What I Really Want For My Children

I Think The Reason We Might Hesitate To Pay Cash To Students For Doing Well On Tests Or Getting Good Grades Or Reading Books Is That We Sense That The Monetary Payment Is An Extrinsic Reward.

Aiming At Giving Our Kids A Competitive Edge In A Consumer Society - That, In Principle, Is A Goal That Is Limitless.

If The Spirit Of Their Intercourse Were Still The Same After Their Coming Together As It Had Been When They Were Living Apart,' Aristotle Writes, Their Association Can't Really Be Considered A Polis, Or Political Community. 'a Polis Is Not An Association For Residence On A Common Site, Or For The Sake Of Preventing Mutual Injustice And Easing Exchange.' While These Conditions Are Necessary To A Polis, They Are Not Sufficient. 'the End And Purpose Of A Polis Is The Good Life, And The Institutions Of Social Life Are Means To That End.

The Other Effect That I Worry About Is The Effect On The Parent, That The Moral Teaching Of Humility And Of The Limits To Our Control That Parenthood Teaches- - That That Will Be Lost And That We Will Begin To Think Of Children More As Consumer Goods Than As Gifts That We Can't Fully Control And For Which We Aren't Fully Responsible.

If Parents Are Aiming At Choosing Children Who Will Be Good Athletes, Or Great Musicians, Or Who Will Get Into Ivy League Schools, Or Who Will Be Tall Enough To Make The Basketball Team, Then There Is A Danger That The Life Of The Child Will Bear The Burden Of That Expectation; And The Risk Of Disappointment And The Cost Of Disappointment Will Be Even Higher Than They Are Now, And Even Now They Can Be Considerable.