STEVE SMITH -- Family Time

In the past, parents have often been told that the influence of their

child’s peers may be stronger than their own. And while that may be true

in many cases, I’ve always believed that peer influence only exceeds

parental influence when the parents don’t provide a loving, reassuring

and fun atmosphere at home.

Without these elements in their home lives, kids often seek those

qualities somewhere else or with someone else.

But now there are a couple of studies that reinforce the belief that

kids are heavily influenced by their parents in ways they never realized.

The studies show that even though we may not have given them any formal

education about certain behaviors and their consequences, children watch

their parents and imitate much of what they do.

In a study conducted by James Sargent, an associate professor of

pediatrics at Dartmouth Medical School and reported in this month’s

Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, teenagers were shown to be

much less likely to smoke if they believe their parents will disapprove.

Even more shocking, the disapproval seemed to work even if the parents

are already smokers, going so far as to overcome the peer pressure kids

face.

Neither Cay -- my wife -- nor I smoke and we long ago stopped

initiating conversations with our two kids about how dumb and dangerous a

habit it is, so I’m confident we’ve effectively made our case. But it’s

this other study that has me worried.

Here’s the skinny: According to a recent University of Michigan study,

children who grow up in homes that are kept neat and clean go further in

school and earn more money as adults than those who come from messy

homes. The study, covering 25 years and 3,395 homes, allowed researchers

to control factors such as parents’ income and education levels and let

them zero in on home cleanliness as a factor in success.

After initial evaluations of home cleanliness gathered in the first

five years, half of the homes were judged very clean, clean or so-so.

Only 5% were rated not very clean or dirty. Twenty years later, the

researchers checked up on the children from the study homes and found

that the children from the cleaner homes had both educational and

earnings advantages.

Those who lived in the highest-rated homes averaged 13.6 years of

education, compared to 12 years for those in the lowest-rated homes. The

clean home kids also made more dough, 12.5% more per hour to be exact.

The researchers say the reason for the gap is that parents who keep

their home clean may have better organizational skills than those who

don’t and that those traits have probably been copied by their kids.

The smoking results on the first study are important but I’m not too

worried about my kids becoming smokers. By the time they’re old enough to

be interested in smoking, a pack of cigarettes will cost about $49, too

much for them to be interested.

No, I’m not worried about my kids smoking. It’s this messiness study

that concerns me.

My style of work and organization has been carefully cultivated from

the “higher plane” school of thought. Former graduates of this school

include Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein, author of the

famous Theory of Relativity which, when extrapolated, means, “Every hour

you spend filing is one less hour you have to goof off.”

Right now, the house is neat and tidy, except for my desk and the four

shelves above my computer. It is there that I store all of the really

important papers that I can’t live without, papers such as copies of

great jokes that have been e-mailed to me, offers in the mail I just

can’t refuse and a stack of official documents that I think may be

repeated attempts to get me to go in for jury duty.

If I’m reading these studies correctly, I may have this peer vs.

parental influence concept wired. Our kids are most likely not going to

grow up to be smokers. That will be a result of our influence on them.

And two days before I read the sloppiness study, purely by

coincidence, I began cleaning my desk and shelves, not because I knew

they’d make 12.5% more per hour as a result but because if I didn’t, it

would be hard to ask them to help keep the rest of the house clean.

But now I’m worried because keeping a clean desk may help them afford

to smoke later on.

So, parents, the next time you want to cut corners on the cleaning or

do something absurd such as smoke, remember that you have more power

than you think.

Now if only I could find a study showing that kids get more

self-esteem from washing the family car once a week.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and freelance writer. Readers

may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at (949) 642-6086.