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Towards the beginning of the book, we learn about Slacker and how he inherited this name. Once he went fishing, Slacker lost all motivation to do anything else. He wouldn't clean up after himself at home and wouldn't complete assignments at school.

Do you think the lack of responsibility is due to the parents not giving him enough praise of completing chores and assignments and/or not giving severe enough consequences when not completing his responsibilities? Or do you believe children are born with certain talents and sometimes nothing else inspires them?

I think his parents didn't understand him nor did they try too. They didn't encourage him nor praise him enough for what he did. He didn't do his chores, but he did bring fish home at least. Many kids his age try to avoid doing chores. I think that studying is more important than doing household chores. As long as kids study, or contribute in other ways, that is fine. Time enough for chores when the kids grow up and leave home.

Little Harry was immediately obsessed with fishing - so preoccupied that nothing else mattered. Understandably, perhaps, his parents couldn't relate to that. Unfortunately, perhaps, his grandfather could!

I completely agree with his parents not understanding/did not want to understand Harry's love for fishing. However, I do believe his parents kind of gave up and partially neglected Harry. I believe studying is also extremely important, and his parents did not seem to try hard enough to enforce that.

Answering the last question, I do believe children can be naturally talented in certain areas, but that parents can harness those talents and still teach responsibility. Maybe even use the natural-born talents as some type of reward to encourage responsibility.

Lots of chores as an adult...funny story. When I was reading Tuck Everlasting with my students, one student said she would not want to live forever because she would have clean the toilet, wash the floors, etc. I pretty much broke her spirit when I said you have to do that even if you don't live forever

-- 29 Oct 2015, 13:53 --

Lee Stone wrote:Little Harry was immediately obsessed with fishing - so preoccupied that nothing else mattered. Understandably, perhaps, his parents couldn't relate to that. Unfortunately, perhaps, his grandfather could!

You got to love grandparents

hsimone wrote:I completely agree with his parents not understanding/did not want to understand Harry's love for fishing. However, I do believe his parents kind of gave up and partially neglected Harry. I believe studying is also extremely important, and his parents did not seem to try hard enough to enforce that.

Answering the last question, I do believe children can be naturally talented in certain areas, but that parents can harness those talents and still teach responsibility. Maybe even use the natural-born talents as some type of reward to encourage responsibility.

Lots of chores as an adult...funny story. When I was reading Tuck Everlasting with my students, one student said she would not want to live forever because she would have clean the toilet, wash the floors, etc. I pretty much broke her spirit when I said you have to do that even if you don't live forever

I agree with that.

Amusing story indeed.

gali wrote:I think his parents didn't understand him nor did they try too. They didn't encourage him nor praise him enough for what he did. He didn't do his chores, but he did bring fish home at least. Many kids his age try to avoid doing chores. I think that studying is more important than doing household chores. As long as kids study, or contribute in other ways, that is fine. Time enough for chores when the kids grow up and leave home.

I agree that his parents didn't understand him or encourage him in the least. They didn't appreciate his positive attributes at all.

-- 30 Oct 2015, 10:45 --

hsimone wrote:Towards the beginning of the book, we learn about Slacker and how he inherited this name. Once he went fishing, Slacker lost all motivation to do anything else. He wouldn't clean up after himself at home and wouldn't complete assignments at school.

Do you think the lack of responsibility is due to the parents not giving him enough praise of completing chores and assignments and/or not giving severe enough consequences when not completing his responsibilities? Or do you believe children are born with certain talents and sometimes nothing else inspires them?

That's the whole nature vs. nurture issue. A little praise and encouragement goes a long way with children.

I think it is a bit of both. It does mainly come down to the parents being able to understand what the child needs. Everyone is different. Some don't need as much praise due to n accomplishment being more of the reward, whilst others need a pat on the back. Trying to find that balance is difficult, however if a child is good at something they definitely should be praised to try and encourage them to carry on

I think it may be a little bit of both. I do believe that children are born with certain talents and skills that they will natural gravitate towards. While this is not a problem in moderation it can become one if a child should become to obsessed with this one thing. I think that's where the parents come in and their encouragement can help to steer children in different directions. In my opinion, this encouragement is necessary to help cultivate interest in other activities and hone a sense of responsibility.

Parents should support children if they develop intrest in some areas. By talking and explaining that there needs to be a balance between what one loves to do an other activities I believe they could have improved the situation.

I think his "slacker" attitude came from him just constantly wanting to get back to fishing and it seemed like his parents didn't understand or care to try, so that probably swayed him more toward what he loved instead of making his parents happy by being a good student and doing chores.

This topic reminds me of the problem with Millenium children (of which I am one!)

Supposedly we got praised too much for the littlest things, so now we expect more praise for just doing the bare minimum? Something like that.

I can see things both ways.. Sometimes it's good to remind kids that if they do the things they hate, they'll get good karma afterwards. Other times they just need to suck it up and realize that life is all about doing things you don't want to do.

Some kids are more prone toward responsibility and some are not, but either personality will be shaped by the parents. While he would require more effort from his parents to make responsible choices, enough invested parenting would have led to favorable results. If he was neglecting all else to fish, then it is a lack of involvement on the parent's part.

Not everyone will excel in school but that doesn't mean that everyone can't excel in life. Slacker eventually became a good person - generous with his blessings and a loyal friend. Isn't that what we all aim to be?

I think kids should learn that not everything in life will be fun all the time so they can learn to do those chores and move on. But there should be always balance between their own interests and responsibilities, so that one doesn't overwhelmingly trump the other.

I have seen many cases where the children are naturally talented in many ways; however, parents can work their magic on their children and help them cultivate those talents, and make a positive impact on them too. I guess it works either way. But hey, it's always good to have supportive parents who teach your responsibility as well!