Children Behaviors and Parents - Essay Example

Running Head: Children Behaviors and Parents Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name Course Code and Name: University: Date Submitted: Children Behaviors and Parents In our day to day life, people expose different kinds of behaviors. Most of the behaviors that people have are either learned or genetic. The socialization process that one goes through has a lot of impact on the behavior that a person formed. A person is influenced by many factors in the formation of the behavior. The environment in which a person grows has a lot of impact on one behavior formation. The environment also encompasses the socialization process, which a person goes through. Various agents are responsible for the socialization of a child. We have the parents, church, school and friends’ plays are role in the socialization process of a child. However, parents are the most influential agents of socialization who have many impacts on behavior that children develop. They have considerable influence on the formation of either good behaviors or bad behaviors in their children. The big question that arises is whether parents should also be punished if their children behave badly. This essay looks at the views raised concerning this issue. Parents play the first role in the socialization process of the children. They play the role of making sure that their children have good behaviors. This is because they have more time with their children when they are young. This is the most critical age by when appropriate or inappropriate behaviors develop in a child. They should be able to monitor how their children are growing, in their behavioral development. They should act as examples to their children by showing them the way to form acceptable behaviors (Briggs & Love, 2001). Therefore, most of the characteristics that children form have a relation to the way their parents brings them up and also the way they teach them how to behave. It is because of this factor that if children behave badly their parents influence the formation of the bad behavior. This should rectify any bad behavior that they see in their children. Therefore, they should take the responsibility of the unacceptable behaviors in their children. Therefore, I feel that parents should be punished because of the bad behaviors of their children. This would act as away of making the parents put more efforts in making sure that their children develop appropriate behaviors. One of the major responsibilities of a parent is to make sure that child grow up in the most appropriate way. A parent should provide their children with proper nutrition, security and all other basic needs. A parent who fails to provide those needs to their children should be charged as being neglectful to their children or can be termed as abusing their children. Children abuse does not only occur if parents do not provide the material basic needs but also the psychological needs to their children. One of the psychological needs that children require from their parents is being taught moral ethics, and how to behave so that they can fit well in the society (Saunders & Goddard, 2010). Therefore, if parents re punished for not offering the material needs such as clothing, food, education to their children, then they should also be punished for the bad behaviors by their children because its also their responsibility of offering quality bringing up to their children. One of the major roles that they should play beyond offering material basics need such as children is to assist their children form acceptable behaviors. It is particularly common in many societies to praise parents whom their children show appreciable behaviors in those societies. They are praised as being able parents who are able to raise their children in the required way in the society. There are those societies where even those parents whose children behave in the appropriate manner in accordance to the set rules and regulation in the society and those who show good ethics are given awards in various occasions. There are also times when parents have praise for their children for showing admirable behaviors. When the behaviors of children are positive parents feel happy to be related to children (DeLorenzo, 1982). They like to relate themselves to the formation of the good behaviors of their children. For example, in many schools children are encouraged to form acceptable behaviors by being given awards by their schools. There are also those schools which recognize the efforts of those children. Therefore, the same way that parents are recognized for the good behaviors of their children by even receiving awards from the community for outstanding behaviors of their children would be the same way they should receive punishment if their children fail to show good behaviors. This would encourage parents to ensure that their children behave in the appropriate manner so that they avoid punishment from the community. Societies rewards and punishes individuals for their good behaviors or their woeful behaviors respectively. There are rules and regulation on how people should behave failure to which they are punished (Barry, 2006). There are different methods that societies use to punish the members defy the rule and regulations. Individuals are also punished for doing something that cause pain or for causing another person to cause damage. For example, if a person pays a person to commit murder to another person such a person is taken as guilty of committing a crime for leading to murder. Such a person is punished for committing a crime indirectly. This should be the same case, which should apply if a child does something that cause pain or inflicts damage out of his bad behaviors. The parent would be punished if their children cause any damage to any person out of their bad behaviors because it is the role of a parent to guide their children always to follow the rules and regulation of the society. Individuals are usually unique from each other. There is no person who is the same as the other in nature. There is no person who should be taken to be responsible for other person behavior or traits. Therefore in this instance it becomes injustice to punish a parent because if the behavior of a child. This is because there are other factors, which influence the formation of characteristics in a person. There are those factors, which the parent may not have any control which influence the behaviors of their children (Forsyth & Eifert, 2008). For example, according to genetic studies there are children born with traits, which lead them to have bad behaviors. These traits are in their genetic make up. Because of these inborn traits that make children behave in certain ways, it is difficult for parents to have any control of these characteristics. These characteristics may not be inherited from both parents but may be just unique in a certain child in a family. For example, there are families that have all parents who do not have any criminal records, but they give birth to one child who is a criminal. This child may have criminal traits, which are inborn. Therefore, it would be doing parents injustice if they are punished for the behaviors of such a child. There are also other factors, which may have influence to the behaviors of a child. For instance, there is peer pressure influence, which plays a big role in the formation of behavior in many people. This happens when the children in schools or when they are playing with other children. It is possible for a child to learn many behaviors without the awareness of the parents (Whiffen, 2006). These behaviors formed may be good or bad. This happens mostly in these days when children do not spend much time with their parents. Parents are so much occupied with other roles and, therefore, children spend most of their time with house helps or in most cases, they are in school. Therefore, it will also be unjust if the parents are punished as a result of bad behaviors by their children, because they are not the only ones who are responsible for behavior development in children. Despite the fact that our society has changed from the traditional form of society, a child belongs to the society. Therefore, the whole society should take full responsibility of bringing up children with the right morals. There are other institutions in society such as religious institutions who have the responsibility of instilling morals to the children (Rose & York, 2004). So the parents should not be held to have full responsibility for bad behaviors in their children. Therefore, as can be seen from the essay this is a situation that brings also of debates from both the opposing and the supporting sides of the argument. This is because both sides of the argument have views, which are valid. The most important thing, which should be considered in determining whether a parent should be punished from bad behaviors of their parents, is the cause of the behaviors. If the cause, of the behavior, has some relation or is influenced by parents then at this point a parent can be punished. However, if the bad behaviors do not have any influence from the parents then it would be unfair to punish the parent out of these behaviors. References Barry, B. (2006). Schools and the law: a participant's guide, 1st edition. Belmont: Kluwer publishers. Briggs, F. & Love, M. (2001). Teaching Children to Protect Themselves, 1st edition New York: Allen & Unwin publishers. DeLorenzo, L. (1982). Total childcare: from birth to age five, 1st edition. New York: Doubleday. Forsyth, J. & Eifert, G. (2008). The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Anxiety: A Guide to Breaking Free from Anxiety, Phobias, and Worry Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Oakland: New Harbinger Publications. Rose, G. & York, A. (2004). Mental health and growing up: factsheets for parents, teachers and young people, 3rd edition. London: RCPsych Publications. Saunders, B. & Goddard, C. (2010). Title Physical Punishment in Childhood: The Rights of the child. Oxford: John Wiley and Sons. Whiffen, V. (2006). A Secret Sadness: The Hidden Relationship Patterns That Make Women Depressed. New York: New Harbinger Publications. Read More