Home > Work > Show Them You're Good: A Portrait of Boys in the City of Angels the Year before College
1 " response, Carlos could have pointed to almost any parenting book or article regarding fundamental child psychology and habits. His parents read to them and encouraged them to read. They were present without being overbearing. They gave their children time for unstructured play. They emphasized good manners and gratitude. The house rules they instilled—clean rooms, home by nightfall, etc.—made rational sense rather than seeming arbitrarily authoritarian. They let them fail at things and sort through the aftermath independently. They made sure their sons felt comfortable asking for help. They challenged without competing. They set the expectation of good results without qualifying it with rewards and punishment. They never made their kids feel more special or deserving than anyone else they knew. They had family dinners together most every night. During these dinners, they tried to talk about ideas rather than gossip about people. They didn’t complain about their money or circumstances. They didn’t argue beyond marital bickering of the comic variety. They loved one another. "
― Jeff Hobbs , Show Them You're Good: A Portrait of Boys in the City of Angels the Year before College
2 " it was the nature of being a person, and everything they did—every single thing, in school or at home, with others or alone, conscious or unconscious, meaningful or nonsensical, every single thing—was geared toward discovering what exactly it meant to be a person. The meaning would always elude them, because elusiveness was in fact its very heart. "
