Autobiography My name is Michael Smith and I was born on the 30th of August, 1967 in Long Beach, California. My parents were Eddie Smith and Joan Smith. Both of my parents are deceased. My mom died at the age of 57 in 1994 from lung cancer which was the result of smoking her whole lifetime. My father died at the age of 69 in 2006 from a massive heart attack, which was also the likely result from a lifetime of smoking. Fortunately I have been smart enough to avoid that bad habit. My early childhood was a typical middle class environment circa the 1960's. My dad worked for Simpson Buick as a parts salesman and my mom was a stay at home mother. I had a happy, normal childhood as an only child, leaving me somewhat spoiled. My mom and dad divorced when I was eight years old and both remarried within a year or so of the divorce. My dad remained married to my stepmom Bev until his death. My mom would marry two more times. My first stepdad Vince became a big part of my life and I maintained close contact with him until his death in 2006, two days after my real dad died. Yes, that was a very bad week, losing both of my dads. Growing up with split parents was not especially difficult since each of my parents kept me out of their divorce and they got along fine at events where both of them were present. I lived with my mom until I was 16 and in high school. By my sophomore year in high school I had begun to hang around with friends that got me into a lot of trouble with a number of things including smoking pot and drinking. I was rapidly heading down a negative path, but was fortunate enough to notice it before I had done any serious damage. I moved in with my dad and changed high schools and friends. With the fresh start I was able to finish high school without further incident, graduating from Downey High School in 1985. Even with my questionable behavior earlier in my life I had always wanted to become a police officer, which I could not do until I was 21 years of age. So, to kill time and stay out of trouble I joined the United States Army immediately after turning 18. I joined the army and was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia for basic training, advanced infantry training, and finally airborne jump school. After becoming a paratrooper (11B1P, Airborne Infantry) I was assigned to Bravo Company, 2/325th Airborne Infantry Regiment. What stands out the most about my time in the army are the extremes that you are subjected to. Some of my happiest memories and some of my worst memories come from my time in the army. One thing that I am sure of is that it shaped me to become the man that I am now. The army really straightened me out from my troubled teenage years. When I came out of the army I had put on 50 solid pounds and was old enough to attempt to become a police officer. Fresh out of the service I waited on tables and did some bartending while in the ...

1. Autobiography
My name is Michael Smith and I was born on the 30th of
August, 1967 in Long Beach,
California. My parents were Eddie Smith and Joan Smith. Both
of my parents are deceased.
My mom died at the age of 57 in 1994 from lung cancer which
was the result of smoking her
whole lifetime. My father died at the age of 69 in 2006 from a
massive heart attack, which was
also the likely result from a lifetime of smoking. Fortunately I
have been smart enough to avoid
that bad habit.
My early childhood was a typical middle class environment
circa the 1960's. My dad
worked for Simpson Buick as a parts salesman and my mom was
a stay at home mother. I had a
happy, normal childhood as an only child, leaving me somewhat
spoiled. My mom and dad
divorced when I was eight years old and both remarried within a
year or so of the divorce. My
dad remained married to my stepmom Bev until his death. My

2. mom would marry two more
times. My first stepdad Vince became a big part of my life and
I maintained close contact with
him until his death in 2006, two days after my real dad died.
Yes, that was a very bad week,
losing both of my dads.
Growing up with split parents was not especially difficult since
each of my parents kept
me out of their divorce and they got along fine at events where
both of them were present. I
lived with my mom until I was 16 and in high school. By my
sophomore year in high school I
had begun to hang around with friends that got me into a lot of
trouble with a number of things
including smoking pot and drinking. I was rapidly heading
down a negative path, but was
fortunate enough to notice it before I had done any serious
damage. I moved in with my dad and
changed high schools and friends.
With the fresh start I was able to finish high school without
further incident, graduating
from Downey High School in 1985. Even with my questionable

3. behavior earlier in my life I had
always wanted to become a police officer, which I could not do
until I was 21 years of age. So,
to kill time and stay out of trouble I joined the United States
Army immediately after turning 18.
I joined the army and was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia for
basic training, advanced infantry
training, and finally airborne jump school. After becoming a
paratrooper (11B1P, Airborne
Infantry) I was assigned to Bravo Company, 2/325th Airborne
Infantry Regiment.
What stands out the most about my time in the army are the
extremes that you are
subjected to. Some of my happiest memories and some of my
worst memories come from my
time in the army. One thing that I am sure of is that it shaped
me to become the man that I am
now. The army really straightened me out from my troubled
teenage years. When I came out of
the army I had put on 50 solid pounds and was old enough to
attempt to become a police officer.
Fresh out of the service I waited on tables and did some
bartending while in the long
application process for law enforcement. I applied to the Long

4. Beach Police Department, the
Los Angles Police Department, and the California Highway
Patrol. My hope and dream was to
be accepted by the Long Beach Police Department and it came
true for me. I was accepted into
the Long Beach Police Academy on July 10th, 1988. My
military experience definitely made the
police academy much easier for me. I was already conditioned
to withstand the extreme stress of
the police academy. The only difficulty I had in the police
academy was a number of injuries
suffered during it, but I was able to continue in spite of them. I
attribute this to my time in the
army as well because I had learned to "Play through the pain."
During the time that I was in the
police academy I was living with my girlfriend. Shortly after
graduating from the police
academy we made the mistake of getting married. As so
happens in law enforcement we ended
up divorced two years later, which was a mutual decision and
really the best thing for both of us.
Fortunately, (and unlike many other police officers, both male
and female) she is my only ex-

5. wife.
After five months I graduated from the police academy and was
assigned as a police
rookie in training for the Patrol Division. My field training
period went quickly and I was able
to complete field training without any problems. It became
immediately clear to me that I had
made the right career choice. The excitement of being a police
officer lived up to all my
expectations. I literally enjoyed the police work so much that I
looked forward to going to work
and I could not believe that I was getting paid for it. The job
only got better as I became more
experienced, leading to more confidence that I could handle the
job regardless of what came
along.
During my career in law enforcement I worked in patrol as an
officer, later as a field
training officer, and finally as a patrol sergeant. Over the
course of my career I also worked in
detectives, in the Gang Enforcement Section, and as a detective
sergeant. One of the best things
about being a police officer is that once what you are doing

6. becomes routine or boring, you can
change what you are doing. By the time I had been a patrol
officer and field training officer for
five years and beginning to burn out on it I was able to go to
detectives. This gave me a new
dimension of experience and I learned a lot during my years as
a detective, particularly while I
was assigned to the Gang Enforcement Section. I did this for
several years and eventually
became an acting detective sergeant in gangs.
After my time in detectives and the Gang Enforcement Section
I decided to return to the
patrol division as a patrol sergeant. Of all of the assignments I
had as a police officer being a
patrol sergeant was easily my favorite. In law enforcement
sergeants are the middle men in
between the patrol officers (aka "The Troops") and the
lieutenants and above (aka "The Brass").
Unlike many careers where being the middle man is a bad thing
("Being stuck in the middle"), in
law enforcement I found the opposite to be true. As a patrol
sergeant you don't get stuck with

7. the routine paper calls that the patrol officers do, but you can
still handle calls that are
interesting, require a supervisor, or are more complicated.
While being a sergeant does bring
around a lot of paperwork, it is still less than the ranks above
you often have to handle.
My retirement from law enforcement came sooner than I would
have liked because of a
number of injuries sustained in the line of duty. The primary of
these injuries required having
my spine fused at the L5-S1. This injury alone was enough to
end my law enforcement career. I
miss my time in law enforcement nearly every day. But, I try to
look at it as getting to do a
whole career of doing something that I loved. My father
worked at the same place for 30 years
and hated every day of it. I got to spend a slightly shortened
career doing something I loved.
Since my retirement I have run a private investigations
company that I built from the
ground up. I'm now going to school for a bachelor's degree in
psychology and will move on to a
master's degree afterwards. I am planning to go into counseling
for police officers and military

8. veterans. Both police and military are fields that are likely to
cause the need for counseling, but
each of those careers are often closed to outsiders. As a veteran
of both the military and law
enforcement I believe that I have the insight to be helpful to
both groups, and share a common
ground with them that may make it easier for them to open up to
me.
I will close out this autobiography with the most important
thing in my life, my family. I
am married to my best friend, Amanda. We knew each other
and were just close friends for the
first five or six years but we became a couple nine years ago
and have been married for eight
years. Neither of us can have children, but we have a large
family of dogs and cats that are our
"kids." All of our animals are rescues, some of which we have
bottle fed from birth when the
animal's mother died during birth. It makes us a happy, close
knit pack of two people, three
dogs, and two cats.

9. IT 340 Module Two Interview Assignment Guidelines and
Rubric
What an exciting opportunity. The Newton Ad Agency is
thinking big and planning ahead. Newton has launched Vision
2020, an initiative for strategic U.S. and
international expansion. As part of this initiative, Newton is
hiring recent graduates, including those with a sound knowledge
of information technology (IT). You
have submitted your résumé and applied for the position of
Junior Network Administrator with this firm.
A few days later, you received some welcome news: You have
been selected for an interview. The interview will be conducted
by a four-member panel that
includes two network administrators (Jim and Jenna), the IT
manager (John), and a business analyst (Marie).
The panel has requested your response to the following
questions:
computer network?
(IPv4) IP address?
strator assign static IP
addresses to network devices?
As you can see, this panel is asking you to demonstrate an
ability to explain some fundamentals of networking and network

10. management that you have engaged
in throughout this course. While the first question is rather
broad, the others are more specific. Two of the questions ask
you to put yourself in the place of a
network administrator and explain how specific situations or
business cases may lead to choices about networking.
While the content you have engaged in TestOut can serve as
background knowledge for this assignment, you need to extend
it and prepare for the interview
with additional research from scholarly sources and cite at least
one scholarly source beyond TestOut. For instance, while
TestOut is great place to discover basic
information to answer the first question on the foundations of
networking, you may add nuance and further detail from
additional research as experts and
scholars debate key concepts. Information from nonacademic
sources, such as Wikipedia, are not appropriate for this
assignment.
For the purpose of this assignment, you will provide your
answers in writing. Keep in mind that you need to demonstrate
knowledge and explain your reasoning
in a clear manner that the panelists can easily recognize.
Therefore, this needs to be your best writing. It should be clear,
concise, well-reasoned, and well-
supported with appropriate APA citations.
Study the rubric below as it will show you the critical elements
that the panelists (and your instructor) will expect to see in your
work.
Rubric
Guidelines for Submission: Your interview assignment must be

11. submitted as a Word document. It must be about 2 pages in
length. Use double spacing, 12-point
Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, and at least one
scholarly source cited in APA format.
You will need to cite TestOut as a source as well. Here is a tip
on how to do it. In APA style, web resources such as TestOut
and other electronic sources falls
under the category of “nonperiodical web document.” Be sure to
include the title of the TestOut page that you are citing.
Instructor Feedback: This activity uses an integrated rubric in
Blackboard. Students can view instructor feedback in the Grade
Center. For more information,
review these instructions.
Critical Elements Attempted With Minimal or No
Functional Issues (100%)
Attempted With Significant Functional
Issues (75%)
Was Not Evident In Submission (0%) Value
Foundational Concepts of
Networking
Accurately describes significant

12. foundational concepts of networking
with minimal or no issues in
communicating description
Describes foundational concepts but
lacks some significant concepts or
details, or has inaccuracies in
communicating description
Does not describe foundational concepts
in networking
20
Foundational Components
of Networks
Accurately lists and describes
foundational components of networks
with minimal or no issues in listing or
describing components
Describes foundational components but
lacks some significant components or has
inaccuracies in describing components
Does not describe key foundational
components of networks
20
Components of an IPv4 IP
Address
Accurately Identifies all components of
IPv4 IP addresses

13. Accurately identifies some, but not all,
components of IPv4 IP addresses
Does not identify components of IPv4 IP
addresses
25
Assigning Static IP Addresses Correctly identifies and clearly
explains
when to assign static IP addresses
Identifies when to assign IP addresses,
but the identification is partial or the
explanation is incorrect, unclear, or
incomplete
Does not identify or explain when to
assign static IP addresses
25
Articulation of Response Submission has no major errors related
to grammar, citations, spelling, syntax, or
organization
Submission has major errors related to
grammar, citations, spelling, syntax, or
organization that negatively impact
readability and articulation of main ideas
Submission has critical errors related to
grammar, citations, spelling, syntax, or
organization that prevent understanding
of ideas

14. 10
Total 100%
Did you know you can access basic information on APA style,
and other style systems, at the Online Writing Lab at Purdue
University?
http://snhu-
media.snhu.edu/files/production_documentation/formatting/rubr
ic_feedback_instructions_student.pdf
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
Experiential Learning Essay Template
Experiential Learning Essay Template
Review this check list in prior to submitting your experiential
learning essay. If you have completed all of the items listed
below, you are ready to submit your essay. Keep in mind, your
evaluator may still request additional material, however, the list
below will guide in your essay submission preparations. Not
adhering to these guidelines will cause a delay in processing.
** Review each of the items below and check if you have
completed each of them:
1. I have selected an approved essay topic from the essay course
descriptions page.
http://www.phoenix.edu/admissions/prior_learning_assessment/
experiential-essays/essay-topics.html
2. Some essays have specific experience requirements. I have

15. checked the essay description and I meet all of the experience
requirements listed.
3. I have written and included a 1,500 to 2,100 word
autobiography; autobiography is only required with first
Experiential Learning Essay, subsequent essays do not require
additional autobiographies.
4. I have written an experiential essay: 3,000 to 4,500 words for
3 credit essay
5. My essay is written in first person (1st) without references.
6. I have written to all four (4) areas of Kolb’s model of
learning.
7. I have addressed all of the required subtopics in each of the
four areas of Kolb’s model of learning.
8. I have included supporting documentation that validates my
personal/professional experience with the essay course
description/topic.
9. My essay is based on personal, life learning experiences, not
based on research, history, or another individual’s learning
experiences.
Kolb’s Model
Below is a description of Kolb’s Model. All experiential essays
must be written following Kolb’s Model. Below
you will find the four sections of Kolb’s Model, a brief
description of the section, and a sample of how that
section should be addressed. The samples are pulled from the
sample essay found on the PLA website, and it is recommended
that you review the sample essay for a more complete example
of how to write an experiential essay in Kolb’s Model. The
words on this page do not count toward the essay length
requirement.
1. Description of Concrete Experience
Description: Concrete experience represents your personal
participation with the people, places, activities, and events of an
experience. You should describe your involvement relative to
the experience, demonstrating the opportunity for learning.

16. Sample: My career in public relations started off as a staff
assistant in the Public Information Office of a community
college system. After two years of on-the-job training, I was
promoted to the position of community relations officer.
2. Reflections
Description: Reflections represent your thinking and processing
relative to the experience. You should demonstrate your
learning by describing the knowledge, skills, and attitudes
developed through the reflective process.
Sample: I have observed that some organizations are very good
at garnering free publicity. They appear at local events and
frequently appear as experts in television and newspaper
interviews.
3. Generalizations/Principles/Theories
Description: Generalizations, principles, and theories are
constructs that organize and guide academic learning. A typical
college course is built around several such generalizations,
principles, and/or theories.
In this stage, you identify and describe the generalizations,
principles, and/or theories to demonstrate your learning
outcomes. These learning outcomes result from analyzing and
reflecting on your experience. The generalizations, principles,
and/or theories should be comparable to those addressed in
typical college courses and should match the course description
selected.
Sample: Whether working with large or small one-owner
organizations, it makes no difference in establishing rules,
guidelines, or policies regarding image and public relations.
Developing a detailed plan of action makes it much easier to
schedule and implement appropriate applicable strategies.
4. Testing and Application
Description: Testing and/or application represent situations in
which the new learning can be used. You should describe how
you did, or could in the future, test and/or apply what you
learned.
Sample: A fun promotional idea that emerged as a by-product

17. profit center for the bookstore was t-shirts.
We printed t-shirts with the bookstore logo on the back with
advertisements for the bookstore on the front.
Name:
Kellee D. Salas
Date:
March18, 2018
Individual Record Number:
200227230
Approved Essay Title:
Parenting
Enter your name, the date, your IRN, and the approved essay
title of the essay topic you have chosen from the
PLA website. When you are ready to begin writing the essay,
type out the essay subtopics as they appear in the essay course
description, and follow the four steps of Kolb’s model.
Describe the experiences that taught you about the subtopic,
reflect on that experience, explain the principles learned, and
then explain how those principles were tested and applied. You
are then ready to move on to the next subtopic. Follow this
process until you meet the length requirement, and have
addressed all required subtopics. *Word count begins at the first
subtopic.
Subtopic (1): Discuss the development of parenting skills
Description of Concrete Experience: Parenting is critical when
it comes to the development and growth of children. Parents are
very crucial in the lives of their children. Having the necessary
parenting skills is therefore essential in ensuring that the life
cycle of children has been successful. There are various stages
which are involved in developing parenting skills. Mostly this
occurs to first time parents who have to learn how to deal with
their kids. According to Kolb, the first step is the concrete

18. experience. This is a stage where the parent can learn through
engaging in parenting activities. This is where a parent will
experience what being a father or a mother means. They will
have to deal with their children. The participation in parenting
helps in developing parenting skills.
Reflections: When the parents are involved in bringing their
children up, they learn how to love them, how to discipline their
kids, how to direct them and how to teach them what is good
and what is bad. There are many mistakes during the concrete
experience, but one finally learns. This is a point where the
parents start to ponder on the experience they have had with
parenting. Reflective observation helps a parent to be able to
observe the parenting environment from different perspectives
before making any judgment. This helps one to be able to
understand things more clearly, and also it helps one to see
more clearly what they could have done.
Generalizations, Principles, and Theories: There is also the
stage of conceptualization when generalizations, principles, and
theories are developed. This occurs after deep reflection has
been done and one then makes a logical analysis of ideas which
have been designed. This analysis helps one to form a
hypothesis and principles regarding parenting. One is therefore
able to make a rational analysis of the necessary parenting skills
which will influence the lives of their kids positively.
Testing and Application: The last stage is active
experimentation where one puts into action the principle and
theories which have been developing. This is the point where
the methods of parenting skills are tested. The new capabilities
learned, designed and created are put to the test, and they are
applied in real parenting life. This is how parenting skills are
developed. Leaning is a process which occurs over time.
Subtopic (2): Parental values and attitudes that accompany
stages in the development of the child
Description of Concrete Experience: There are various parental
values and attitudes which children learn and adapt as they
grow. Parents are the primary teachers of their children. As

19. indicated earlier, children can learn more from their
surrounding and also from their parents. The first parenting
value is that of trust. Children develop confidence with their
parents when they are young. This makes them believe that
everything that their parents do or say is the right thing. This
makes children depend on their parents. There is a bond
between parents and their children.
During their early days, kids will only trust their parents, and
they will just rely on their parents to provide for them and also
to protect them from any harm. The level of trust, therefore,
affects the development of a child. Research has indicated that
when kids are not able to trust at their early days, they might
have trust issues during their adult life. As the children believe
their parents, they are also able to share with their parents the
various problems and challenges they face in life as they grow
up. This gives the parents an opportunity to provide counsel to
their kids and also to provide direction which will lead to good
behavior. Trust is, therefore, a principal parenting value for
children growth and development.
Reflections: As these kids grow, the values change, and they
need to be taught how to be honest, how to have integrity, be
responsible and accountable for their actions. Parents are
expected to be responsible and liable. Responsibility means that
the parents understand that they are supposed to provide for
their children, and they are supposed to take care of the needs
of their children. Responsibility is one of the critical values of
parenting which affects the development of a child in a
significant way. Most parents learn how to be responsible when
they get their first child through experience. They then reflect
on the various challenges they have faced and the decisions they
have made. The parents then decide on the best way to remain
responsive to their children. Then, parents can put into practice
the principles of responsibility that they have been able to
develop relating to parenting.
Generalizations, Principles, and Theories: Children consider
their parents as role models, and they will do what their parents

20. are doing. Parents, therefore, has to ensure that the values they
exhibit are values which will lead to ethical behavior. As
children develop, they can relate to and understand the various
actions and attitudes which are shown by their parents and also
the society. This is the reason why the environment in which a
child is brought in is said to affect them most. Parents should,
therefore, have values and attitudes about life which will have a
positive impact on their children. There are some attitudes
which teach children to be positive and to face life with courage
and confidence. These attitudes help a child to grow and to
develop and advance in life. For example, when a parent is
always positive about life, and they are remaining optimistic
that the problems facing them will come to an end, the children
are taught to have the same attitude towards life. This makes
one keen to meet challenges and problems in life.
Testing and Application: When children develop to become
teenagers, they need to learn values of hard work, making
decisions and also to remain responsible. Kids, therefore,
determine values through observation and they later implement
those values and attitudes as they advance in years. Learning
through observation and experiencing their parents and
guardians apply these values in real life is a way which ensures
that one has been able to look at life differently. Parenting
values will, therefore, accompany the different stages of
childhood development. It is, therefore, necessary for parents to
be aware of the parental values and attitudes which will
positively affect their children. Parents are supposed to ensure
that they have been able to give the best for their children. This
is because the children are the leaders of the society and they
are also expected to be a future generation.
Subtopic (3): Methods of Effective Guidance
Description of Concrete Experience: Children need guidance so
that they can be able to develop behavior which is ethical and
also develop values and attitudes which are helpful in their
lives. There are various methods which can be used by parents
to ensure that adequate guidance has been administered to their

21. children. One of the ways is to provide that rules have been set
positively. Children should not be made to see governments as
being confident and not forceful. For example, one could tell a
child “please walk” instead of saying “don’t try run.” This helps
children to be willing to follow the instructions which are given
to them. The way a direction or guidance is provided is very
critical.
Reflections: Another method is to understand and validate the
feelings of the child. When one wants children to line up for
biscuits, and some children want to jump others, one could say
that “I understand that it’s hard to wait, but even the others are
waiting too.” This makes it easy to relate to the children, and
hence the guidance offered is easily followed.
Generalizations, Principles, and Theories: When giving
instructions and rules, children need to understand why they are
not allowed to do some things and why they are required to
behave in a certain way. When children feel that they can relate
to their parents and guardians, they are included to have their
behavior.
Testing and Application: A parent should also reinforce good
behavior. This can occur through appreciating a good act. When
a child observes the rules and behaves in the right way, they can
be bought a candy to show appreciation. In the same manner,
the guardian or parent should also be able to punish bad
behavior. However, the punishment should not be harsh.
Sometimes is also necessary to ignore the non-disruptive
inappropriate behavior. Some children believe that the only way
they can be able to receive attention is through some action.
Once they can earn too much attention through that behavior,
they will always behave in the same way to gain attention.
Practical guidance is necessary since it allows children to grow
in the right direction and they can adapt and learn how to
behave ethically, have ethical values and attitudes.
Subtopic (4): The role of discipline; compare and contrast
control with punishment

22. Description of Concrete Experience: Discipline is very critical
in the life cycle of a human being. We need training in our daily
lives, and we also need to train and teach kids on how to be
disciplined. A person who is disciplined can learn by following
set rules or codes of conduct, thus allowing them to have
structure. For example, children can be taught on how to have
discipline in the area of remaining clean. This ensures that
children are conscious of washing their hands, cleaning their
bodies and providing that they are always clean. The critical
thing is that discipline is taught. When one is disciplined, it
means that they have been able to learn to follow certain set
standards. For example, at school, students are considered to be
disciplined when they follow school rules and regulations.
Students who listen and follow what their teachers and seniors
say are also believed to be disciplined.
One can also have a personal discipline which allows one to
follow a specific behavior and also to have some values and
attitudes. For example, one can decide that they will be waking
up at 6 a.m. to exercise. If one can maintain the process of
waking up at the set time, they are therefore said to have self-
discipline. There are also those who can discipline themselves
to wash their hands before consuming anything. This is also a
discipline which is related to hygiene.
Reflections: There is a difference between discipline and
punishment, and there are also some similarities. Discipline
aims at teaching a person on how they can be able to follow
certain standards and observe various principles. This can be
done through teaching them, through lecturing, and also through
concrete experience. After the concrete experience, one can
reflect, make logical analysis and then implement what they
have been able to learn. On the other hand, punishment is aimed
at inflicting pain. Some parents think punishing their children is
the only way to discipline them. Punishment is a way of
instilling suffering on a person for their past mistakes.
Punishment is also inflicting pain and fear because of the
previous mistakes which have been done, with the intention of

23. ensuring that those mistakes have not been repeated. Discipline,
on the other hand, does not inflict pain or fear but it aims at
changing one’s behavior towards various actions and issues.
Generalizations, Principles, and Theories: However, they are
both focused on changing the behavior of a person. Punishment
can, however, lead to psychological, physical and emotional
torture which can affect the development of a person. This is
because there are different ways through which punishment is
carried out. There are those parents who are harsh, and they
punish their children by beating them. This can cause pain and
physical damage. Torture can also lead to emotional trauma.
There are those who carry out punishment through denying their
children food. Other children are isolated from the rest of the
people, and some are rejected their leisure activities.
Testing and Application: All these punishments are aimed at
teaching the children a lesson which they are not supposed to
forget. Some children, therefore, ensure that they behave in the
right way so that they can avoid punishment. Thus, there is a
vast difference between punishing people to alter their behavior
and teaching one to be disciplined. Parents are urged to focus
mainly on discipline. Parents should ensure that children have
been able to learn the various acts which are acceptable and the
behaviors which are beneficial to one’s life. Control is essential
to the success of a person in life and also in a career. For one to
have a successful career, they must remain disciplined to
complete tasks, year to learn and stay flexible. This is a clear
indication that discipline is highly needed in the lives of human
beings.
Subtopic (5): Constructive and destructive elements in parenting
styles: categories of parenting styles
Description of Concrete Experience: Parents have different
styles of bringing up their kids. Some of the parenting styles are
destructive while some have constructive elements. The various
parenting styles include authoritarian, authoritative,
permissive/indulgent, uninvolved parenting. The authoritarian

24. parenting ensures that there are strict rules which have been set
and they must be followed. One of the destructive components
of this style is that communication is usually one way. This
means that the parent sets the rules and they communicate these
rules to the child. The child is not supposed to argue or
complain about the set rules. They are only expected to follow
the rules and not to complain about them. Authoritarian
parenting also does not take the feelings of the child into
account. This means that the parents have no time to understand
their children and understand what they need. Parents act as if
they know what the best for their child is. The breaking of rules
has severe consequences and punishment is part of parenting
with authoritarian parents.
Reflections: There is also the authoritative parenting where
parents are reasonable. In this style, the constructive element is
that the parent can set rules and they are also able to explain the
reason why kids have to follow those rules. This means that the
rules which are set by the parents take the feelings, emotions,
and welfare of the child into account. There are also cases
where rewarding positive behavior is done. This occurs where
children behave and act according to the rules, and they impress
their parents.
Generalizations, Principles, and Theories: Parents also ensure
that they have encouraged their children and they have been
able to spend time with them. Providing that one has been able
to spend time together with their kids is a valuable component
of authoritative parenting style. Expectations are high but they
are always well stated, and direction is given. Reliable is,
therefore, a preferred parenting style as it ensures that kids
grow when they are courageous, brave and disciplined.
Testing and Application: There is also the permissive parenting
where parents usually let their kids do what they want. This is
dangerous since the child can lack direction. Parents depend on
the judgment of their children. In most cases, parents who are
permissive don’t want to annoy their children. They allow them
to do whatever they want. Rules might be set but not followed.

25. Parents are not keen on enforcing the rules. They expect their
children to know what is best for their lives. There is also the
uninvolved parenting where a parent does not get involved in
the activities and life of their children which can hurt the
growth of the kid. This kind of parenting is the worst. It means
that the parents are not interested in the behavior of their
children. Uninvolved parents are not aware of what decisions
their children make and what actions they take. This makes
children grow without direction and with no one to look up into.
The children have too much freedom which is easily misused.
Subtopic (6): Challenges to responsible and effective parenting
Description of Concrete Experience: There are various
challenges to parenting. One of the main problems is having a
non-conducive environment to the development of the children.
Children can learn from their peers and also from the society
members. There are some communities where children are
influenced by their peers to join some gangs and also to engage
in some behaviors which are unethical.
Reflections: There is also a case where some of the children are
rebellious, and they are not ready to listen to their parents. Peer
pressure is one of the circumstances which lead to rebellion.
This mostly occurs when a child is moving to early adulthood
which is during adolescent stage. Most parents have a hard time
ensuring that their children remain discipline. Some are
influenced negatively, and they are also engaged in substance
abuse.
Generalizations, Principles, and Theories: Another challenge is
lack of time. Some parents lack time to be with their kids. The
economic environment in the society has created this challenge.
Parents have to work hard to ensure that they have provided for
their children and also for the whole family. As a result, most
parents are unable to balance their work and their personal and
family life. As a result, they are unable to learn what their kids
want hence they are unable to guide and direct their children
adequately.

26. Testing and Application: Parenting is therefore sometimes hard,
but it’s possible to bring up kids in the right way. Parents
should ensure that they have been able to learn through
experience. They should then reflect on the experience they
have had with their kids. This helps them to develop various
theories and principles which can be used in the actual
upbringing of these children. After forming the logical
conclusions, they then test and experiment with their ideas. This
process ensures that children have grown in the right way.
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