Brittany Rexroat 
Lacy Hanson I found the life of Jean- Jacques Rousseau incredibly interesting considering the work he did on raising children. When Rousseau was only nine days old his mother died of fever and I believe that this contributed to his difficulty in raising his own children but it also gave him an interesting perspective on how to educate them properly. As a teenager his father and uncle, practically his only family, disowned him. This also attributed to his insight into parenting.
I find it so interesting that sometimes one only needs to be aware of what is wrong to understand what is right.
Bradye McQueen
6:37 pm, 02.21.11
I definitely agree with your statements. This is one of the most fascinating parts of life. Having resilience and being able to overcome crises and stressor events in life always breeds wisdom and enables a person to be a teacher to others who have not had as much experience. He was a great teacher on parenting because he knew what was absent in his life and should be present in other children’s lives.
Taeyanna Pannell
6:58 pm, 02.21.11
I agree. I mean with all the obstacles that we humans go through shape us into who we will become and how we act in the future towards that thing. The things that we go through help build character in us later in life.
Garrett Beach
7:07 pm, 02.21.11
I find it to be a little bit disturbing/scary how influential this guy was in parenting whenever he never raised any children for himself and also never experienced a proper upbringing. It seems that child rearing should be based on ideas from someone with a little more experience and success.
Natalie Fleet
7:54 pm, 02.21.11
I would agree with Garrett. I think it is so easy for us to say, in theory, how to raise children, but once we’re actually there, it is a completely different ball game. I believe that family is so influential growing up. Although our experiences with our families is not what defines us, but will have a strong influence in our lives.
Myriah Miller
9:18 pm, 02.21.11
I also find it really interesting how he was so influencial in the area of raising children. I have taken several courses on child development, and I have spent a lot of time studying human behavior but I do not have the hands on experience. I think experience is essential in any area before attempting to teach.
Lacy Hanson
9:35 pm, 02.21.11
I totally agree with this and find it almost ironic that he has so much to say about raising children when he didn’t raise his own. Who’s to say that had his mom not died that he would have raised his own children and had different views?
Brittany Rexroat
9:47 pm, 02.21.11
It seems like it would be almost impossible for him to be so in tune with teaching children what is right when he was never given that information as a child. It is amazing to think that his obstacles along with all the ones we face everyday shape us into what we are and will be in the future.
Anna Brinkman
10:39 pm, 02.21.11
I really like the last comment “one only needs to be aware of what is wrong to understand what is right.” I think that sums up Rousseau’s life really well. He saw the wrongs committed around him and the effects they had and took them and ran. He created really great concepts for children despite what he had been given.
Jodi Bell
11:22 pm, 02.21.11
I agree with Anna, I think we are given the experiences in life and choose what lessons we learn from them. While Rousseau was not given the best circumstances in his childhood, from lack of experience, maybe he was too scared to try and raise his own children. He may have not known what to do at the time but he knew what not do to. Which can be equally helpful in my opinion.