This reflective essay will look at a theory from Bronfenbrenners ecological system. It has four basic structures. Microsystem has four groups that can have an impact in a child’s growth. Therefore, family group within microsystem is one which is important to understand its influence on child development. Firstly, I will discuss the importance of family relationship. Secondly, it will look at parents support to a child. Then, I will discuss some positive and negative influences of social theories on the way family function in my society. Finally, the wellbeing of a child is important for the future in our nation.
Family is a group of people living together in a home or community. Family can be blood related as parent and children or group of people dwelling together. In the Pacific islands, living together can be as a nuclear family or with extended family. According to Berns ecological development model, “the family is the most influential group in the early years and the relationships within the family impact on children (Berns, 1997, p.27).” A child growth depended a lot on his family relation, because a child begin his first learning within a family. Therefore the influence of a family in a child’s life is very important.
First of all, relationship in a home contributed a lot on a child development. If the parents are cooperating well inside a family, it can build up the child positive impact emotionally and cognitively. The child will feel loved, cared and important in the midst of his family. Then comes along the positive virtues like honesty, trust, helpful, and many more. Continuous family gathering too is an effective way of relationship between parent and child. For example, by observing pupils in my class, a student can cooperate well with others and the teacher when he has a good connection and relationship inside his family. It can be seen in his behavior, attitude and his grades. Face to face interaction with a child is effective because it is an interpersonal connection between parent and child. The principal subjects to discuss with a child during family gatherings are respect, good manners, how to treat others, sharing with others and self-discipline. Thus, family relationship is important in a child’s life because it helps a child to socialize well with others and it is also a unique bond that can last for a life time.
Secondly, when a child is born inside a family, he depends a lot on his parent’s support towards his learning and in providing his basic needs. It is the family responsibility to help the child achieved his goals in life. The child started to learn basic skills with his family at home before going to pre-school like sit-down, sit up, going to the toilet, holding a spoon, run, climb, talk, brushing teeth, caring for others and many more. Therefore, it is very important for parents to be responsible of the wellbeing of their children in supporting them in a way that their emotional, social and educational needs is not affected. For instance, I have a down-syndrome child in class that is always happy despite her disability because her parents treated her as the family first priority to care for. This positive action from the parents motivate her to trust and socialize with others and to become somebody in the future.
Furthermore, family influences can be positive or negative because during his development stages, a child imitated actions, observed and part take in every day activity. For example, if he or she was brought up in a family that is strictly rooted in a particular religious beliefs thus you can see manifest from the child’s character and way of living. I believe it because this involved my childhood experiences. On the other hand, breaking ups of parent’s marriage affected most of our young people than drugs and alcohol. For example, I have a nephew who is actually a special need student just because he had experienced so much abuse and fighting between his father and mother. After the parents separated, the child grew up with behavioral disorder. For this reason too, many children in my community went as far as committed suicide because they don’t feel valued. Thus, it is important to consider the environment where a child is brought up.
In addition, according to experts, they have different explanations in how a family impact a child development. Referring back through my readings, the social theories interactionism, functionalism and conflict help us understand the different stages and changes in a child’s life. According to Berns (1997, p.25), “the family is a setting that provides nurturance, affection, and a variety of opportunities. It is a primary socializer of the child in that it has the most significant impact on the child’s development.” James Garbarino (1992) stated that, “the child who is nurtured or loved, such as one who grows up in an abusive or dysfunctional family, may have developmental problems. Also children who do not have sufficient opportunities to manipulate objects, to model desirable behavior, to initiate activity and to be exposed to a language rich environment will be at a disadvantage when they reach school.”
To conclude, it can be noted that family is the child’s first teacher and it has an important role in raising a child. Nowadays, education has changed to a higher level and our society had changed a lot due to new technologies as mobile phones, internet and many more adopted uncivilized attitudes that can affect a child. Parents must teach their children the appropriate skills and values before they enter in formal institutions, however, many young parents may not think seriously about a child development due to lack of knowledge in our society. One way to help our children grow in a healthy environment, the government can go about educating parents in communities through awareness programs. The wellbeing of our children is important because they will become good citizens and also future leaders to a healthy nation.