Family Influence on Children
A family is a key institution in the development of a child’s behavior, beliefs and social life. Children learn basic things in life from their family members. They tend to emulate their parents, guardians or close relatives in all aspects of life.. For proper growth, every child needs an adult who is always there for material and emotional support. Good relationship between the children and other family members strengthens their trust, social skills and self-confidence. This makes them loving, caring and ready to learn and share with even people from outside. A family that does not encourage bonding, care and love among its members will influence the children in exercising the same behavior.
Another aspect that influences children development is the environment they live in. This is characterized by public behavior and society beliefs. Children will act in ways deemed appropriate by the society they live in. They will also shun away from behaviors’ considered punishable by the same society. The culture of a community also forms an integral part in children’s development. They will easily adapt to cultural behaviors such as worshipping, rituals and social practices. When children attain the age of going to school, some responsibility of developing them is shifted to the teachers. Knowing the background of each child enables the educators to analyze their behavior and mould them to suit the society expectations. Children are taught to do things together, respect and love each other irrespective of where one comes from.
In our case study, we learn that the relationship between Cedric and his mother is based on love, trust and honesty. They form a loving family that cares about each other. His mother keeps track of her son’s academic life and even accompanies him to collect the grade report. She has installed the culture of honesty in her son. Cedric exercises honesty by not cheating on the exams like his classmates. This costs him the marks but he’s ready to see justice done. Her mother is supportive and they both approach the physics teacher to complain. Despite the teacher denying any incidences of cheating, he gives Cedric a retest over the semester’s material. Her mother encourages him to study hard and get an A which he ultimately scores.
His mother’s love gave him a happy and healthy childhood built on core values of integrity, justice and hard work. Cedric stands on good values and does not give in to his classmates’ behavior of cheating in the exams. Like Cedric, most children brought up in a healthy environment acquire character that persists despite peer pressure. Such a character enables them to face life in a responsible way even when their parents and teachers are not within their midst.
