“It is nature and not nurture that shapes the character and behavior of a child.” Attitude is greatly shaped by influence and association. Attitude is like a garden that needs constant maintenance. The more you water and take care of the garden, the more good and valuable flowers grow. However, this garden can easily be invaded or destroyed by external influences like pests, rodents, insects and so on. What truly matters is how we face these problems and work towards a stronger and more robust future, making sure it never happens again.

On the contrary, many people believe that attitude is something that is passed down from generations. People believe that it is the in-built mechanism of a child to do something that their ancestors would once have done. Moreover, people strongly believe that the mental and physical abilities of a child also depend upon their genes. However, this is not entirely true. Many children who come from rich or prosperous families have also been known to take part in various impermissible activities, not because they inherited it, but because of the bad external influences that they had been subjected to. So why else do people concur that the mindset of a child is solely influenced by his or her surroundings?

I strongly believe that the character and the attitude of a child completely relies upon the external influences that that child is subjected to. If a child has a happy childhood full of parental love and attention and with plenty of motivation, then that child will most certainly perform better at school and prosper in life in comparison to another child that has been neglected and discarded during his childhood. Various traits and qualities such as creativity, originality and ingenuity and impermissible qualities can also be bought about by many types of external influences. Let’s take another example. If a child is born into a poor family, then that child is most likely going to show various displays of theft and may even go to the extent of hurting someone not because he inherited the gene from his parents or ancestors but because he was forced to act accordingly to the situation of not having any food or shelter. Let me give you yet another example. Students bullied in schools lack basic interaction skills crucial for the development and upbringing of the child. This is again not because they inherited the traits form their parents but because of the external environment that influenced them. Genetics also plays a very little or even no role in determining the learning capabilities of a child.

Let me give you one real life example. Speed solving a Rubik’s cube was a talent that I myself developed and cultivated. It wasn’t something that I had inherited from my ancestors but something I had learnt to do on my own with the help of my friends. This shows how external influences helped me to develop a talent that didn’t exist in me before or wasn’t written in my genes. Now I can solve a cube just within 20 seconds on average.

I would like to conclude by saying, the personality of a child is solely influenced by the environment that that child is subjected to, rather than by their genetics. Much of our personality is based on our abilities, interests and skills that develop upon interaction with our environment. Personality is a unique trait of each and every single one us. Personality is to a man what perfume is to a flower.