Are peers more important than parents during the process of development?
Over the past years, a lot of discussions have been held concerning the influence of both parents and peers on the growth of youngsters. The research carried on this topic has often illustrated that both parents and peers influence the development process of a young child. On most occasions, the characteristics of a young child encompass the elements that she or he learns from the parents and peers. It is also evident that most children prefer their fellow peers to their parents. However, some researchers also argue that children continue to have a close link with their parents throughout their lives. The main aim of this paper is to provide detailed information on the roles of parents and peers in the development of a child. This paper also aims at providing detailed information about other people that greatly influence a child’s development process.
Where do you come down?
I greatly believe that parents play a significant role in the development process of a child. This is because parents are often associated with long-lasting impacts on child development. The growth of a child is often accompanied by a change in perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors. These perceptions, behaviors, and attitudes are often inoculated into a child by parents. The collection of these three elements also portrays the theoretical responsibility of parents towards the development of young children. According to the above, it is also evident that society plays a significant role in molding the behaviors and characters of a child.
Occasionally, the youth stage is perceived as an age group that lies in the second partition of an individual’s development process. A child attains the freedom of expression and movement when he or she is considered as a youth by the parents. As a youth, a child portrays independence in making judgments. Although the process of being a youth is greatly determined by parents, it is evident that the social network also plays a significant role in the reformation of a child (Plotnik and Kouyoumdjian, 2010 p.406). In life, a child undergoes reformation from being a youth to being a teenager. As a teenager, a child still lacks the control of his own life; at this stage, parents are still considered as the heads of the formed network.
Some child developmental stages, however, do not require the involvement of parents. Parents’ care focuses on the external features of a child. For instance, they keep track of a child’s academic record, child’s health status, and the child’s friends. Unfortunately, parents lack the power of monitoring and controlling the internal development of a child. For instance, parents cannot influence the psychological development of a child. Thus, in the section of psychological development, peers play a significant role. The reason is that people of the same age tend not only to think in the same way but also to share some ideas.
The advancement in age also contributes to the emergence of a poor relationship between parents and their children. For instance, most adolescents relate very poorly with their parents. From this, it is evident that the temperament of the child’s relationship with parents changes with time. However, parents remain the key source of development features and vital influence.
Where does it matter?
The parents must know that they contribute significantly towards the development of their child. Knowing this information, they will manage to control themselves when expressing their disapproval of the characters of their child’s friends, as most children pick friends that they rhyme with in terms of behavior and likes. Additionally, parents are not associated with the bad behaviors of their children. Most children indulge in uncouth behaviors as a result of peer influence. For instance, most teens behave in ways that could link them to their peers. However, friends can also influence the life of an individual positively. For instance, some peers may boost the academic performance of weak students by learning directly their weaknesses. Some peers may also introduce some teens to healthy extracurricular activities that will enhance them to keep off from bad behaviors.
Type of research for this topic
To learn more about this topic, one must search for the relationship between teens and development extensively. This will enhance an individual to learn more about his expectation as a society member.
Conclusion
In conclusion, both parents and peers contribute to the development process of a child. A child learns from both of them the new characters and behaviors. However, parents socialize with their children more compared to their peers when they are young. Thus, parents have the potential of determining how their children grow. Unfortunately, children do ignore their parents at some stages of development. At these stages, it is evident that children do find it easy to socialize with their peers. Thus, parents ought to provide them with the opportunity to interact with their peers for them to successively undergo psychological development. Besides all these, parents ought to play their responsibility very well. They ought to direct their children and teach them how to behave and relate with other people. Parents are also entitled to knowing how their children perform both academically and socially.
Works Cited
Plotnik, Rod, and Haig Kouyoumdjian. Introduction to Psychology. New York: Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.