Many things can influence a child's life. Today a child may suffer from stress from a parent`s divorce, or from a break up with a girl friend or boy friend dumping them. In To Kill a Mockingbird two children, Scout and Jem, had to deal with a less common stressor. They had to deal with the trial and conviction of an innocent black man in their own community. To only make things worse their own father is the defense council for the defendant. Scout changes and matures under the influences surrounding the trial in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Atticus teaches Scout important things that she doesn't get from school, like social skills and basic information about life. Atticus explains to Scout about how people are. "If you can learn a simple trick, Scout, you'll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really...