Childs Social and Emotional Development - Essay Example

Case study: social and emotional development The development of a child is unique and complex phenomenon as it varies from one child to another. Despite the uniqueness involved, the child’s development is based upon predictable, sequence of steps and milestones, which can vary depending upon the ways it’s carried out or on the time. The environment in which the child lives also is a major factor in its development and is greatly influenced by the factors in the environment and the experiences he or she has [PBS]. Jessica’s case is no different than any other child her age however the influence of the environment and the experiences she has had and is having has impacted her social and emotional development and she began to isolate her from the environment around. According to the Erikson's stages of psychosocial development the preschoolers (ages 4 to 6) tend to develop certain attributes in their personality based upon the environment around them. The child learns to take initiative however the guilt also arises. In this attempt to take initiatives the child also tends to develop negative behaviors, as the child might feel frustrated for not achieving the goals as they have planned. In this stage the significant relationship is with the family [Arl]. Jessica’s has seen a very turbulent environment around her and has experienced a separation, the family relationships are disturbed and thus it has developed negative behaviors within her as she view the world around her as an insecure place. Concerning the family relationships Bowlby formulated a theory of maternal deprivation stating that the “the infant and young child should experience a warm, intimate, and continuous relationship with his mother (or permanent mother substitute) in which both find satisfaction and enjoyment” [Wik], thus the absence of this has significant mental and health consequences. Jessica had been deprived of the maternal attachment, as the mother was unable to give her time, appreciate her initiatives and give her the warmth and love she required. This created frustration in Jessica and she alienated herself from her surroundings. Different Parenting styles have an impact on the child’s development. As the parenting style has different elements that combine to create the emotional climate in which the parents express their attitudes and practices of child rearing with their child. Thus the parenting styles have a huge impact on the overall emotional and social development of a child. Jessica’s mother had adopted an indifferent parenting style [Jan] as she had neglected the child completely due to the increased family responsibilities on her, thus being neither demanding nor responsive to her. This had led to a disinterested approach in her development. Moreover the parental stress, marital problems and divorce also has damaging effects on the parent’s attitudes towards the child. This disruption caused in the family has an adverse effect on the Childs social competence [Jan]. Children are when deprived of loving families it has a devastating effect on their intelligence, emotional well being and even on their physical stature. The lack of care and attention towards the child impedes the growth, the IQ level lowers, and the child is prone to more behavioral and psychological problems as compared to those children who are better cared according to the report at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in St Louis [Ian06] Jessica had been prone to such behavioral and psychological problems which had resulted in lower self-esteem whereby she was unable to mingle with her peers and in playing activities assumed the baby role, which depicts her need and longing for care and attention, which was not received from her mother. She needed attention and it is with that she was able to do well in her classroom with the teacher’s support. Jessica’s teacher (Miss Smith) observed the behavioral problems in Jessica and also observed her performance in academics, and talked to her mother to find out the reasons for such issues in this age. [Soc] The early recognition of the social and emotional problems in children is essential for the development. Jessica’s mother had been least interested in listening to or accepting the changes in her child, which had led to increased problems in her overall development. The social and emotional difficulties continue over time and if, they are not recognized earlier it can lead to childhood behavioral problems, delinquency and later in adverse cases can turn into criminality. The Child’s social and emotional development is heavily dependent upon the type of responses a child receives from his caregivers (parents) as this determines how the child will learn to deal with their emotions later on in their life. A child who has have had a secure relationship with the caregivers tends to develop positive interactions and responds positively to other around. However a child who has had insecure relationships with the caregiver shows negative emotions while interacting with others [Ash00]. The caregiver’s behavior towards the child influences his temperament. When caregivers are responsive towards the child, the child tends to develop better social and emotional interaction with others, thus when the child feels secure and his distress is acknowledged, this helps the child in interacting positively with others. Having good relationships with the adults, the child will be able to develop good relationships with other children as well [Lan02]. Jessica’s insecure and non-responsive relationship with her mother had developed negative emotions in her due to which she was unable to interact positively with her peers and had a disruptive behavior with them. Thus shows that the early interactions between the caregivers and the children have a profound effect on the child’s development. The Childs development and the ability to learn are also co-related to the school and the learning environment as the teachers also have a great influence on the child’s development. Different researches have shown that the young child’s ability to learn is assured by the sense of security and continuous relationships with the adults, including teachers, families and communities [Soc]. Thus when Jessica’s teacher gave her special attention on academics, she was able to produce good results equivalent to as of the other children in her class. However as she had social and emotional problem, her learning was disrupted and she was unable to pay attention, be proactive in class or act socially in the school environment. She was unable to get along with other children. She showed hostility and aggression in the playground. The rejection by the peers had also been a negative factor influencing her development as it affected her academically and socially. Seeing her hostile behavior Miss Smith did not intervene or helped her in developing a good relationship with her peers and responding to feelings of others, thus her negative behavior continued to grow. Development psychologist William Damon had classified the Childs friendship into three stages whereby, in the first stage the child’s friendship is based upon other’s behavior which is common up to age 7 where the children like each other and are friends when they play nicely with each other. In the second stage the friendship is based upon mutual trust. In the third stage, around age 11 the friendship is based upon psychological closeness [Jen08]. According to this Jessica’s friendship stage had been stage one, however she was unable to play nicely with other children and adhered to whatever they asked her to do while playing. The rejection she received from her classmates developed bullying behavior, where she bullied her peers intentionally, did it repeatedly overtime including physical gestures like poking a pencil to the other child, and throwing the ball in the mud. These made her lonely, withdrawn and have a lower self-esteem. As the development psychologist Erik Erikson proposed that the emotional development continues throughout the lifetime of an individual, at each stage the individual indentifies and moves on to struggle and to work through it. The children who are in their middle childhood tend to struggle between industry and inferiority. At this stage they require praise and encouragement in response to their behavior so as to develop a sense of competence and achievement [Jen08]. The influence of parents, teachers and peers has an impact on the overall development of the child thus it is essential that the caregivers (parents) and teachers serve as good role models for the child and help in their social and emotional development. Considering Jessica’s behavior at school and irresponsiveness of her mother towards her, she requires help and support for her emotional and social development from both, her mother and the school. The promotion of social and emotional development in a child and preventing the problems caused by inadequate problems is fairly essential for the individual and the society. This however begins with the relationships children form with others around them including parents, teachers and their peers, thus all play an important role. Miss Smith’s consideration that Jessica only needs support and parental intervention alone is not adequate as the school also plays an important role in shaping the development of the child as the child spends more time at school. The school can help in various ways first, by training teachers to deal with children having social and emotional problems. Schools can implement character building programs to teach moral concepts to the children thus helping their healthy development. Jessica being in grade one, needs to learn how to interact with her peers, she requires care and attention. Miss Smith can adopt play activities in order to help her learn how to work in team and cooperate with her peers. As children’s behavior is greatly influenced by the way teachers perceive them and the way they are treated by their peers [Soc], thus including play activities in classroom, encouraging teamwork can help Jessica in establishing a good relationship with her peers and this relationship would also have an impact on her academic achievement as she would feel more positive about the school and would develop the eagerness to participate in the classroom activities. Building or growing a child’s emotional development is very different than teaching. The teachers need to serve as the sole providers if the child is not receiving any development initiative from the home [Deb]. Thus Miss Smith needs to consider herself as the sole provider of her social and emotional development as she is not receiving it from her mother. She can introduce lesson plan which work around the concept of positive thinking. Children’s learn a great deal by observing the significant others in their lives. Adults can foster positively in child’s emotional development if they express their feelings in constructive ways. The role of educators and teacher is important in this as when they model self-understanding and emotional maturity; their students tend to model the same in themselves [Lea03]. Miss Smith has observed behavioral changes in Jessica thus she needs to help her gain understanding of her emotional feelings and feelings of the other by making use of interactive story telling or role plays. When Jessica had shown signs of aggression, she should have intervened and made use of constructive ways such as dialogue or painting to suppress such emotions also she should have been stopped by explaining to her that showing anger is okay but hurting others in to right. Empathizing with her and giving her the feeling that she is understood and taken care of, she would be expressive in talking her inner self out and then using constructive actions the teacher can help her cope with her emotional distress. Jessica also requires responsive and nurturing parenting. As her experiences at home and her mother’s non-responsiveness towards her affected her emotional and social well being to a large extent. Given all the situations and pressures her mother is going through, on being notified by the teacher and accepting that she is unable to give much attention and care to Jessica, Jessica’s mother need to be responsive to her temperaments thus shaping her parenting responses in order to develop a more positive interaction between the two. Often the child requires attention, and indulge in negative behaviors when he is attention deprived, thus Jessica had indulged in bullying in school thus to gain attention as she felt left-out and lonely. Her mother could not give her much attention and similarly the same happened at school so she became aggressive and violent. Her mother should give her more attention in order to promote more pro-social behavior [Car]. Different stages are involved in the social and emotional development of the children, it’s the parents and teachers responsibility to understand these stages in order to better aid in the development of their children’s social and emotional development and thus contribute in a more positive way to better mold the child’s self-esteem so that he can adjust in the environment in a positive and contributive manner [Deb]. The social and emotional development of the child is important to understand because it not only helps the child in his childhood but also continues through till the adulthood. As Erikson has proposed that the development process continues throughout the lifetime of an individual. Once the parents and teachers understand the developmental stages of they a child, they will be in a better position to respond to the behavioral, emotional and social problems in a child in a more constructive manner by making use of strategies that suits the situation [Car]. Thus adopting a creative parenting and teaching style can help children like Jessica to develop a positive social and emotional behavior. The social, emotional and academic development of a child is a very critical process and thus requires attention whenever the child demonstrates any negative cue in social and emotional well-being. Teachers and the parents are responsible for the child’s social and emotional development as they have a great influence on the children and this influence on the child can affect the life of the child forever. Hence, interventions and support should be provided to children like Jessica as soon as the signs are shown, if parents are being non-responsive the teacher should assume this responsibility of the developing the child socially and emotionally to better survive in the society. Works Cited PBS: , (PBSParents), Arl: , (Harder), Wik: , (Wikipedia), Jan: , (Benson & Haith, 2009), Ian06: , (Sample, 2006), Soc: , (Social and Emotional Disorders), Ash00: , (Ashiabi, 2000), Lan02: , (Landy, 2002), Jen08: , (Smith, 2008), Deb: , (Cluff), Lea03: , (Davies, 2003), Car: , (Webster-Stratton),   Read More