Middle Childhood And Adolescence Paper

Middle Childhood and Adolescence

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Middle Childhood and Adolescence

Such families where it is common for the members to misbehave, engage in negative conduct, abuse and adopt behaviors that may have an overall negative effect on others, especially children, are known as dysfunctional families. On the other hand, an environment where people may feel at home and welcome is known as a functional family. The overall outlook of a functional family is positive on children and the family members. People are friendly and not afraid to speak up. A family is the first learning ground for the children. Constant cases of misbehaving acts, violence and abuse tend to develop such tendencies in the children as well. It can also lead to anxiety, stress and other mental issues. When talking about functional family dynamics, the children are brought up in a way that is ideal. There are many positive things to take in and the resultant, is a happy family and children. A child’s mind is like a canvas that draws whatever it sees. In dysfunctional families, the elders are so engrossed in their work that they give little time to care for the young ones. As a result, it causes personality traits that are not what one would want in their children. Another aspect of the families that can play a huge role in the development of a child is of the family system. If the joint family system is adopted, there are many individuals that take part in the upbringing. There is automatically peer pressure in the form of cousins. The sense of having the responsibility of one’s own belongings also increases. If the regular family system is adopted where the family lives separately then there are no such elements.

It is a very famous saying that a person is known by the company he keeps. Peers have a great impact on the overall grooming of the mind ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"mDE1Jnua","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Farrell et al., 2017)","plainCitation":"(Farrell et al., 2017)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":178,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/WKtM8IGm/items/U56GPT5N"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/WKtM8IGm/items/U56GPT5N"],"itemData":{"id":178,"type":"article-journal","title":"Dimensions of Peer Influences and Their Relationship to Adolescents’ Aggression, Other Problem Behaviors and Prosocial Behavior","container-title":"Journal of Youth and Adolescence","page":"1351-1369","volume":"46","issue":"6","source":"DOI.org (Crossref)","DOI":"10.1007/s10964-016-0601-4","ISSN":"0047-2891, 1573-6601","journalAbbreviation":"J Youth Adolescence","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Farrell","given":"Albert D."},{"family":"Thompson","given":"Erin L."},{"family":"Mehari","given":"Krista R."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2017",6]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Farrell et al., 2017). As mentioned before, middle childhood is the age when children learn things. At this time, they have no proper sense of what is right and wrong. Also, there is no element of jealousy involved. The friends that are developed during this time are without any favors or jealousy. The overall personalities of the peers create a huge impact on the way that the child turns out. The problem in middle childhood is that a child may not know the difference between that what is right and that what is wrong. They may adopt such characteristics that are negative and may cause problems in future if not rectified at the earliest. As the age of adolescence comes, the mind gets sharpened and a person is wise enough to distinguish between things. The peers during this time also have the same impact but at this time a person can easily judge what direction they might be following. During teenage, the peers pose a different kind of pressure. It is the time when many life-changing decisions have to be made like choosing the right career path. These could have grave consequences if not proper thought is given. Peer pressure is maximum at this stage and leads to competition.

As compared to middle childhood, adolescence age is much more important and sensitive. As a child’s mind starts to develop more and into a wiser one, they develop the ability to judge things and make their own decisions. The teenage falls under this category. During this time a child learns to face challenges that involve peer pressure, social development and academics. These are present even in the younger age but the adolescence is the age when all these matters more as they are closer to the stop towards adulthood. The sense of competition, family pressure to be the best, and the mindset to do well all bundled into a load that the child has to face at this stage of life. If any wrong decision is made during this time, it can have huge implications in the future. During middle childhood, the consequences of the path that is chosen might not be so severe.

During the age of middle childhood, children are completely dependent on what their family tells them and teaches them. Whether it be religion or the ability to distinguish between good or bad, all are taught and learnt through the family. As the age progresses into the adolescence, these kids start to develop the capability to make their own decisions. These can be used to select right or wrong and good or evil. The teenagers have to make moral decisions on a daily basis. Many factors are present that influence these judgements. Peer pressure, family pressure and social pressure. All these make an impact on the decision-making process of the individual. This is the age when children tend to become independent. This is the right time to learn about moral values as many life-altering decisions are made during this period. There are many cases where moral values would be affected by the experiences of life. Teenagers are more aware of their surrounding and hence are affected more by the surrounding environment ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"Nto8PICc","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Patrick et al., 2018)","plainCitation":"(Patrick et al., 2018)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":179,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/WKtM8IGm/items/3JHU8JMG"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/WKtM8IGm/items/3JHU8JMG"],"itemData":{"id":179,"type":"article-journal","title":"What Accounts for Prosocial Behavior? Roles of Moral Identity, Moral Judgment, and Self-Efficacy Beliefs","container-title":"The Journal of Genetic Psychology","page":"231-245","volume":"179","issue":"5","source":"DOI.org (Crossref)","DOI":"10.1080/00221325.2018.1491472","ISSN":"0022-1325, 1940-0896","title-short":"What Accounts for Prosocial Behavior?","journalAbbreviation":"The Journal of Genetic Psychology","language":"en","author":[{"family":"Patrick","given":"Renee B."},{"family":"Bodine","given":"Andrew J."},{"family":"Gibbs","given":"John C."},{"family":"Basinger","given":"Karen S."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2018",9,3]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Patrick et al., 2018).

The transition from middle childhood to adolescence is a sensitive age when many important changes are taking place such as the development of mind, behavior and the way we think and make decisions. The more positive things the mind is exposed to, the better would be the future outcome.

References

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Farrell, A. D., Thompson, E. L., & Mehari, K. R. (2017). Dimensions of Peer Influences and Their Relationship to Adolescents’ Aggression, Other Problem Behaviors and Prosocial Behavior. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46(6), 1351–1369. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0601-4

Patrick, R. B., Bodine, A. J., Gibbs, J. C., & Basinger, K. S. (2018). What Accounts for Prosocial Behavior? Roles of Moral Identity, Moral Judgment, and Self-Efficacy Beliefs. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 179(5), 231–245. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221325.2018.1491472