Guidance Please

Adults protect, guide, and educate their children by the modeling of correct behavior and values for children.  Although the role of adults is to guide and educate their children, nevertheless some adults do not guide their children enough while others meet the needs of their children because some adults have the background and ability to influence their children better than others, who do not have these traits.  In After the First Death by Robert Cormier and in my personal experiences, the educational background of the parents, the ability to communicate with their children, the understanding of children, and the ability to lead the lives of their children allow for better parenting of children.

            Education affects the parenting of children because the experiences learned through education help parents teach their children how to survive on their own.  In After the First Death, Mark Marchand, Ben’s father, fights in World War II when he is a senior in high school.  His limited education restricts his ability to guide his son, Ben, through Ben’s feeling of cowardice.  Mark does not have enough knowledge to help his son overcome his emotions, which leads to Ben’s commitment of suicide.  Artkin is guides Miro well because Artkin knows the lifestyle Miro has lived through.  Miro does not realize that Artkin has been watching over him ever since his parents were killed by a mine planted in their garden.   Artkin has a good education on terrorism and the ways of war, so he guides Miro in a fatherly way because Miro learns the terrorist lifestyle from Artkin and looks up to him.  In my personal experiences, my parents do well in guiding my brother and me.  They teach us by incorporating their experiences into explanations and openly sharing these explanations with us.  My parents understand different ways that children learn and find the best way to teach for us to learn as much as possible.  Educational experiences of the parents allow for the better guidance of children because the education permits parents to understand their children more.

The ability in understanding gives children the feeling that their parents understand them, which allows for a better established communication.  Mark Marchand understands his son too much.  Because Mark is a war psychologist who studies the reaction of people in war, he understands his son the most and can anticipate his son’s reactions to certain situations.  Mark understands Ben’s reactions the most because Mark put Ben in certain tests to see how he would react to the situation.  Because Mark knows so much about Ben, Ben is chosen to be the messenger that the terrorists and the Inner Delta trust.  The knowing of too much about Ben leads to Ben’s stress and overreaction to his cowardly actions on the bridge.  Miro does not realize that Artkin has been watching over him ever since Miro’s brother, Aneil, told Miro that a mine that was planted in their garden blew up and killed their parents.  Artkin is Miro’s father, and he leaves Miro and Aniel to survive on their own to make sure that they can become terrorists like he is.  He guides Miro to the special school that teaches people to become terrorists.  By scrutinizing Miro when Miro is unaware of it, Artkin learns every aspect of Miro and uses the information to guide Miro to becoming a better terrorist.  In my own experience, my parents understand my feelings and the reasons for my actions because they connect the situation to their own childhood experiences.  The understanding of every aspect of me gives my parents the sympathy for me and the ability to establish communication with me.  The understanding of their children gives parents the ability to establish good communication with their children to better their guidance of them.