Blog #2 Gibson article

I really enjoyed reading Gibson’s article about the use of family tress and geno- grams at an elementary, middle school and high school level. I actually remember my English class in 7^th grade, and having to do a report on my family history. This report was a lot more extensive than just a family tree, but I had to go back many generations and talk about my families’ heritage and where we came from. I really enjoyed the project and learning about my family, which I probably would not have had any interest in doing on my own. Gibson does a great job of breaking down exactly what you should do at each level of schooling, and the purpose of making family trees and geno-grams for each level of schooling. One quote that really stuck out to be that Gibson wrote in this article was, “parental expectations and support are key variables influencing college aspirations among students of color,” (Gibson, 2005, p 353). Now I believe that it isn’t just for those children of color or minorities, but for all children. Parental involvement plays a key role and parents knowing that what they do and what their values are play a big role in their own child’s decision making processes. I believe that today, we see a lot of parents that once their children get to higher levels of elementary school, middle school and high school, they think, my work is done, but how wrong they are.

 On a side note, the reason why I feel that parental involvement is so important is because of a member of my  “ married into family” should I say, and her lack of parenting skills on her three children ranging from ages 13-6. I was at her wedding this weekend, her children are running around like banshees and I believe the six year old had like six sodas. When I asked the mom if she had a limit to how many sodas he could drink, her response was I don’t care, he is sleeping at grandma’s house tonight. I was appalled by the comment. I can’t comprehend how someone would be more concerned about themselves than their children but I know that is how people are sometimes. It is very important as Gibson states that children know about their family values, and history. To understand where they came from and the reasons why their parents and older siblings, aunts and uncles chose the paths in life, whether it is in a career choice or just in life decisions (Gibson, 2005).

 

 

Gibson, M. ( 2005). The Use of Genograms in Career Counseling With Elementary, Middle, and High School Students. The Career Development Quarterly. 53, 353-362