Positive Peer and Sibling Relationships - Essay Example

Positive peer and sibling relationships Positive Peer and Sibling Relationships Introduction Each society has its own ways of responding to children’s needs. Relationships play a key role in the lives of children and this paper seeks to discuss the importance of positive peer, and sibling relationships in children, and to evaluate evaluate the extent to which services for children acknowledge and support these relationships. Sibling Relationships in Children One of the reasons why sibling relationships are significant is that in most families, siblings spend more time together than they do with anyone else in the family. These interactions are different from those between parents and children. Interactions among siblings are playful and involve sharing of jokes, unlike those between adults and children that in most cases involve caretaking activities (Foley & Leverett 2008, p.48). This results into a better relationship among siblings than that between children and their parents. Siblings can be a source of social support for each other in situations of parental difficulties that can result from domestic violence. While not all children share their feelings with their siblings, a good number of them do. Most children feel closer to their siblings than to their parents and are therefore likely to share their challenges with their siblings. These relationships, however, can be costly as children might end up getting wrong advice. Sibling relationships also enable children to interact with the wider society and enhance their social skills. Rivalry, hostility, and conflict are common in sibling relationships and in most cases, older sibling report that their younger sibling fail to observe the unspoken rules of privacy and space at home. Skills gained from these interactions are critical to development of children’s social skills. Although sibling relationships have a wide range of benefits to children, their patterns within families are very diverse. While the benefits of sibling relationships to full siblings are quite clear, this is not the case with half siblings and stepsiblings (Foley & Leverett 2008, p.50). The benefits of half and stepsibling relationships are in most cases subject to societal norms and expectations. The changing nature of family relationships can also make it difficult for children to benefit from sibling relationships. Peer Relationships in Children Peer relationships play an important role in both social and cognitive development of children. Research has shown that how well a child relates with his or her peers determines largely their adult adaptation; more than their grades and classroom behaviour. Children who fail to identify themselves with a particular peer culture or those who cannot maintain close relationships with other children are at high risk of carrying the same into their adulthood. Positive peer relationships have four main benefits to children; Support Peer relationships provide children with security to enter into new territories meet new people and solve problems. These relationships set the emotional stage for children to explore their surroundings. Support when having fun is also a key aspect of peer relationships. Studies have shown that the frequency and likelihood of laughing, smiling, and talking among children is highest when they are with their peers. These studies have further shown there is higher measure of altruism and self-concept in children with close peer friends (Foley & Leverett 2008, p.51). Just like sibling relationships, peer relationships also cushion children from the effects of negative life events such as family conflicts, terminal illnesses, and school failure. Studies have shown that there is a link between low peer acceptance and the likelihood of dropping school among children (Foley & Leverett 2008, p.51). From these observations, one can conclude that support from peers can ease stress and enhance academic performance. However, peer relationships ease stress in different ways for boys and girls. While boys are more concerned about what they play, girls tend to care about who they are playing with. Girls prefer playing with their closest peers. Although this creates strong and close peer relationships, such relationships are volatile with constant changes among best friends. Cognitive Resources for Problem-Solving and Knowledge Acquisition Children are effective teachers of each other and the teaching can take three forms. The first form involves peer tutoring where information is transferred from one child to the other. This happens, in most cases, from an expert to a novice. Cooperative learning involves children combining problem-solving skills and sharing the outcome. In peer collaboration, novices work together on a problem that neither can solve alone (Foley & Leverett 2008, p.53). Studies have shown that collaboration among children who are friends result in more mastery of certain tasks than collaboration among non-friends children. Peers tend to talk more and work out their differences easily. This evidence shows that peer relationships are important in transmitting information from one child to another. Contexts in Which Basic Social Skills are Acquired Peer relationships help children to demonstrate and develop a ‘theory of mind’. The theory of mind helps them to understand that as they have thoughts, emotions and feelings, so do other children. This theory further helps then realize that different people have different beliefs and that these beliefs influence their behaviour. By constantly interacting with their peers, children develop an element of empathy. Empathy helps children to understand emotions experienced by other children and consequently develop an increased desire to help them. Templates for Subsequent Relationships Studies have shown that peer relationships forecast good adjustment during the first weeks of nursery. Making new friends changes children’s adjustment in positive directions during the rest of the year. The outcomes of these relationships in such case, however, depend on the nature of the relationship. For instance, students whose friendships are marked with unity and support for each other are more likely to develop positive personal attributes (Foley & Leverett 2008, p.57). Critical Evaluation of how Children Services Support and Acknowledge Peer and Sibling Relationships Children services have been blamed in the past for not involving children when making decisions that concern them. While this has changed in recent times, children services have offered little support to peer and sibling relationships. For instance, very little effort has been put in most of the children service centres to use peer support and buddy schemes in fighting bullying. Bullying continues to be rampant in most children service centres (Foley & Rixon 2008, p.236). A report by UNICEF (2007) indicated peer relationships as one of the six dimensions of child wellbeing. The UK was in the bottom third for five of the six dimensions children’s wellbeing at the time of release of the report (Collins & Foley 2008, p.12). This report showed how children in the UK are grounded in the diverse cultural, economic, and social conditions in which they live, with most children service centres lacking clear policies on the role of peer relationships. The UK’s failure to redefine its policies has led to the picture of child wellbeing been mixed up. The list of improving indicators is equal to the list of deteriorating indicators. While living standards and education attainment are improving, limitations to children’s use of space and aspects of their health are moving in the opposite direction (Foley & Rixon 2008, p.238). The government should therefore seek to improve on the rights, voice, and participation of children in decision-making processes that involve them. At the centre of these changes, is the use of positive peer and sibling relationships as a tool for child development. Conclusion Positive peer and sibling relationships play a key role in the development of children. There is a wide range of benefits that result from these relationships. Among these benefits, include providing both emotional and cognitive resources for these children. However, much need to be done to ensure that children service centres support these relationships. References List Collins, J & Foley, P 2008, Promoting Children’s Wellbeing: Policy and Practice, The Policy Press, Bristol. Foley, P & Leverett, S 2008, Connecting with Children: Developing working Relationships, The Policy Press, Bristol. Foley, P & Rixon, A 2008, Changing Children’s Services: Working and Learning Together, The Policy Press, Bristol. Read More