Human Development, Essay Example

In the works of different researchers, it is claimed that social behavior is not something naturally acquired as a result of aging. Indeed, children’s inadequate behavior usually results from the lack of social and communication skills. Hemmeter, Ostorsky and Fox in the article “Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning: A Conceptual Model for Intervention” emphasized that “creating a caring, socially rich, cooperative, and responsive environment requires an intentional and systematic approach” (2006). The development of social skills and personal capabilities requires appropriate education, gentle guidance of the adults, responsible parenting and good school environment.

There are key social skills that are essential for children when they enter school: an ability to develop positive relationships with peers and adults, an ability to communicate emotions effectively and adequately, an ability to listen (Hemmeter, Ostorsky & Fox, 2006), nonaggressive behavior. Also, children need compassion, ability to work in the team, and, later, an ability to stay calm under pressure. Social skills are skills and behaviors that facilitate interaction and help to achieve social status. The ability to communicate emotions is essential for open and easy communication with peers, without hypocrisy or inadequacy that may lead to misunderstanding or absence of friends. The ability to listen underlies understanding and not interrupting the speaker; inability to listen may make a child a bad company and unwelcome in conversations. The ability to show compassion is vital for children, as it allows understanding of someone’s feelings and sharing them; children without it may be perceived as cruel or aggressive, and thus they may have problems with peers. Working in the team is an indivisible part of every child’s life (games, competitions, classroom activities). Inability to collaborate and respect friends may lead to ostracism or loneliness.

A chief influence in the lives of teenagers and children are their parents, claims Sara in her article devoted to parent-children relationships (2002). It is their family that plays a key role in the establishment of the moral beliefs and social behaviors.

In order to develop social skills such as ability to listen and ability to communicate, parents need to respect their child and not treat him or her as a silly and irresponsible creature. Sara provides the next example: when a child does something wrong (stealing, lying), parents should deal with it by means of conversation, not a lecture (2002). Young children depend on their relationships with parents or caregivers “to teach them about themselves and the world they live in” (Aviles, Anderson & Davila, 2006); these relationships shape children’s understanding of their behaviors by the parents/caregivers responses. What is normal for the family members is normal for the child.  So, showing respect in the family enhances the ability to listen to what adults say and the ability communicate adequately, i.e. as it is normal for certain society.

A human development psychologist Erick Erickson also emphasized the parents influence during first years of the child’s life. By the age of five, the child develops trust or mistrust to the world and society, autonomy or doubtfulness about one’s capabilities, and initiative to play (explore, fantasize…) or guilt (Elkind, 1970). Parents must create caring and responsive family environment in order to promote easy communication with children and other adults. The child who was cared of, listened to and played with will be socially active and open. Responsive family provides the child with friendly and caring communication with parents; this communication improves the child’s ability to communicate as well as adequate responses to child’s communication. Family communication enhances the child’s ability to communicate by creating behavioral patterns and promoting initiative.

In contrast to caring and responsive family atmosphere, the family environment may inhibit children’s social development. If the child experiences aggression, temperamental difficulties, noncompliance, and language difficulties, it indicates problems in the family. Problems like violence and absence of sympathy may inhibit social skills. Violence in the family inhibits communication skills and compassion. Due to violence children may distrust adults and other people, and thus be unable to develop positive social relationship. Also, witnessing violence leads to low self-esteem and inhibit the ability to stay calm under the pressure. Absence of sympathy and care in the family does not provide development of compassion. As social skills are behavioral patterns, compassion must also be a pattern. In order to develop this pattern, caring and responsive approach is needed, thus lack of family care inhibits compassion. To summarize this paragraph, it is essential to point out that negative family environment influences children’s behavior greatly – much more than classroom environment, for example.

At a certain age, a child enters school where teachers can influence his or her social development. The main controlling and directing school environment force is the teacher, his competent work and monitoring of the class. When taught routines and expectations by teacher’s directions and feedback, children learn ethics; this promotes an ability to develop positive relationship with peers and adults in certain society. When children are taught to manage themselves, they learn to stay calm under the pressure. Of course, it is essential for the teacher to make a classroom atmosphere creative and comfortable in order to promote co-working and teamwork. Friendly and creative atmosphere may involve competitions or creative activities with motivating incentives, teaching to be a good loser; such things contribute to the ability to work in the team. It must be comfortable for children to express themselves freely.

In order to foster compassion skills, teacher must provide an example by expressing compassion himself and showing that this is normal. Good example can shape a proper perception of expressions of compassion and thus contribute to this skill. Also, classroom activities include listening to teacher’s instructions or explanations; listening to instructions must be silent and attentive, so children learn to listen first and ask question after. Friendly and creative environment may include active communication or argument, and this provides children with perfect example of communication model, when one person listens to other, and vice versa. Thus, general communication skills and listening skills are improved.

Obviously, negative classroom environment may inhibit social and academic success of the children. Teacher’s indifference may cause a feeling that the child is insignificant, his problems are ridiculous, he is left to his own devices, and adults are not interested in communication with him. It inhibits his ability to develop positive relationship with peers and adults. Inability to find a common language with students or racial or sexual harassment may inhibit the same social skill and compassion as well, as aggressiveness will be deemed normal.

Sara provides an idea that illustrates the central idea of this paper. “If you want your kids to grow up to be kind, compassionate and caring, you’re going to have to lead the way” (Sara, 2002). It means that all adults who can influence the child’s life should improve his or her social development in some way or other.

It does not matter, who you are – a parent or a teacher. When you have children that depend on you, you must remember that whether they will trust you or avoid your company, or whether they will be successful in communication with peers or ostracized, depends on social education that must start in the early childhood and last until late adolescence.

References

Aviles, A., Anderson, T., & Davila, E. (2006). Child and Adolescent Social-Emotional Development Within the Context of School. Child & Adolescent Mental Health, 11(1), 32-39. doi:10.1111/j.1475-3588.2005.00365.x.

Elkind, D. (1970, April 5). Erik Erikson’s Eight Ages of Man. The New York Times Magazine. Reprinted by permission from The New York Times Company. Retrieved September 16, 2010 from http://www.ceed.pdx.edu/ectc_sscbt/pdfs/EriksonsEightAgesofMan.pdf

Hemmeter, M., Ostrosky, M., & Fox, L. (2006). Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning: A Conceptual Model for Intervention. School Psychology Review, 35(4), 583. Retrieved from MasterFILE Premier database.

Sara, S. (n.d). (2002) Parents can pass values along to children, experts say. Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, CA), Retrieved September from Newspaper Source database.