poly: Do Parents Matter?

The Aug 17 New Yorker has a provocative article with the
above title. Judith Harris, in an upcoming book "The
Nurture Assumption" argues that parents are largely
irrelevant for kids development, except in choosing their
kid's peer groups. Peer groups are what matter. It makes
a lot of sense, though it strikes deep at my self image
as a parent.

Robin Hanson
hanson@econ.berkeley.edu http://hanson.berkeley.edu/
RWJF Health Policy Scholar, Sch. of Public Health 510-643-1884
140 Warren Hall, UC Berkeley, CA 94720-7360 FAX: 510-643-2627
Received on Tue Aug 18 23:46:11 1998