Childhood, Children and Role Models

Children's and young people's development is affected by a wide range of factors, their background, health and the environment which they are growing up in all have an impact on their development. It is important to have some understanding of these factors in order to be able to respond and recognise to any concerns that may arise. Children and young people may come from a wide range of different family environments, cultures and circumstances. All these things will affect the opportunities each child receives and the breadth of the experiences they receive.

There are many factors that can influence a child and young person’s development, particularly in relation to their background. The formative years can be termed as crucial in regards to development and any major setback can create many problems for the future.

There are various discourses of childhood that help us understand how childhood is viewed and how children themselves are seen. It is important to also look outside the system world and look towards the life worlds as it gives a more realistic view of various childhoods and shows how diverse the concept of childhood is because children do not share the same experiences. Regardless if you are looking at the system or life world the notions of rights, opportunities and capabilities are often discussed. These notions aids us in understanding childhood, however they can often obstruct us as well.

Childhood itself is a slightly ambiguous term, and is not a fixed definite period of life. The book “AS level sociology” written by Rob webb, Hal Westergaard, Kieth Trobe and Liz Steel defines childhood as “ a socially defined age status” going on to say that there are major differences in how childhood is defined, both historically, and culturally, similarly, Stephen Wagg says of childhood;

Children have a lot to say and parents have to remember to stop and listen to their child and then maybe offer suggestions and ideals. Recognize how the child feels and acknowledge the flaws the child has. Nobody is perfect. Realizing the imperfections of the child helps a parent better understand the type of encouragement and guidance the child might need to become a more productive adolescent.

In this writing it will be discussing childhood development, as well as some vital issues that might come along during those stages of development. Child development consist of the stage where the child is developing physically, cognitively, socially and spiritually. During these stages of development a child is maturing from infancy to becoming a young adult. For many years theorist such as Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson, and Lev Vygotsky’s have researched how children mature from infants to adulthood. Each of the theorist have profound facts to how children develop, but which of the three men are correct on their findings?

The gay personality may be determined during a child’s early years of development or throughout the individual’s life. A lesbian or gay individual like heterosexual individuals are influenced by family, peers, and society. Family structure, social factors, and cognition and conditioning help the development of sexual identity (Kwiatkowski, 2010). The child while living with the parents, adopt many of the customs and values the parents emphasize. The parents may stress the importance of gender roles in the household which the child may learn to

Continuing to help them grow in their self-esteem by offering praise and encouragement, being very firm and fair when dealing with friendship or behavioral issues, being approachable and letting them know you are there for them to talk to, encouraging them to imagine how other people are feeling, being sensitive to the rapid changes in their social and emotional needs and their moral understanding, at all times being aware of their stage of development and acting as a good role model.

On top of the expected pattern of children and young people’s development including “physical, communication & intellectual & social, emotional & behavioural development there are also “personal and external” factors which will affect how they develop.

The nature of childhood, has changed significantly over time. Reference for definitions The word ‘childhood’ can be defined as being ‘the period during which a person is a child’ and is seen as the period between birth and adolesance. Childhood is built up by a range of different aspects for example: development socially, educationally etc. The idea of childhood being in crisis, can relate to a range of different issues i.e. family breakdown, increase in technology, culture/society changes etc. A crisis can be defined as being a time of intense difficulty. Whether childhood is in crisis or not it is extremely important to support a child’s development through childhood. Childhood is made up of three

Childhood is the age span ranging from birth to adolescence and its non-specific for it can imply a varying range of years in human development reference. The age ranges anywhere from 12 years to 15years with 18years being most common. Previous research done by sociologists focused on children primarily in terms of socialization and within the context of the family. The ‘new sociology of childhood’ argues that children inhabit more than one world, worlds that may well conflict those of adults, those of children 's own making, and those that children

It’s really how you approach your child that makes him a better person. For some parents, they like to pamper their children because they are afraid they might hurt or injure their child. Which might be the reason why they are screaming in public places and love to throw tantrums. Which can also lead to unsuspected behavior in the future. “Kids who grew up with “tough love” parents were twice as likely to become empathetic, more determined in the face of difficulty, and better at controlling their emotions and avoiding temptation, by the age of five, then those with “disengaged” carers” (Wardrop.)

A child, whether the gender is a boy or girl learns how to behave from birth that role. We realize what is anticipated from our sexual orientation from what our parents teach us. In additionally what we get at school, in the media, and different other social institutions. A father might teach

There is much debate that homosexuality is a developmental problem caused by a weak bond between a father and son during one’s childhood. A failed relationship with one’s father can lead the boy to not fully internalize male gender identity and develop homosexually (Baird & Baird, 1995). Consider the gender development of identity. Infants indentify with their mother who is the first and primary source of nurturance and care. As girls age, they continue to identify mostly with their mother and boys shift towards their father. Through a father-son relationship, masculine identification is attained which is necessary if the boy is to develop a normally masculine personality (i.e. heterosexuality). This development task helps explain why boys have more difficulty than girls in developing gender identity and may also explain the higher ratio of male to female homosexuality (Baird & Baird, 1995). It is important that

Childhood development encompasses the cognitive, physical, social, moral and emotional changes from birth until the end of adolescence (White, Hayes & Livesey, 2013). Throughout childhood, environment and genetics promote or discourage growth and development. This essay will analyse the cognitive, physical, social, moral and emotional domains in relativity to my own development from the prenatal stage until adolescence. Psychological and environmental theories are used to develop the understanding and connection between each domain and stage of development. Lastly, this essay will address the controversial nature verses nurture debate and its relevance to my childhood development.