Child Development

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to absorb social expectations of what is considered gender appropriate behavior, and many boys and girls will experience increased pressure to conform to stereotypical gender roles. Boys may experience pressure at school or among peers to adhere to sex-role expectations in their choice of toys, clothing, hairstyles, activities, hobbies, or sports. Some girls will cave into this pressure and will try to be more attractive to boys by over-emphasize their physical appearance. This includes wearing excess makeup, clothing, and hairstyles that make them look like the sexual objects they see as images in music videos, on television, and on the Internet.

Parents can continue to be supportive during these times and stress that stereotypes are damaging and that rules for behavior are not necessary. They should help their child find a supportive group of friends who accept the gender identity or non-conformity which is an essential part of their child’s identity. Most importantly, parents must continue to affirm their child’s choices in clothing and activities, even if they seem to promote a gender identity different from what the child’s appearance presents.

4. Both the structures and dynamics of families are significant as an influence on child development because they affect the well-being of the children in the family. For instance, maternal employment has increased dramatically in the past four decades and this indeed has an effect on a child’s development. Daughters of working mothers are more likely to benefit from working mothers because the mother acts as a role model and they learn to be independent and show greater achievement and self-esteem than daughters of non working mothers. However, the number of hours a mother works makes a difference especially in early-aged children. One study shows that the more hours a mother worked, the lower the academic achievements of their small children were. This correlation is not as apparent as children grow older. Working mothers may spend less quality time with their children, but many make up for lost time when they are not working. Lastly, when mothers work, their children are less likely to have stereotypical beliefs about gender since they see both parents in multiple roles.

The effects of divorce in families are rarely positive. The absence of a parent, emotional and financial tension, and sometimes conflicts between parents can cause a range of psychological problems for children. There are many different variables to compare in a family that is suffering from a divorce, and not all kids will be affected in the same way. Some kids will show aggression, lower academic achievement, distractibility, noncompliance, and low self-esteem especially within the first year. These behaviors can diminish in many cases, but sometimes they don’t and the children continue to act out or show patterns of emotional distress. Helping the children adjust to the divorce is the best thing that parents can do. The more conflict and tension between the parents, the worse the outcome for the child will be. On the contrary, if communication is made a priority and the child does not feel caught between the two parents, the child may not feel abandoned and therefore adjust better to the divorce.

Lastly, new siblings into the family can also have an effect on child development. In general, children from smaller families have higher intelligence test scores, achieve higher levels of education, and display greater self esteem. When parents have a lot of children in a family, many of the kids may feel like they aren’t getting enough attention. For the majority of children, the arrival of a new sibling can lead to changes in their behavior. They can become more demanding, clingy, unhappy, or withdrawn because they are craving attention. Birth order can also be a factor in development. First-borns and only children tend to score higher on IQ tests and have higher achievement motivation than other children. They also tend to be more obedient and socially responsible. On the other hand, later-borns seem to have better peer relationships and thus have an advantage in the social sphere.

Generally, sibling relationships are an important component of children’s social and emotional development. In healthy relationships, siblings help one another overcome difficulties by listening to and offering advice to one another. It is not uncommon, however for siblings to compete and fight with one another for various reasons, such as vying for attention or because of their individual temperaments. This competitiveness, or sibling rivalry, is often a source of frustration for both siblings and parents, and can be considered a negative aspect of sibling relationships especially if the rivalry turns violent or abusive.

5. Children are active players in the process of their own development. This active role can be evident by the fact that children posses and exhibit certain qualities and attributes. They obtain reactions from others, so they are not blank slates. They can construct and organize ways of thinking, feeling, and communicating to help them make sense of different physical and social experience. As the child achieves greater control over their environment, they can then discover interesting and challenging things about their world, which proves that they are indeed active participants in their own development.

Children play an active role in peer relations, popularity, and friendships. In general, children who spend more time with peers show advances in social development and often tend to prefer cooperation to competition. On one level, many of the physical qualities the child possesses influence the reaction of peers. On another level, the child’s social and emotional skills clearly affect how peers react to them. Peer groups often form because of shared interests and activities among their members. As a result, children may form especially strong identities with the group to which they belong when groups compete against one another. In adolescence, these groups often turn into cliques and crowds. Popularity is influenced by many factors such as attractiveness, motor skills, and the ability to regulate emotions. Popular children know how to enter peer groups and engage in fewer antagonistic behaviors than children that are withdrawn. However, in adolescence, popularity is sometimes linked to aggression and bullying. Finally, friendships provide a context for developing social skills such as cooperation and conflict resolution. They increasingly influence prosocial as well as antisocial behaviors. Children become friends with peers who share interests, personality qualities, or other behaviors and characteristics with them. Also, friendships can help protect children from anxiety and stress and are associated with higher