Due to the recent devastating earthquake in Haiti, there was an increase in adoptions of Haitian children in the United States. In class we briefly touched on the nature vs. nurture debate. This is the question of whether we are who we are due to our heredity and biological genes (nature) or if we develop due to the environment and circumstances around us (nurture). The adoptions that were successful provoke an interesting thought in my mind. Will these Haitian children develop as they would have if they stayed in Haiti or will they take a complete turn in their lives now that they are in a new environment? While I am sure we will never know the answer to this question, as it would be quite impossible to determine what would have happened, I decided to do some do some research by reading studies that do exist about this topic to assist me in creating an opinion.
A study called “Schooling, Family Background, and Adoption: Is it Nature or Is it Nurture?”1 looked at the effect of nature and nurture on the education level attained between adopted children and children who live with their biologically genetic parents. It was found that 70-75% of school achievement can be attributed to genetic effects measured by IQ and the study concluded that nurture does not play a dominant role. While this was a reliable and valid study using intergenerational samples of families, I simply do not agree with the results.
I feel as though environment has everything to do with achievement in school. First of all, whether parents (adopted or genetic) have gone to college or not, there are numerous opportunities for all students to go to a two-year, four-year, or technical college. One study by Inside Higher Ed found that in 2006, one in six freshmen were first-generation college students, including 14.7 percent of all male students and 16.9 percent of all female students.2 That is a good amount of people who did not have it in their “genetics” to go to college because their parents didn’t, but they did anyways.
While I cannot attest to impacts from the home environment, I feel as though the school environment played a great influence on first generation college students and will also be significant in the adopted Haitian childrens’ achievement. The opportunity for a higher education begins as young as in Kindergarten. As a teacher, I lead children to believe that school is a positive place to be and that they should make it a priority in their lives. Every day we talk about how important doing your work to the best of your ability is. There is a Dr. Seuss day called “Oh the Places You Will Go” where we will discuss college and higher education. Regardless of home circumstances, students are exposed to the idea that the natural progression of school is to do the best you can and keep going until you are what you want to be in life. The fourth and fifth graders even visited HCC to have the experience of what college is like.
The No Child Left Behind Act pushes teachers to provide an education for all students to achieve in school grades K-12, which will increase success in higher education. While children are not intrinsically motivated through genetics to go to school and would rather play their Wii and run around outside, I truly believe it is due to the environment provided to young children in the public school setting that teaches children to value education and make it important. With the public education opportunities now available to the adopted Haitian children, I am sure they will succeed in ways they never would have without the opportunities they have now.
-Amanda Mezei
- Plug, Erik, and Wim Vijverberg. "Schooling, family background, and adoption: is it nature or is it nurture?" Journal of Political Economy 111.3 (2003): 611+. Academic OneFile. Web. 3 Feb. 2010.
- http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/01/26/freshmen
It is hard to even imagine the impact the horror of the earthquake, being suddenly family-less and removed from your home country will have on these children. Adoption in the most planned, thoughtful process is very complex and can be emotionally hard on the adoptee, adoptive parents and bioparents.
ReplyDeleteI have watched my husband reunite with a daughter who was gave up for adoption 31 years ago. They share some common traits and their meeting has had a life-changing impact on each of their lives. She was raised from 2 days old by loving parents, but never felt she fit in...and always longed to know her "real" parents. How difficult is it going to be on children old enough to actually remember a family or a home or a culture?
As far as education, I think more people are aware of the importance of college and are pushing it from an early age with their children and there are many more opportunities for children in school. My parents and my husbands parents did not value college and did not even bring the subject up 30 years ago when we were finishing high school. We both raised our children with no doubt that they would go to college and they have all graduated from college recently. His bio daughter was raised by two college graduates and she also completed college. I have an AA degree and have always wished I had gotten my BS so am working towards that goal now.
Nice post - lots of good information. I'm sure you will make a positive difference in many childrens' lives.
This is a really good topic, it's one of my favorite. For sure I have somethings to point out. For starters I think you are doing great job as a teacher by instilling positive attitudes towards your students in regards to school.
ReplyDeleteI can't help but respond to a question in the first paragrapgh (line 8-11)"Will these Haitian children develop as they would have if they stayed in Haiti or will they take a complete turn in their lives now that they are in a new environment?" .To my understanding your answer is we will never know if the adopted children's lives would develop in the same way whether they were adopted and came to the U.S or stayed back in Haiti.
Since I have a different answer than yours I would be more than happy to share it and shed some light on to my side of the matter. I certainly would like to learn of a different perspective from someone else.
Take a moment and think about this, if you change or substitute an ingredient in a simple process of making soup, it might change everything about the soup including color, smell, taste e.t.c, the possibilities may be infinite. Now imagine the complexity when it involves an adopted child's welfare.
I believe without an ounce of doubt that those adopted children's lives will forever be changed, compared to the kids who develop in Haiti whether its for better or worse.
If you compare lives of children who remain in Haiti and those who are adopted and live in U.S. You can be able answer the question. Those children in Haiti (similar to any third world country) have very limited opportunities and resources compared to the adopted children here in the U.S who have unlimited resources, opportunities moral support and infinite amount of help to produce an independent, socially productive citizen.
I absolutely agree with you on environment being a greater influence than the our biological make up. Good topic.
I could talk about this all night, but I've got to stop somewhere.
FROM PATRICIA N. : Indeed, I do not think there is any condition under which natural characteristics can be manifested without nurturing, and no way of nurturing without bringing out natural characteristic's. However, considering many circumstances, I see that environment seems to play a major role in bringing out qualities in people with different genes. In a study made and published in (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia), when a set of twins were trained under the same condition of environment, they developed to have different intelligence. The good environmental conditions helps to bring out the natural traits in people, but different environments bring out different traits. The twins grew to have different traits.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of the children from Haiti, the situation will be more complex and combine with much emotional factors as well. Even though the good environmental factors in The United States are to help with with good development, conditions like the lost of the parental love, change in weather, and total change in environment will slow their development. Again, the children will continue to have post traumatic syndromes for some time because they saw their family members die in the earthquake. It will really take sometime before these children can forget what they saw during the earthquake. It is only after they have forgotten what happened, then will they begin to grow well.
Great post Amanda!
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