can be learned from Ordinary People.

It's Your Civic Duty

There are too many people in our society who act selfishly and think they can do whatever they want, without considering others. One example of this that bothers me most is littering (or degrading the environment in general), which we have touched on in class. The problem we discussed was a young girl in a car with a parent who threw a wrapper out the window, and the parent didn't do anything. Many people in class were saying it's none of your business; it's the parent's job to raise their own kid. But I disagree, I think it is the business of everyone in the community, because it affects everybody. I think people were thinking of the situation as a single occurrence; one wrapper isn't gonna do anything.  But if this girl isn't taught not to litter she'll keep doing it her whole life.  it isn't fair that because she doesn't care the people and environment have to deal with a dirtier world.  This problem goes farther than littering.  Though not always a conscious decision, people who do things like leave lights on all the time are acting irresponsibly. They're polluting the environment even though they can't directly see that pollution.  It's at some far away power plant so it's easy to forget what you're doing.  But I'm sure that if they could directly see or experience the affects of the air pollution they're causing, people would be quick to reduce energy consumption.  Since people act in their own self interest they don't think about the consequences. Hey, maybe global warming isn't so bad after all if it'll show people what they're doing and get them to use less!