“I wanna be like you, eat all my food and grow as tall as you are”

I was listening to one of my favorite country music songs by Rodney Atkins called “Watching you”. In this song his little boy wants to grow up to be like his father. He does everything that his dad does. In the song Rodney portrays a scene of him slamming the breaks in the car to avoid running a stoplight, the little boy in the back seat mutters a “four letter word that started with s”.  He wears the same camo pants and cowboy boots that his father has.  He prays just like he has seen his father done numerous times. The little boy watches his father through observational learning.  He learns his actions, how to react to certain situations and how to be a man when he grows up. Observational learning is so important for young children as they grow up. It shows them how their family expects them to act.  I’ve learned a lot through observational learning. I have learned what is okay and not okay according to my parent’s values and the way that they act. This song also portrays certain expectancy values in which the little boy will have while growing up. It pushes him to form a relationship with God, to be like his father to make good decisions and to how to treat women.  Expectancy values are important to growing children, to motive them and to push them in the right direction. But its also important that expectancy values aren’t too strict.  If a child feels they have too much pressure on them it could be detrimental to their future.