Irrelevant to education or to personality and socialization? I have
heard a claim that it's less important to be a really good parent than
to pay attention and not be abusive. But I don't know what any of these
claims are based on.
Harris' claim makes intuitive sense if the child spends more time with
the peer group than with her parents. Parental irrelevance might be a
function of modern surrogate parenting.
On the flip side Bill McKibben has a book I think called _Maybe One_, an
argument for the harmlessness or even benefit of being an only child. I
think (I've only looked at it in the bookstore) the main theme is the
undivided parental attention and investment the only can get.
-xx- Damien R. Sullivan X-)
Received on Wed Aug 19 01:25:03 1998
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