Influence is a word that can explain many things in today's world. Influence explains why people do the things they do. A child's influence on how he/she perceives life will stay with them for the rest of his/her life. But a more important question to ask is where does that influence come. Does it come from the parents of that child or does it come from that child's peer group. Although children are influenced from the outside world, ultimately a child learns right from wrong, good from bad, love and caring from their parents. I hope to prove to you, the reader, that influence, does in fact, come from the parents more than what people think.

First, we must talk about the influence that comes genetically. The parents DNA already have influenced a child from birth. The child can be shy, outgoing, perceptive, or absent-minded, but those characteristics will be shown later in the child's lifetime. If you look at a family, you can tell what types of characteristics the children have. Then you can ask the parents who in their family have those same traits. I am sure that the parents can think of someone in their family, if not them self, to answer that question. What

about the influence a child receives after birth, if any, from their parents.

Right after birth takes place, the mother typically shows the child love by holding the baby, kissing it, singing it to bed, etc. Showing a child love from the day the child is born and continuously throughout childhood, will have a better positive effect on the child later in their own life. Judith Rich Harris, in her book "The Nurture Assumption: Why Children Turn Out the Way They Do; Parents Matter Less The You Think and Peers Matter More" believes that the love a parent gives has no effect on the child later in life. So far, to this day, studies show that if a parent show love and support towards their child, that child becomes less aggressive says John Gottman of the University of Washington. To quote Rosie O'Donnell in the Newsweek article, The Parent Trap, of September 7, 1998 on page 58, "You're born with a personality that's defined by the tenderness, love, support, and care you're give." She also goes on to say, "...Children could just be born and put in day care and become who they are. But that negates the value of love." O'Donnell believes that the love a parent gives to their child is the foundation of that child's personality. Her thoughts along with other scientists, parents, and young adults around the world suggest that parents do influence the children of today.

Another influence that parents have on their children is the teaching of right from wrong. Parents teach their kids that stealing is bad or hurting another person is wrong. Parents also teach their children that helping another person is

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