On 9/17/2015 1:08 AM, Don Y wrote:
On 9/16/2015 10:54 PM, Muggles wrote:
On Wed, 16 Sep 2015 22:27:08 -0700, Don Y
wrote:
Just because it's a deep subject doesn't mean all
the possible scenarios are good reason to do
nothing or say nothing. Don't you agree?

Sure! The problem becomes one of consistency: how do you rationalize
THIS
but not THAT?

It's an argument any one of us could easily bring up. I could argue your
points just as easily as my own. As far as cigarette smoking goes, I
think
it's been established that it causes disease, so that would be grounds
for a
legitimate complaint against it's use. It doesn't fall into the same
categories
that you've been arguing as far as I can tell.

Does the emotional/psychological environment that a child is raised in
affect his/her "mental health" down the road? Behavior patterns?

It does affect the child, but the child also has a choice how they will
respond.

Do the "examples" that parents place in front of their kids through
their "formative years" effectively *teach* bad or destructive
behaviors/habits?

It can and often does. Again, the result is based on choice.

Do parents with eating disorders effectively impose
those disorders on their kids? Effectively leading their kids to have
the same sorts of health problems later in life? Does promiscuous
behavior lead to kids adopting similar lifestyle risks?

Not necessarily. Everything after the point of influence is a choice.

Inhaling cigarette smoke of parents isn't a choice for kids. It's
forced on them to inhale because of living in proximity of the adults
who smoke. The result of inhaled second hand smoke causes physical
illness and disease. Everything you listed thus far involves an element
of choice by the kids who are exposed vs. no choice in being exposed to
a dangerous carcinogen.

[kids are an easy example because they represent a population that
typically are not independant actors -- they are effectively captive to
the influences of their parents while "growing up"]

Being "influenced" by parents or others still allows for individual
choice. Being exposed to second hand smoke removes all choice.

--
Maggie