Nature Vs. Nurture

What are your beliefs about Nature vs. Nurture?
* Which has a greater impact? Why?
* Prenatel- 1st year; what's the impact of nature vs. nurture?
* Give examples of how "nurture" has influenced the way you have developed.

I believe that you are born with a certain amount of things you'll use throughout your life but the way you'll use them may differ depending upon your environment and what you witness in your surroundings as time goes on. People are influenced by so many different things throughout their lifespan, how they choose to accept what they're hit with is the result of what they already know and what they'll find out later on. When a person is born, they have different "wires" that'll eventually be used once they come in contact with a specific situation. These wires have a "fork" in the road, each person must go on and figure out what road to take. But when it comes to people you meet, situations you've come in contact with, and you're own personal thoughts these definitely have an effect on you and how you perceive yourself. In my own personal opinion, I believe that nurture has a greater impact. I believe people are only born with so many things, the rest is like an unfinished novel, you must read on to find out the end product. I believe this because you don't come into this world already knowing everything, with life comes uncontrollable knowledge and people will hopefully leave this world with mind blowing education.

Prenatal- 1st Year; This time period is just as important as the following years. Prenatal is the time where the mom is the person held responsible for how we turn out (but not necessarily in all cases). The way she takes care of herself such as a healthy/unhealthy diet, exercising/not exercising, not doing drugs and alcohol/doing drugs and alcohol, etc. Everything she puts into her body is going to affect how the baby will turn out on D day. Even to those who believe the baby is always listening during the time inside mommy's tummy, making sure language is right when she's around different people. Now going into the months following birth all the way to end of the first year, this still relies on who's taking care of the baby and the situations the baby will be put through that will affect his/her emotional as well as physical impact. If a baby is around second-hand smoke this could affect the way they grow up by thinking it's ok to smoke. If a baby is brought up in a house where all they do is cuss and fight, this will affect how he/she will act in later years and will also possibly show the outcome of their first words... As for the baby's diet, they need to eat around 4 times a day depending on their schedule and the phase of life they're in. They need to get enough sleep and have play time with other children, they need to be punished for wrong-doing, etc. Nature vs. nurture plays a key role in the time period of prenatal-1st year, this is the most precious time to teach them what's wrong from right and what's healthy for them.

In my own case, I've had to go through many painful situations and, of course, even happy situations to become the person I am today. I know my life is not yet over, and hopefully isn't for a while, but I feel like im already so educated on the world around me and I have yet to learn even more. As an infant i know im the "innocent" one so I assume that how my mom and dad, and even sisters took care of me have a huge impact on the person I am today. I'm not quite sure what traits I got from my dad and mom, but I know we share a lot in common. My mom has a small glass of wine each night to unwind from the long day she had, I completely understand that- a mother of 8 and all the treacherous activities that have to do with that and also with outside babies coming in for the daycare, she deserves that glass of wine. My dad on the other hand doesn't drink at all and hasn't taken a drink of alcohol for 20 years and won't until my youngest brother graduates high school. He says he wants to set a good example for us and i respect that. They have also taught us that family and relationships are very important and always comes first. In school when we try our hardest, that's all we can do and they support and respect our effort. Friends- good and bad, have taught me so much in my 15 years here on earth. I will be meeting even more people and i will most likely learn from them as well. You can't learn all of this when you're protected inside mommy's tummy, so sooner or later you have to get out and explore your surroundings and learn from them!