Concerted Cultivation - Structured Activities

Structured Activities

American middle class parents engage in concerted cultivation parenting by attempting to foster children's talents through organized leisure activities, which teach them to respect authority and how to interact in a structured environment. Learning how to interact in a structured environment much like a classroom gives students a head start in school because they are identified as intelligent or 'good' students. Other aspects of concerted cultivation include emphasis on reasoning skills and language use. Parents challenge their children to think critically and to speak properly and frequently, especially when interacting with adults. These skills also set the child apart in academic settings as well as give them confidence in social situations. By learning these traits, they are advancing themselves in their surroundings. Another difference is the involvement parents have in their children's lives. Parents are much more involved in following their children's academic progression. Through this process children from a concerted cultivation upbringing will feel more entitled in their academic endeavors and will feel more responsible because they know that their parents are highly involved. This sense of entitlement becomes important in institutional settings because American middle class children question adults and consider them relative equals.