Social Relationships

Relationships and Development of Children

Relationships have an important role in the development of children’s social, emotional, and general skills (Seefeldt, 2010). Alana is a ten-year-old girl with cognitive and socialization difficulties, according to the case study. She is born early and has been diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome. Her parents split several years ago, and she is currently in the custody of her mother. Surprisingly, her mother is uninvolved in her child’s issues, which contributes to Alana’s academic difficulties. Similarly, as shown in school, Alana has weak social relationships. For example, she does several things that irritate other pupils, thus she is tolerated by them. Also, she does not have close friends due to her poor social relationship behaviors. Her social relationship is extensively affected by poor parental affection and attention. Therefore, this paper will analyze Alana’s case study by highlighting the factors that influence her social problems as well as the strategies that can be implemented by her family, teachers, and community to promote her social interaction with peers. Finally, the paper will discuss how Alana’s current socialization influence her perception of adult roles in community and school.

Factors Affecting Alana’s Social Relationships

Besides, several factors in Alana’s life affect her social relationships. Lack of family involvement through parent-child interaction is one of the contributing factor affecting her social relations. According to Seefeldt (2010), the development of children’s social skills is significantly affected the family nature as well as the early learning experiences. For instance, children within a family socialize through interactions with relatives, parents, neighbors, and siblings. Children with undeveloped attachments to other people find it difficult to adjust their social relations.

According to the theory of attachment, children with secure attachment relationship with their caregivers and parents utilize the affiliation as a support to explore and venture out their environments (Seefeldt, 2010). For instance, Alana’s parents divorced three years ago, and her mother cares little about her. Based on the case study, Alana spends most of her time with her cousins since her mother is out of the house including during the nights hence poor parental attention and affection adversely affects her social relationships.

On the same note, phylogenetic relationships affect her social relationships. Violence and consequently divorce affect Alana’s social skills development to some extent. According to Seefeldt (2010), children exposed to domestic abuse do not feel secure or safe hence changing their social behaviors. Additionally, lack of role models influences Alana’s social relations. For instance, her cousins are less concerned with education, and it is in school where social skills are developed. Also, her mother does not positively influence her child’s behavior hence Alana lacks role models for her social skills development.

Strategies to Be Implemented to Promote Alana’s Social Interaction with Her Peers

However, several strategies can be deployed to promote Alana’s social interaction. For instance, a close relationship and communication with her family members can increase her interaction with peers. According to Favazza (1999), children’s behavior is influenced by close family members who act as role models. Alana’s mother ought to strengthen her relationship and ensure maximum parent-child interaction. She has to maintain a healthy relationship to foster Alana’s social interaction skills.

Also, Alana’s teachers have to teach her on emotional and social skills to promote her social interaction with her peers. The teachers should emphasize in the daily practice of the socialization skills learned at school. According to The Nemours Foundation (1995-2017), the key strategy to improve interaction skills within schools is through proper teaching in a positive relationship, emotional and social skills by the use of Individualized Education Programs (IEP). The teachers should emphasize in the daily practice of the socialization skills learned at school.

Additionally, the community has to adopt programs that embrace cultural diversity in social relationships. By so doing, Alana will be aware of embracing and socializing with members of different cultures since early ages hence enhance her interaction skills.

How Alana Current Socialization Will Influence Her Perception of Adult Roles in School and Community

According to Seefeldt (2010), adults act as role models and influence children’s understanding of the roles of the adults in the society. Alana’s current socialization will extensively affect her perception of the functions of the adult in the community and school. For instance, she is unable to improve her relationships with children of her age by continuously carrying out irritating things. Instead of keeping a close relation with age mates, she holds her teacher’s hand for attention and care. She does not care or understand that other children do not like her. The teacher gives her the support and cares she desires which positively influence her perception of the role of adults in the school.

Her socialization will result in a quite skewed influence in her adulthood. For instance, her mother does not care much about her which negative influence her perception of the roles of the adults in the community. On the same note, her father divorced her mother that results in challenges that she encounters in her interaction.

Conclusion

In summary, the entire community members play a fundamental role in developing social relationships skills among the children. Based on Alana’s case study, poor child-parent relationship affects her social relationships. Alana lacks role models from the close family members hence resulting in the challenges she encounters in school. Furthermore, strategies such as the proper teaching of social skills and implementation of some programs in the community can be implemented to improve Alana’s social interaction with her peers. Finally, Alana’s current socialization will influence her perception of the role of adults in the community to a great extent. For instance, her parents don’t care much about her life which negatively influences her perception of adult roles in society.

References

Favazza, P. C., & Educational Resources Information Center (U.S.). (1999). Strategies for promoting social relationships among young children with and without disabilities: Final report. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement, Educational Resources Information Center

Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). (1995-2017). Nemours Foundation. Retrieved from http://kidshealth.org/parent/growth/learning/iep.html

Seefeldt, C. (2010). Factors affecting social development. Pearson Allyn Bacon Prentice Hall. Retrieved from https://www.education.com/reference/article/factors-affecting-social-development/