Children and Their Development - Essay Example

Interview with a Parent The parent one had a chance to interview manifests exemplary expertise in working with children. From the informal interview set-up, she casually relayed the experiences she had raising six children while being immersed in a variety of life’s challenges and access to support systems. As the interviewer, one frequently sees her in the neighborhood tending to the holistic needs of her children, as the sole-breadwinner in the family. She requested to maintain anonymity and just to refer to her as Mrs. M. One initially thanked her for the opportunity accorded in accommodating the interview, which, one relayed was part of the academic requirements of one’s course in Psychology. Mrs. M was very helpful and understanding.

One relayed that the purpose of the interview was to determine, from her perspective, the lessons she learned and could impart regarding raising children in contemporary times. Mrs. M disclosed that the most important lessons she learned from raising six children are: (1) that children are unique and diverse and one’s trait is distinctly different from the other, despite them being siblings; (2) that the factors influencing child development are actually intricate and are an interplay of internal and external stimuli; (3) that parents provide the initial value formation that is expected to be adhered through observance of cultural norms and traditions; as well as conformity to religious practices and beliefs; (4) that once the children reaches the stage of adolescence, they manifest abilities to influence or steer their own paths or course of personal growth and development; and (5) that creating a supporting, loving, and conducive learning environment is instrumental in steering them towards optimism and exhibiting behavior that is consistent with ethical, moral and legal codes of conduct. Mrs. M relayed that her six children, all boys, could have exhibited some similarities in physical features; but the personality, preferences, behavior and outlook in life are diverse.

Her eldest, now 25 years of age, already graduated from nursing school. The second son is still finishing his studies, with just one more semester before graduating with a certificate in Information Systems. The third son is currently on his 5th year in dentistry and, Mrs. M indicated, is the one taking most of the financial resources due to the high tuition rate for dentistry course and the expensive dental instruments that need to be purchased. Her fourth son is currently taking up Hotel and Restaurant Management at a nearby university and is still in his freshman level.

The fifth son is about to graduate from high school; while the youngest is in Grade 7. When one asked what were the challenges she experienced when raising her children, she replied that the challenges were mostly externally influenced, such as: economic difficulties which affected the family’s financial support system; the health condition of the children’s father, that led to his early demise due to chronic renal failure; the need to transfer in residential domain due to the father’s line of work and therefore there was a constant need to re-orient the children to a new school and to a new local environment. Mrs. M relayed that the most difficult and challenging time that the family encountered was having to see her husband succumb to illness and that the chronic condition of the diseases (diabetes that caused renal failure) cause his death.

This unfortunate event happened only two years ago. Likewise, the amounts spent to regularly finance going in and out of the hospital to address the illnesses left the family in a financially challenging situation. Mrs. M disclosed that it was just remarkable that the strong bond that was created between her and her children was instrumental in enabling them to go on and find means to survive. Mrs. M said she currently is a freelance writer which enables her to work at home and attend to the various needs of the children.

Finally, one asked Mrs. M if there are benefits of being a single parent, despite having gone through the challenges that she had, raising six children and solely supporting them. Without hesitation, Mrs. M disclosed that being a mother is the most challenging; yet rewarding role that she has been fortunate to assume. The fact that she could see and observe how her children went through the various stages of development and have been subjected to the same difficulties and trials that she herself sustained – and yet, remained resilient and victorious, was just exhilarating.

She emphasized that all her six children have consistently exhibited conformity to the values that she instilled while they were very young: adhering to honestly, respect, faithful to religious practices, and loving and supportive of everyone else in the family. Having taken quite some of her precious time, one thanked her profusely and admired her for having raised six children, who are now obviously on their way to eventually taking care of their loving and supportive mother in the near future.

Interview Questions 1. What lessons have you learned and could you impart regarding raising children? 2. Can you please describe your children? 3. What were the challenges that you faced in raising your children? 4. How are you currently supporting your children’s various needs? 5. Are there benefits to being a single parent?