Social Development in Children

Social development                                                                        

This involves learning the values, knowledge and skills that enable children to relate to others effectively and to contribute in positive ways to family, school and the community. This kind of learning is passed on to children directly by those who care for and teach them, as well as indirectly through social relationships within the family or with friends, and through children’s participation in the culture around them.

Through their relationships with others and their growing awareness of social values and expectations, children build a sense of who they are and of the social roles available to them. As they develop socially children both respond to the influences around them and play an active part in shaping their relationships.

Learning social values

Children’s ability to understand others and take their needs and views into account develops over time. Young children are naturally self-focused. They often play beside, rather than with, other children and tend to think that everyone sees things the same way that they do. In early primary school children learn that others may see things differently from them. Then, as their thinking skills develop, children are more able to understand another person’s point of view and, finally, to appreciate multiple ways of looking at the same event or situation.
Teaching children how to put themselves in someone else’s shoes helps them to relate better to others and manage conflict more effectively. It promotes caring, respect and fairness. Research shows that children who have learned to value others are more likely to include and appreciate children who are different from them or who are viewed negatively by others.

How to Support Social Development in Young Children

March 29, 2012 by Corey Fitzgerald

Model Appropriate Social Behavior
Take advantage of everyday routines to “show and tell” children what your expectations are for appropriate behavior—for example, how to greet someone new or how to share a toy during play.  By talking about what you’re doing as you’re doing it the child will better understand how to manage the situation and replicate it, even when you’re not there.

Modeling appropriate behaviors is essential. Observation plays a vital role in how young children learn new things. If your child sees you sharing, expressing gratitude, being helpful, and sharing feelings, your child will have a good solid understanding of how to interact with other people outside the home. You can model these responses in your own household with both your child and other members of the family. Every time you say "please" or "thank you," you are demonstrating how you would like your children to behave.

Most importantly, be sure to offer praise when your children demonstrate good social behaviors. Reinforcement not only makes young children feel good about themselves, it helps them understand why certain behaviors are desirable and worthy of praise. Helping your children feel good about themselves also plays an important role in developing a sense of empathy and emotional competence. By creating a positive climate where children are allowed to share their feelings, children will naturally begin to become more generous and thoughtful.

Support Self-Esteem
Positive self-esteem is critical to healthy social development.  Make it a point to compliment children on their behavior, how they look, and progress they have made toward goals.  When you acknowledge these attributes, children learn how to perceive and act upon their feelings in a healthy way.

Build Problem Solving Skills
Problem solving is a skill that employs reasoning, creativity, inhibitory control and decision making.  Because children do not have fully mature executive functions, they are prone to making mistakes as their abilities emerge and the frontal lobe develops.  Exploring solutions to problems by asking children “What would you do?” or offering alternative strategies will help them develop effective reasoning skills and mental flexibility.

Encourage Exploration
Infants and young children explore their environment through movement and interaction.  As a child develops confidence and control over her body in motion, she becomes more and more eager to venture into the world around her.  Aid her natural curiosity by organizing activities that promote safe exploration, both at home and while out.  Examples include asking children for help while preparing a meal or tasking them with finding an item at the grocery store.  When you gradually extend opportunities to be involved with more complex activities, children will rise to the occasion.

Play! 
Time spent playing with children can be one of the best investments you make in their educational future.  One of the easiest ways to help children develop socially is by the simple act of playing.  Joining in play builds relationships in a climate of fun and puts you in a great position to teach skills for sharing and cooperation, introducing concepts like winning or losing, and it also gives children a chance to learn about more subtle social cues, like body language and vocal intonations.  So don’t be afraid to turn up the music for a little song and dance, put on a puppet show, or pull out some favorite board games and have fun!

Culture and self-concept

Having a strong cultural identity enhances children’s self-concept and promotes a sense of connectedness and belonging. Children’s cultural identity is nurtured when they learn about their own cultural traditions and when those around them show respect for their cultural values. Teaching children to respect and appreciate variations and differences between cultures is therefore very important for all children’s social development.
Cultural identity development is sometimes complex for children from minority cultural groups. They often encounter differences between the rules and expectations required at school and those they are used to at home. When the differences are not acknowledged, or when the cultural traditions children identify with are ignored or minimised, it can negatively affect children’s sense of connectedness and belonging.

Children from minority cultures may be subjected to stereotyping and discrimination on the basis of their ethnicity, religion, gender, appearance, social class or sexuality. Discrimination and bullying can have serious effects on children's mental health as well as their social development. By contrast, overcoming discrimination has been found to have positive effects on self-concept. It is very important for parents, carers and teaching staff to encourage and support children to take positive action against discrimination and bullying by speaking up and reporting incidents.

General principles for supporting children’s social development

Children’s earliest and most extensive learning about social relationships occurs in the family. Parents and carers can support positive social development when they treat children with respect and consideration and encourage children to be similarly respectful in all their relationships.

1. Provide care and support by tuning into children’s needs. Show you are willing to listen and take children’s feelings into consideration.
2. Help children to develop social skills by providing coaching and teaching them to think through and solve the day-to-day social difficulties they encounter. Supervise and support children’s social activities without taking over.
3. Ask questions that encourage children to put themselves in someone else’s shoes. Questions like “How would you feel if …?” help children learn skills for perspective taking. Asking questions in a supportive way helps children to think through situations and encourages them to take others’ feelings and perspectives into account.
4. Discuss moral issues with children and encourage them to state their opinions and reasons.

Social Difficulties

The difficulties occur in child social development is:-

1.      One third of children bring problems from home

2.      One third don’t understand how to behave differently

3.      One third are bored or in inappropriate environment (Lilian Katz, 2001)

Some things to try

What can we do to eliminate these difficulties? And how can we help the child to overcome these difficulties.

1.      Address the cause

2.      Safe base (adult) near while the child gains confidence

3.      Grouping with socially competent

4.      Invite a single peer home

What parents can do

Parents play an important role in child social development and they can also help the child to overcome the difficulties appear in child social development. There are some important cues how parent can help the child.

1.      Clearly say what the child needs to do

2.      Allow learning from mistakes without ridicule

3.      Give private, respectful consequences

4.      Let children help set rules

5.      Acknowledge that some children test rules and that they unconsciously do so in order to check out how much people care about them and how much they belong

6.      Practice desired social skills

7.      Coach and support children who find it difficult to join in groups

8.      Label and encourage positive social behavior

9.      Model what you want to see