Throughout our lives we are influenced and taught by many. It can have an effect on the way we view problems and events within public boundaries. One of the most important and most effective influences children have in their lives comes from their families. The family can have both a positive and a negative influence on their lives. To understand my family, try to envision an ideal fifties sitcom family with a nineties attitude. My family consists of two parents, two children and a dog and we all live in a suburban home. My family projects the strongest influence upon me due to the relative isolation of my life in a bland suburban community. There are two very good examples of how my family has influenced me both in a positive and a negative way. In the suburbs of Kansas City I grew up in a very loving, caring, and educating family environment, created by my mother the homemaker. However being in that type of sheltered environment prevented me from seeing the outside world - a!
             n outside world I have only begun to experience in the last few years.
             My family's influence pressures me to conform to an ideal image they hold for me to continue this sheltered suburban lifestyle. When I examine my neighborhood I see many families who, because of opposition and pressure brought upon by society to conform to a projected image, have found themselves selling their values, dreams, and their very lives in order to gain acceptance. They end up living their lives as a shadow of what they could have been, filled with insecurity and regret. I have had to consciously fight this negative influence directed towards my goals in life.
             My parents have influenced how I behave, feel, and act towards the outside world. If a child is brought up with hatred, anger and even violence, they can learn to view the world in a highly negative way, by being dangerous and prejudice towards others. However, if a child is brought up with
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