One’s parenting styles are as varied as the world we live in. These days, parents only want what is best for their children and their parenting styles play a vital role in their child’s growth which will not only affect the child’s juvenile years, but later extend into their adult life as well. “If you don’t want to sink, you better figure out how to swim.” (pg. 66). Mr. Walls teaches Jeannette how to swim by actually forcing her to sink or swim.
he repetitively tosses her into a sulfur spring in the desert, only rescuing her when she sinks then throwing her back in. by these methods, Rex is able to train Jeannette to swim in order to avoid being thrown back into the water. Refusing to mollycoddle their children, the Walls often present them with trials, some life-threatening, that the children are forced to deal with.
The Walls do not coddle or even monitor their children.
They often leave them unsupervised, in hazardous situations, and as a consequence, the children are often injured. It is obvious that the children are not a priority. They are not cared for fervently or physically, they often have little to eat, they are left behind, and parenting often falls on the children themselves. Rex Walls’ most important parenting traits were affection, independence and non-conformity. In his own unique way, Rex Walls treasured his children. A time in which I think Rex exhibited how much he love his children was when Jeannette was about to drop out of school because she didn’t have enough money.
He gave her the money she needed because he knew that that was the only way Jeannette was going to accomplish something in life. He especially supports his children to be autonomous and self-reliant.
Rex Walls worst traits were well-being, relationship skills, life skills and religion. He was never a role model for his children, he had the worst habits and lifestyle. He was an alcoholic who could never manage to have a stable job. He was never able to have a permanent household; the family was always doing the “skedaddle”. When he became inebriated , he would always be on the verge of killing Rose Mary. He always managed to find a fight with others, like the doctor that was treating Jeannette when she was burned, the church’s priest, and anyone he who he thought was out to get him. Being an alcoholic also clarifies how he was never able to manage stress because he always looked into the bottle for answers.
The Glass Castle has been a great experience for me to read. Rex and Rose Mary Walls may not have been the best parents; however, they meant well for their children and were able to turn them into well-educated adults. They were able to accomplish this by guaranteeing them that they loved them and would never fail them, and also by finding creative ways to teach them important life lessons; like to learn how to face your fears and what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger. Although many people would not necessarily agree with the manner in which the Walls’ used to educate their children, we can definitely accept the fact that most of the children gained excellent ethics that otherwise may have not been learned without these experiences.
Overall the Walls children parents; Rex and Rosemary, were great parents who did their best to help their children become great human beings and not have any trouble in tackling their difficulties. Yes, they most likely did not resort to having taught them in the best conditions yet they did the best they could due to their financial misfortunes. On the other hand, the Walls children had a better chance to put those lessons and skills they acquired to use. Other parents could teach the children the same and they could react differently when a situation was presented.
Varied Parenting Styles in Today's World. (2022, Feb 14). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/we-publish-parenting-styles/