<p>I haven’t read through this entire thread, but I thought I’d offer a kid’s perspective. As a junior in high school, I see myself as pretty self-motivated. It’s easy for me to work hard in school with the prospect of attending any one of my dream colleges only a few years away. But sometimes I wonder if I would be so motivated now if it weren’t for my parents’ supposedly “dangerous” meddling and pushing when I was younger… Personally, I feel lucky that they encouraged me to engage when I was in elementary or middle school. My parents always expected – and in a sense, demanded – top grades from me. They were the ones who spoke with my first grade teacher to allow me to receive harder assignments, an action that I protested at the time but am now eternally grateful for. Despite (or, dare I say it, because of) the parental pressure, I have never felt a draw towards promiscuity or involvement with drugs or alcohol. They have instilled in me a certain understanding of the steps toward success. Whether choice in college is related to success in life is debatable, but I know that in my opinion it is worth it to be educated in an environment with peers who are as academically motivated as I am. I hope this post doesn’t come off as disgustingly pretentious or anything, I just meant it to dispel the notion that parental pressure is any kind of a negative influence in life… from my experience it has been highly positive, and for that I am thankful. :)</p>