What matters more to my kids’ future: Their school or quality time with their parents?
j.v.roggeveen
Main Idea: “If private tutors or the right address is unlikely to change a child’s life, the relationships kids have with their parents just might.”
In my words: A child's success isn't completely, or even mostly, invested in how highly their school is rated; rather, the presence of their parents can mean the difference in the long run.
Response:
When reading Mark Burrier's piece, one is instantly reminded of Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers. In fact, Gladwell's piece talks about the exact same circumstances that Burrier relates in a more personal way: a child's success can, in part, be attributed to the involvement of their parents in the child's life. I would tend to agree with both of these men in their analysis of success. From my own personal experience, I know how helpful it is to have a parent who is accessible at home. For example, when I first began science fair in 6th grade, I relied on the help of my father to show me how one puts together a neat presentation board that gets ones point across.
What was interesting about Burrier's piece was not the phenomena. Having read Outliers, I was already familiar with the idea he was discussing. Rather, what I found convincing was the way his argument made the idea that helping a child to succeed through parental involvement rather than through spending exorbitant amounts of money to put children into the best school district is the only logical choice. Through casting other options in a light that showed the ridiculousness of spending $200,000 extra on a house just because it is in a better school district, he brings down opposition arguments. However, Burrier is able to do so without undermining his own argument by flat out refusing to consider the other side.
Overall, I found the piece interesting, as, especially after reading Outliers, end up considering just what in particular makes someone more successful than others. In living on Nantucket, I think, many of us have been afforded a great opportunity. We live on an island with a fairly high net wealth; additionally, our school is incredibly well funded due to the summer residents who are still required to pay property tax on their homes. And while this may not be true for all of us, many of us are lucky to have our parents around, or at least working close enough to help out if we are in a pinch. I believe that living on Nantucket has laid the foundations for success in all of us and afforded us an opportunity many others would be lucky to have.