What role does the family have in encouraging or discouraging development of a talent or interest?

Answer 1

The role of the family in the development of a talent or interest is to encourage the children to pursue whatever they want to do. Encouragement or the absence of it is a big determining factor of children's success.

Answer 2

While Barack Obama had little contact with his biological father (by most accounts, they only met on two occasions), his mother was determined to see him succeed, even though his biological father was not a presence in his life, and a second marriage also did not work out. His mother encouraged her young son to study (and modeled the behavior by continuing to advance in her own studies); his grandparents were equally supportive of him, and very much involved in raising him. This was a family that valued education and loved books; as a result, young Barack (or Barry, as he was sometimes called back then) was exposed to a wide range of ideas, as well as encouraged to believe he could have a good career if he studied hard.

Probably the best thing his family did for him was treat him as a normal child: this was still an era when biracial children were rare and often stigmatized, but by most accounts, his mother and grandparents gave him the confidence to chart his own course, even if others doubted him or made fun of him for being different.