Child’s Development is Influenced by Environmental and Cultural Influences as well as parenting styles and education

2.1 Explain how children and young people’s development is influenced by a range of personal factors

The external factors influencing a child’s development include their immediate environment, i.e. their family and their circumstances at home, their socioeconomic background and the education they receive from institutions or their family.

It is not hard to understand then how disadvantaged children may not aspire to complete school or attend University due to the unfamiliarity of the concept and lower family expectations. Economic disparity plays a large role in school outcomes wherein greater affluence can provide families with a wider range of education choices and activities to enhance curriculum understandings. In the scenario it is noted that Dexter’s parents want him to do well in school however they are constrained by economic realities. Poor families have less choice in their lifestyle and education selections which can impact on outcomes. Decreased access to resources such as books, educational materials, high quality early education and learning opportunities diminish their ability to start school on an equal footing with more affluent children. As well the poorest families struggle to find good schooling opportunities and have to accept what is offered to them (Ewing, 2013, p. 84). These factors are not so easily addressed at the school level and will require serious changes at the State and Federal levels to negate the influence of

Numerous studies have documented the disparities in academic success between students from high socioeconomic status and low socioeconomic status, in many different measures- including high school completion rates, standardized test scores and college enrollment. A college degree has become virtually a necessity for upward mobility. It is also an indisputable fact that the first five years of life are crucial for lifetime success. Yet literacy gaps for children that come from low socioeconomic households are often exposed to stress, poverty, obesity, malnutrition and a lack of proper health care in their early childhood. The cumulative effect of these deficiencies leads to lasting impacts on learning, behavior, and health. Starting school with

Education and schooling in the United States is an interesting concept. I have always suspected that there are disparities between the quality of education a student receives, and the outside influences that act upon the student in both positive and negative ways. I was fortunate enough during my academic career that I had parents and a social situation that allowed some of the best opportunities for a good education. In the course of events I was afforded the opportunity to attend a private school, get money for a college education via the Army, and always had parents that were involved with my education, ensuring that I meet their expectations. As I look at the education system as a whole in our country, a commonality is seen the socioeconomic (SES) status of a student and the quality of education they receive. I saw this in my own perspective knowing that by attending a private school, I was being offered an education that other peers might not have. However, I also believe that a person’s individual drive and family involvement play a vital role in the education system as well. I know many students that attended the same school as I did, but without a good family structure or involvement, that failed academically in school. On the other side of the spectrum, I also know students that came from disadvantaged schools but had a good amount of family involvement and personal accountability in their own academic careers. These students succeeded, where many of

Children living in the poor and students who are Hispanic or Black are statistically likely to be at risk for academic failure. They are more likely to face challenges associate with poverty, such as poor health, inadequate shelter, unhealthy environments, emotional stress, and limited access to reading materials. These risk factors might bring negative effects on a child’s cognitive development, and thus causes lower level of preferment in academic achievement. Take literacy as an example, According to Reading Is Fundamental (2014), the largest nonprofit children’s literacy organization in U.S, “61% of families living in poverty do not have age-appropriate books in their homes. Consequently, children living in poverty already have a 50 percent weaker vocabulary than their wealthier peers at the start of school.” And approximately 40% of 4th graders do not achieve basic levels of reading proficiency, and the percentage is even higher among family living in poverty and certain minority

In an article written by Milne (2006), she mentions that “if enough support is given to low-SES parents, in order that they may have the resources (time, educational materials, and knowledge) that other higher SES home have, their financial situation will not impact their child's academic achievement (p.

For example, when a child lives in a poor and deprived environment, the child would likely not to achieve well. The dressing, looks, performance in class will show. Unlike the child that grow up in a well or rich environment, the persons dressing, looks, and performance

Porter states that “even the best performers from disadvantaged backgrounds, who enter kindergarten reading as well as the smartest rich kids, fall behind over the course of their schooling” (Porter). Although there are some students who go against the statistics, the majority tend to fall within the trends and suffer based upon their status. This is because children who come from this class face more barriers than other students. According to Porter, “children from low socio-economic backgrounds are 7 times more likely to have been born to a teenage mother” (Porter). Also, he states that of the children who come from this lower social bracket, “only half live with both parents”, in comparison to the 83% of children of college graduates (Porter). From the jump, low socio-economic students are placed at a disadvantage. Even when higher economic students are in the same letter grade range as low socio-economic students, higher socio-economic students have the ability to excel because their parent(s) or guardian(s) could possibly provide them with a tutor. Parents and guardians with greater income are better able to ensure that their child does not fall behind the learning curve. On the other hand, parents and guardians from a low socio-economic status are not as likely to provide their children with extra help outside the classroom due to lack

According to the American Psychological Association, in a study of American kindergarten children, 36 percent of lower class parents read to their children on a daily basis, compared to the 62 percent of parents from higher incomes. Children’s initial reading skills are correlated with their home environment, and number of books owned and read to them on a daily basis. As a result, socioeconomic status (SES) affects our society as a whole; its relevancy to all realms of behavioral and social science includes education and advocacy. The inequities in wealth distribution and resource distribution is increasing in the United States which is directly correlated to the inequality seen in our education system nationwide. According to APA, children from low-SES communities develop academic skills more slowly compared to children from higher SES backgrounds. Consequently, Initial academic skills are correlated with the home environment; therefore, low literacy environments and stress negatively affect a child’s academic skills. The school systems in low-SES communities are often under resourced, negatively affecting students’ academic

Different cultures, religions and social economic conditions have different expectations and beliefs around childhood. These have also been different throughout history. For example in Victorian Britain, children were expected to work in the home, field, streets or in factories. However in modern Britain we expect our children to spend much of their childhood learning at school. Another example is, Maya’s (U212 Video 1, band 1) experiences of childhood in the poor area Chittagong being different to the twins Yasir and Yamin’s experiences in middle class Chittagong. Each have different expectations of their roles within society according to their social boundaries, gender, family and beliefs.

If academic success leads to a better future what can one say about the future of children of lower socio-economic status who may have less access to the tools for achieving success as their middle-to-upper-class peers? A primary factor contributing to low educational achievement is income. Low income has been correlated with a variety of indicators such as poverty, poor educational achievement, and poor health, all of which may impact future academic, social and psychological behaviors. Many low-income households experience instability due to such issues as single parenthood, job loss, homelessness, domestic abuse, and limited access to services, poor parenting skills, the absence of appropriate child care, high rates of pregnancy among

Equally, “Cognitive and noncognitive skills are least developed among those with the lowest socioeconomic status and sharply increase as one ascends the socioeconomic ladder.” Additionally, children of affluent families test higher than students who haven’t participated in preschool education or engaged in equal amounts of developmental play time and literacy activities with adults. Programs and policies must account for the fact that schools and teachers serve students who do not start school on equal terms. Not only, are children not prepared to learn when they enter school, but they are inevitably living in a community with schools that have little resources from a lack of funding. American culture depends on its families to nurture its children and for schools to level the playing field for children born into disadvantaged circumstances. Schools must be expected to provide an environment that bridges

Many impoverished families, more often in developing countries, cannot afford to send their kids to school to even begin their education, leaving those people initially unintentionally uneducated. According to Mark Silver’s article, These Girls Complain If They Can’t Go To School, an impoverished parent in a developing country stated that their “girls are not at school because of our poverty.” In addition, parents in poverty often “work extra hours, odd shifts, or multiple jobs and are less able to provide attention and affection to devote their time, energy, and resources to their children,” which ends up causing there to be “externalizing behaviors and poor academic performance on the children’s part.” Another case with uneducated, impoverished children is when parents hold the children out of school, providing them an opportunity to work and provide for the family. On the other side of the spectrum, concerning the people who can afford school, a proper education is often not provided to the gifted and talented students, where in modern day public schools, the courses aren’t challenging enough for them, thus they become bored and unmotivated, as stated in Anya Kamenetz’s article, Who Are The ‘Gifted And Talented’ And What Do They Need?, regarding Ron Turiello’s case, where he is a person who “scored very high on IQ tests as a child, but almost dropped out of high school. He says he was bored, unmotivated, [and] socially isolated.” At the same time, a proper education may not be provided to the awfully unintelligent, yet financially sufficient people, as courses can be far too arduous

Reading, writing, math, science, and other skills learned in school are instrumental for a child to have in order to be successful both in higher education and in life. Many factors contribute to a student’s acquisition of these skills such as their learning environment, preschool education, mental and emotional development, parental involvement, and dedication to learning. The issue that many young children are facing, however, is that all of these factors can be greatly influenced by the Socioeconomic Status (SES) of their family. Unfortunately, up until recently it was virtually unknown how teachers could help these “at risk” children, which caused an increase in the likelihood of children dropping out of school or repeating a grade.