Values, Beliefs and Images About Children and Young People - Essay Example

HOW CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH RESEARCH BUILDS ON A SERIES OF VALUES, BELIEFS AND IMAGES ABOUT CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE By Institution Location Date Introduction Over the years, there has been a growing demand that young people and children should participate in making decisions that affect them. Increasingly, there is an acceptance of the principle of young people and children’s involvement being turned into something normal through a variety of participation activities in many organizations. There is still a need to convince people and table evidence showing outcomes or benefits of participating in making decisions. Although participation of the young people and children is a crucial principle and human right on the Rights of the Child of the UN, participation need not to be seen as an end in itself. The aim of participation is to ensure good outcomes for children and young people themselves, community and organization. The involvement of children and young people is likely to be important to them if they can identify that their views have a consideration and have made a difference. Effective participation means that the involvement of young people and children leads to change (Bucknall 2014). Researches that involve children and young people bring up ethical concerns that involve: i. The young people’s capacity to comprehend what research entails, and if their consent to participate is enough for their participation. ii. Possible coercion by peers, parents, and researchers to participate in research. iii. If there are conflicting interests and values of parents and children. The above considerations affect all research that involves children and young people. Various possible interviewee groups Researchers need to respect the developing nature of young people and children to be involved in deciding whether to participate in research. Their level of maturity has an effect on whether his/her consent is important or enough to authorize participation (Cooper 2014). Levels of maturity and capacity to be involved in making decisions include: i. Infants- They are unable to participate in discussions about research and its effects. ii. Young children- They are able to understand some information and participate in some discussion about research. iii. Young people who are developing- They are able to understand some relevant information, but they remain vulnerable. There must be consent of these young people which may not be sufficient to authorize research. iv. Young people who are mature to understand and consent. They are not vulnerable since they are matured in ways that may warrant additional consent from a grown up person. Research on children and young people reveal make things concerning this group of people. Scientists, scholars and researchers have carried out investigations on young people and came up with various conclusions. There are many researches on children and young people. Every research normally has objectives. These objects guide the investigation in order to come up with the right conclusions. Investigation on sexual behaviors of young people Investigating the sexual behaviors of the young people is a very interesting adventure. There is a common belief that young people are very active sexually. In their adolescence stage of life, young people normally experience various biological changes that may confuse them. Irrespective of geographical location, children and young people experience biological changes that affect their physical appearance. The question in the mind of researchers is whether a person’s environment affects their sexual behaviors. In order to solve this question, research must be done. Young people who live in urban places are exposed to many things in life. The urban environment tends to provoke the young people to try many things early in life than their counterparts in rural areas. Young people in rural areas may have minimal access to entertainment joints that may affect their lives. A researcher decided to investigate the effect of the environment on the sexual behaviors of the young people. To do the research, the researcher identified two groups of young people. A group comprised of young people from a rural farming environment where various types of entertainments were not common. The other grouped comprised of young people from an urban environment where parties and other entertainment opportunities were in abundance. The research revealed that young people from an urban setting were more sexually active than their counterparts in rural areas. Young people from rural areas were less knowledgeable on sexual matters than young people from urban centers. The researcher concluded that a person’s environment plays a critical role in his/her sexual experience. There is a lot of peer pressure in urban areas, and hence young people will want to emulate what their colleagues are doing (Flewitt & Hammersley 2014). A research on academic performance among the children Just what factors influence good performance in class among the children? Are there issues that will contribute immensely to better performance of the students? Children in a class conducted research to investigate the cause of good performance. In order to get the right results, investigation was conducted including those students that were performing well in class and those performing poorly. Prior to conducting the research, the researcher noted that some students perform well in some subjects and poorly in other subjects. Those students who pass in arts based subjects may not necessarily be doing well in science based subjects. The research investigated a sample of 20 students, ten of each gender from various backgrounds. The researcher had the following assumptions before carrying out the research: Background affects performance of students, the quality of teachers affects students’ performance, and that some students are born bright and despite the environment, they will excel in their academics (Bolu-steve & Sanni 2013). The researcher used interviews and observations to gather data that could be useful for the investigation. The research interviewed parents and guardians of students to get critical information about their children. Many parents impact either positively or negatively to the performance of their children. The researcher observed the conduct of the students in their home and school environment. In order to carry out a fruitful observation, the researcher had to hide in the process of observation (Bolu-steve & Sanni 2013). The following are the results of the investigation: The result revealed that the home environment plays a big role in the academic performance of children. When the environment is conducive, that is, when parents love and care for their children, brothers and sisters are sociable, a child will do well in class. When the home environment is not conducive, that is, the parents are harsh; the child’s academic performance will be affected. The research implied that children need motivation from close family members in order to do well in school (Bolu-steve & Sanni 2013). Although some children are born bright, without proper studying they will end up not performing well. The child needs to be given ample time to study in order to understand what is taught in school. A child will need the guidance of a caring elderly person that will be able to guide him/her. Many children lose the opportunity to perform well in class due to lack of seriousness in school. The investigation revealed that many students learn well by observation. In addition to instructing a child theoretically, he/she needs practical lessons. Practical lessons are very important for the child will hardly forget the lesson (Bolu-steve & Sanni 2013). Students who are taught by observation method tend to perform well in class than those who get only theoretical lessons. In order to ensure that children do well in school, there must be proper collaboration between teachers and the children on one side, and children and their parents on one side. Children need help from parents and teachers on what they should do. Parents need to pay keen interest to the academic development of their children. A research on the effect of peer pressure among young people Some parents are afraid that their children may face influence from their peers to engage in bad behaviors such as alcoholism and premature sex. Many parents will advise their children to avoid bad companies that will corrupt their morals. Just how powerful is peer pressure? Are all young people in danger of being influenced by other people? In order to understand this subject in a proper manner, it is prudent to consult a research on the impact of peer pressure on young people. This research involved young people aged 15-22 years. The research involved a group of 15 young people from the same area. The study used questionnaires and interviews. The researcher wanted to identify the extent to which peer pressure affects young people. To ensure that the correct information was acquired, the researcher ensured that there was a proper probing (Furrer & Ellen 2003). The research revealed that almost every young person has been influenced by peer pressure. Peer pressure is common in the types of clothes teens wear, the friends they choose, the schools they attend and entertainment joints they frequent. Some young people were categorical that their friends influence the actions they take in every sphere of life (Furrer & Ellen 2003). Beliefs, values and images held by researchers There are various beliefs held by researchers concerning children and young people. The beliefs include that young people are hard to deal with. Some researchers believe that young people may not give the right information thus misleading researchers. The other image that researchers have, concerning young people, is that young people have a tendency to display the same behavior. The researchers believe that the environment may be one of the factors that may bring a difference among the young people (Pellet 2014). Many researchers believe that an observation is the best way to collect information concerning young people. Young people have a tendency to conceal their identities when they realize someone wants to get information from them. In order to ensure that the right information is received, researchers have to use a secret method to obtain information (Pahl & Pool 2011). It is recommended that researchers should be objective as they investigate young people. They are not supposed to allow their beliefs and views about young people to influence the direction of their research. Researchers’ personal experience causes many beliefs and images concerning young people and children. Some of these beliefs may be true or false. Young people in a certain region may be humble and respective. However, this is not the real picture of very young people. In many cases, the environment plays a critical role in how young people conduct themselves. Conclusion There are various ways to investigate young people. Observation is the best method for young people and children may not be able to hide their true character. This method also helps to avoid personal biases on the part of researchers. Environment is a factor that influences the behavior of young people. Environment can easily change a good person to a bad person and vice versa. References Bolu-steve, F. N. & Sanni, W. O 2013 “Influence of Family Background on the Academic Performance of Secondary School Students in Nigeria, Ife Psychologia , 21(1) Bucknall, 2014, Module Reader Chapter 4 Cooper 2014, Module Reader Chapter 3 Flewitt & Hammersley 2014, Module Reader Chapter 2 by Fraser Furrer, C. & Ellen S 2003 "Sense of relatedness as a factor in childrens academic engagement and performance." Journal of educational psychology, 95(1), pp 20-42. Kellett 2014, Module Reader Chapter 1 Pahl, K. & Pool, S 2011 "Living your life because it’s the only life you’ve got": Participatory research as a site for discovery in a creative project in a primary school in Thurnscoe, UK’, Qualitative Research Journal, 11(2), pp. 17–37. Read More