Children In Their Social Context

Introduction

Children live a social life. They require close follow up to ensure that they grow up gaining the appropriate skills. Child development is, therefore, a sociological aspect that requires great contribution from the parent. Some major platforms of a child’s social aspects are parenthood role in child development and family socialization. These aspects create an enhanced child development process that is defined by several child development theories (L, 2015). For instance, theorists Sigmund Freud and Erik Erikson came up with theories that define the personality development aspect of a child. These personality theories are important towards explaining a child’s development in the social context. In addition, the experience of childhood is important towards discussing the social context of child development. Therefore, the social context of child development is a contemporary issue that develops a learner’s interest to know how a child develops. 

Sociological Perspectives of Childhood, Parenthood and Family

Childhood, parenthood and family are interconnected perspectives that form the foundation of child development. Parenthood and family are the first child experiences that children encounter. Parenthood gives a child sociological support. Specifically, parenthood is either provided by a paternal and maternal parent or by a guardian. Both parents and guardians highly interact with a child to ensure that the child develops in a proper manner. The social bond formed between the child and his or her guardian acts like a learning platform (Familychildcareacademy.com, 2015). Through the social platform, the child learns how to pronounce words and how to carry out tasks. In addition, parenthood helps a child to be responsible. The social aspect in childhood and parenthood is, therefore, important as it forms the foundation to a socially accepted child development procedure. The sociological perspectives that are present in a child’s relationship with his or her parents are important in molding a child’s social behavior.

The sociological perspective of child rearing is important. This perspective calls for great participation and follow up of parents. Parents are the main role players in child rearing whereby their social relationship with the child acts as a support to child rearing. Child rearing happens when a parent instructs a child to perform a certain task in a given approach. In addition, child rearing involves follow up of a child’s behavior and attitude to various scenarios (L, 2015). Despite the contradiction that occurs in child rearing principles between different cultures, child rearing requires the contribution of both the motherhood and the fatherhood. Mothers and fathers have separate social roles towards child rearing. Fatherhood helps in monitoring the child’s behaviors while mothers train their children on how to perform tasks. Analytically, children who are responsible are said to acquire the sociological aspect of responsibility from their mothers. On the other hand, children with skilled qualities are said to have acquired the skills from their social interaction with their fathers. This means that child rearing is a sociological perspective that facilitates a comprehensive child development platform.

Child rearing and motherhood is a flexible social perspective. The perspective keeps on changing with societal growths. For instance, child rearing and motherhood has changed its meaning throughout history (Seefeldt, 2015). The common point within the flexibility of child rearing and motherhood is the social construction of child development. Strict gender roles have been implemented to less strict gender roles from time to time as a result of social settings available during child rearing. In addition, positive moral attitude of motherhood has been replaced by less positive attitudes as a result of mothers’ participation in economical situations. As a result, child development is at a risk of dispossession whereby parents are spending less time with their children. Children, therefore, develop a poor social relationship aspect in their growth. Therefore, the social aspect of parenthood is important towards an effective child development.

The social interaction between a child and family is also of importance in child development.  Children are important elements of a family that create an enthusiastic social interaction within the family (Murray, 2015). In some cultures, children are viewed as a blessing due to the belief that children make up a complete family. From sociology, children are termed as social beings that need a societal atmosphere for their growth. Lack of the social aspect in a child’s life creates a void within the child’s life. The void later affects the child whereby he or she is unable to interact effectively with other people. This means that the social aspect of children within a family cannot be overlooked. Therefore, the social context of children is a compulsory stage in the child’s upbringing that creates a brilliant future for the child.

Children in a family are viewed as the basic social factors of the family. Children form the foundation of social interactions within the family. Children orientation in the family is reflected in the society whereby they contribute to social development of the family. For instance, if a child has a positive reputation within the society, the social status of the family is uplifted (Vandermaas-Peeler et al., 2009). A family with children is also appreciated within the society due to the social connections that children cultivate. Children in a family also contribute to social equality and social order perspectives. Members of the family are categorized according to their age and societal aspects. For instance, if a family has a large number of children, social equality and order is required to enhance the stability of the family (Familychildcareacademy.com, 2015). In addition, children demand rights and allocation of needs. This illustrates the social importance of children. As a result, most families with children are treasured in social research methodologies. Therefore, the sociology of children within a family establishes the concepts of socialization research in a given social setting and the child’s developmental psychology.

Experience of childhood

Childhood has been defined by many theorists as the important step of a person’s life. This is because childhood forms the foundation of development of a person thus determining how one approaches life aspects (L, 2015). This means that the experience of a child is of great importance. A child’s life is mostly characterized by social aspects of peer interactions and family interactions. The experience that the child acquires from the two interactions helps in determining the basis of bringing up of the child.

Peer Socialization Experiences

A child gains a lot of skills and knowledge as he or she socializes with peers. This is because the child is freer with his or her peers than the way he is free with parents. Peers, therefore, are an important life aspect in a child’s life.

Peer experiences of children are gender oriented. Children under the ages of six are sensitive to gender differences whereby they only socialize with members of their own gender. For instance, boys are more social at their young age as compared to girls. Boys form large groups while they are socializing amongst themselves and they tend to trust one another quickly. Boys also find friends in a simpler way because they are blinded by aspects of their favorite games (Sener and Bhat, 2007). This illustrates the intense social network that young boys create among themselves. On the other hand, girls are less social. They form groups of less than three individuals. Although the groupings of girls has low participants, trust that cements these grouping is higher that the trust in boys relationships. Therefore, girls establish long relationships amongst themselves than boys do. Girls also differ in an unpleasant way where a fight may start but when they decide to collaborate and establish a given task, they perform skillfully to attain a pleasant output. The social settings of boys and girls in their interactions can be defined by the sole purpose each gender targets in the relationships. Boys target at having dominance within their social engagements while girls aim at developing strong interpersonal relationships.

Peer interaction of children develops the basic character traits in a child. Children are social with their peer if they find something beneficial in them. For instance, children may socialize due to a certain interesting game (Familychildcareacademy.com, 2015). However, the benefits acquired by children construct behavioral trends among the children. This means that children with a close relationship usually have similar characters. Therefore, social setting of children interaction helps in establishing the nature of character trait a child.  

Family Instances Experience

Children gain a lot of experience from their family settings. Families have distinct ways of living which directly influence children’s appreciation of life. Children under a straining social life developed social phobia that leads to development of a selfish character (Seefeldt, 2015). Children in a social based family appreciate the need of social relations thus the development of a social character. Therefore, the social setting of families creates a child development platform that help a child acquire social characters.

Family interactions are important because they guide children on the right action to take in a given instance. This fact is enhanced by the availability of parents in a family interaction. The interaction of parents and their children is affected by gender factors. According to analysis conducted by UNESCO, fathers invest most of their time in families with mores sons as compared to mothers who socialize more with their daughters (L, 2015). Parents show their concern to their children through differentials of the time spent with their children. The social aspect of parents in a child’s life is important for it enhances the child’s self esteem level. However, parents tend to offer more benefits to their sons than daughters. This is because sons are expected to accomplish many achievements than ladies. The expectation is mostly wrong because some daughters tend to perform more excellently than sons. This means that the interaction of children and their parents may contribute to a child’s success. Therefore, the experience that a child acquires in a parent-child interaction is crucial towards the social morale than a child gains in life.

Social Development of Children

The development process of children is a process that involves the participation of various stakeholders. Children mostly grow quickly in social aspects as compared to economic and academic aspects. This is because the rate of social interactions that children face is high. Children appreciate relationships that are socially based as they love being recognized and appreciated by the people around them. The appreciation of children by other people ensures that the child develops socially. According to theorist Uri Bronfenbrenner, a child’s social appreciation is defined in terms of a circle (L, 2015). There exist various factors of the circle that helps in creating a balance between a child’ heredity factors and his or her environment. Bronfenbrenner’s theory illustrated the factors of the circle as macro system, exosystem, mesosystem and micro system. The microsystem factor shows the child’s immediate family and surrounding. This factor speeds up a child’s social development process through the immediate impacts of his or her surroundings. Exosystem and macrosystems are broader systems in the circle that ensures that a child has acquired the appropriate values and attitudes. The mesosystem factor in the circle portrays a clear picture of a child’s social development. Therefore, Bronfenbrenner’s theory gives a picture of the procedural social development of a child.

Read also Cognitive Development in Children – Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky Views

Social development of a child also applies the social play factors. Social play factors are factors that promote a child’s mental and social abilities. According to theorists Piaget and Sara Smilansky, there are three classes of social play (Familychildcareacademy.com, 2015). Each of the classes ensures that there is social development of a child in a sociological perspective. For instance, the sensory motor play ensures that a child is socially active by improving his or her senses and motor skills. These skills enable the child to explore objects within his or her environment. The symbolic play ensures that a child’s social aspect is improved through identification of various symbols. The social play factors are crucial towards enhancing a child’s social development. In return, the child’s cognitive skills are improved by the social play factors.

A child’s personality also influences his or her social development. Different theorists have elaborated the role of personality in social development as a procedural process. According to Sigmund Freud, a parent’s role in enhancing the child’s desires determines the child’s personality (Murray, 2015). The development of a child’s personality is linked with his or her ego. In return, a child’s ego influences the social development of a child. On the other hand, Erik Erickson described the development of personality as a procedural process. The initial step within Erik’s personality procedure is the social and emotional development of a child. This defines the reason why social development of a child is an important aspect in the child’s life. The first step in Erik’s procedure of psychology shows the need of social attachments in a child’s life. These social attachments play a great role towards the development of a child’s personality. Therefore, a child’s personality is an important aspect of determining the child’s social development process.

Conclusion

To sum up, a child social context is the definition of a child’s social development. The sociological perspectives of childhood, parenthood and family help in understanding how child development takes place. The experiences of childhood help in determining the nature of social development. This in return reflects the character and attitude of a child in different circumstances. Therefore, the social context of a child is an interesting topic that has basic theories defining the social aspect of a child.

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