Importance Of Family In Children

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Discuss the importance of family in the development of a child’s behavior

The concept of family is one that gets more controversial by the day .Many sociologists have defined it in different ways leading to each definition being critically analyzed by one or more scholars who have different perspectives .Family could be a group of people living together either related by blood ties or have the same interests. George Peter Murdock as cited by Haralambos. Holbon & Heald (2004) defined family as a social group characterized by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction. According to Murdock, a family contains adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship and one or more children, own …show more content…

It is believed that children raised by both parents who are dedicated and responsible usually perform well in school. Children need to feel protected and loved and this influences their emotional growth. Emotions are the driving force behind behavior, children who feel unloved are most likely to be rebellious and abusive towards others .Family is important in the development of a child’s behavior, the way children feel loved and cared for during their early years of life affects their handling of important issues as they grow up. Furthermore Elking and Handel (1978) suggest that children with siblings learn that resources are meant to be shared, families with more than one child in the household train their children to share and love one another. It just doesn’t end there, like they say ‘charity begins at home’. The habit of sharing extends even to the outside …show more content…

As the saying goes, ‘it takes a village to raise a child ‘’ society as a whole has a very huge contribution to the development of a child’s behavior. Children are not always around their families, they play with friends who were differently from them and they end adult up picking one or two habits that might affect their behavior. Goldsmith 2000 suggests that the effects of a family may be modified by other agencies such as television and the internet. Television shows different things, some of which are not appropriate for children to watch but they still do, with or without the consent of their families. The things they watch such as music videos and movies do have an impact on their behavior. People have different beliefs, religions to be more specific. All religions teach different things hence a child’s behavior can be shaped from all those beliefs and lessons. Teachers in schools play a major role in the development of a child’s behavior, they pass on knowledge to children from kindergarten and they even discipline them in an attempt to make them understand both wrong and

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