The Effect of Parenting Style on Childhood Development: A Reading of The Glass Castle Anonymous 11th Grade

Many people have varying opinions on parenting, usually motivated by deeply personal beliefs. These differing outlooks on raising children develops children themselves into different people with very specific values instilled in them by their parents. The impact of childhood on their development is undoubtedly substantial, but its complete effects are rarely understood; studies by Cornell and Louisiana State University established that parenting style can lead children towards certain characteristics and values later on in life ("The Influence of Parenting Styles on Children’s Cognitive Development"). The memoir The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls recounts the story of Walls's childhood and development under her parents. What makes her childhood unique is her upbringing in a poor family under her unusual parents that necessitated her gaining maturity much earlier than usual children. However, her parents still instilled in her a passion for learning and that combined with her maturity to enable her later success in life as a writer.

The reason that people are who they are is due in large part to the influence of their parents, and the style of their parenting. Jeannette Walls’s parents were extremely lax with their parenting,...