What is the problem? This case tells a story of pants, in which Nathan is the main character and sufferer.

Nathan, an eleven year old boy, went out shopping with his mother and was caught by a pair red, faux-leather pants. The pants, which Nathan thought was cool, turned out to be odd and shocking to his mother, who refused buying it first but finally purchased it for his son. Delightedly, Nathan went to school with his new red pants, hoping to win his peers compliment but only received their responses and sarcasms. The story ends in his feeling uncomfortable and regretful. The problem, as I could tell, was caused by Nathan, his mother and his peers. What are your hypotheses (why is the problem occurring)? I would like to have two hypotheses explaining why the problem was happening. y first hypothesis was that this pants incident was partially caused by Nathan!s mother. If his mother had never agreed to his re"uest for the pants, this incident could have been avoided and he would not have been teased by his peers. #hy, we might wonder, did she refuse in the beginning and give her approval at last$ %robably, the answer lies in her Dimensions of &hild 'earing and how she transmits values and standards. (ccording to the investigators, who study the patterns of child rearing, find it useful to categori)e parents into two broad dimensions* warmth-coldness and restrictiveness-permissiveness (Baumrind, 1989, 1991a, 1991b, 2005). #arm parents are affectionate, caring and supportive of their children (Spencer, A. Rathus, Child and Ad lescence ! "a#es in $e%el pment). In this case, Nathan!s mother could be considered a warm parent, who was supportive of his pants purchase and picked his son up timely when he needed a ride home. oreover, let!s see how she transmitted

values and standards to Nathan. In this pant story, we could also read of his

mother!s permission but not control over his son. %arents, as +aumrind indicated, could be permissive as opposed to restrictive. To some extent, I would like to put here, that she was a permissive parent, who was rated low in her controlling her son. ,er permissive-indulgent behaviors possibly spoiled her son and when her son asked for something, she might never fail to gratify his wish. -econdly, Nathan!s peers should be responsible for the occurrence of this incidence. Nathan is in a transition between childhood to adolescence, in which the role of peers as a source of activities, influence and support keeps increasing through the teen years (Spencer, A. Rathus, Child and Ad lescence ! "a#es in $e%el pment). Therefore, it is necessary to take a close look at Nathan!s peers! role in the analysis of this pants case. Nathan was eager to show off his new pants to his peers, because adolescents are much more likely to address the importance of acceptance of acceptance, close self-disclosure and mutual understanding (& n'ale' et al., 200(). oreover, Nathan was affected more by

his peers! remarks than his mother!s .udgment, for peers provide a criterion by which adolescents could measure their behaviors as they begin to gain independence from the family () ster*Clar+,bl"th, 1991). Thus, my conclusion is that it was his peers! negative remarks that turned Nathan down and interfered in his .udgment.

What is your plan of action (what can you do to fix the problem)? I have three plans in handling this problem. / 0ive her mother some advice in dealing with similar issues. Nathan!s mother was a permissive-indulgent parent, which was not a bad thing, but being too permissive only spoils the child and might be harmful for his psychological development. y suggestion is that she would better be an authoritative parent in

times of need instead of being over permissive-indulgent. Take this case for example. -he could turn his son!s plea for pants down with good reasons. +eing authoritative not only prevents the reoccurrence of similar cases but also helps kids academically, for the children of authoritative parents are highly motivated and do well in school ( Baumrind, 1989,1991b-&rusec,200.). 1 0ive Nathan some advice on choosing clothes. #e could read in this case that Nathan has a special preference for clothes, which shocked his mother and brought him his peer!s .eers. The possible solution might be that when buying clothes, he could buy more manly clothes instead of gender-confusing ones, which causes less misunderstanding among his peers. 2 ,elp build harmonious relationship between him and his peers. It is never enough to emphasi)e the role of good friendship. (s +erndt and +ukowski discovered (Berndt, 1992- Bu+ /s+i 0t al., 1991b), it is more likely that teenagers with intimate friends show advanced stages of identity development. (s a teacher, I will have a talk with Nathan!s peers and remind them it is incorrect to make fun of his wearing. Instead, as friends, they can give their kind, friendly suggestion rather than be that mean towards him. (s soon as good, true friendship is built, Nathan will turn to his peers for help but not be teased by them.

What are some challenges to your strategies/plans of action? y first challenge might come from Nathan!s mother. It is difficult, or even, to some degree, impossible to change ones! character. -ince his mother has been a permissive-indulgent one for a long time, she might be struggling in switching from being permissive-indulgent to authoritative. y other concern is from

Nathan, who might be still persistent in his preference for clothes and refuses to changes.