Journey from Sports to Youtube

There are many influences on one's development beginning at pre-birth and throughout life. There is heredity, socioeconomics, culture, family, historical events, choices, external influences, not to mention the numerous terms used by those in the Human Development field. And then for the guys, there are sports, toughness, trucks, loud music, bonding, competitiveness, peer group pressures, etc. In this assignment, I will identify and discuss specific aspects of my life experiences and how they impacted my development and some of the challenges that lie ahead regarding this.

It is important to note the historical advent and critical role that technology has today in young people's lives. It further exposes young people to influences beyond their home communities and the impacts of this on one's development remain to be determined as technology continues to advance. In today's times, many people want to be able to and can stay in touch and connect with others all the time, anywhere on the globe. This is another aspect of development that should be of concern to all of us--this notion of lack of personal contact for socializing. From the advancement of video game systems and cell phones, one doesn't really ever need to leave the house to keep in touch with others. These advances will undoubtedly continue throughout the course of human development. With these changes comes changes in cultures, traditions, and gender roles, for example, the use of slang today, the types of entertainment we engage in now, or the role the media has in forming how people are expected to look and behave.

The question I have is how to know that the kind of upbringing I've had is one that can continue to be directed by well intentioned parents and family members, when so much of what children see and do today is with the touch of their fingers in their own privacy. In many ways, I've been lucky; from what I have experienced through my childhood and into early adulthood, I had parents who felt strongly about continuing their interests through their child that set the tone for the kinds of things I was involved in. This is a representation of the genotype-environment correlation discussed on page 80 of our text (Human Development, tenth edition). For me growing up, I was encouraged and influenced to be involved in sports and physical activity because my father was a sports fanatic. He took me to many fields and courts to participate and enhance the plasticity (the modifiability of performance, pg. 21 of the text) of my athleticism. He constantly provided me with those types of opportunities. This is a perfect example of passive correlations which states that "Parents who provide the genes that predispose a child toward a trait, also tend to provide an environment that encourages the development of that trait." (As cited in Papalia. D, Olds, pg. 80). My father was one of the biggest role models for me early on in life which serves as another example of me partaking in the "Social Learning Theory" in that "behaviors are learned by observing and imitating models"(Papalia. D, Olds, pg. 36). Another influence was the many children I grew up with who were also into sports and by observing and socializing with them, I stayed involved. Observational Learning is a part of the Social Learning Theory, the process of learning by observing the behaviors of others and imitating them (pg. 36).

The cultural assumptions for males today portrays them as tough, to stick up for themselves when the time comes, or to not cry because it is recognized as "wimpy". As young boys, we are expected to play with trucks and machines, competitive entertainment, video game systems and not Barbie dolls or easy bake ovens.

As technology and gaming systems have continued to advance, the violence of some games has evolved and is now more realistic which can have very bad influences on young children. When I