Introduction
Children acquire social experiences from the society, and this helps them to live and interact well with other people. Socialism refers to the process that enables people to learn their culture, language and other aspects of their society. This process starts from the time a child is born and continues until when it matures and it involves agents like the media, family, society, peers, schools and churches. This essay investigates the agent of socialism that has the greatest impact on the opinion of an individual regarding political issues.
The family shapes the political views of an individual more than other agents of socialism due to the following reasons. First, it brings people very close to one another compared to other agents of socialism and thus enables children to learn communication and socialization skills. In addition, family ties play significant roles in educating children regarding politics, religion, tradition and nature. They learn the differences between various aspects of life like political parties, religions and cultures.
Secondly, the family trains children to distinguish between good and bad behavior; therefore, they will always look for these qualities before choosing which political party to follow. On the other hand, other agents of socialism may not distinguish between good and bad and thus they give individuals options to choose from. However, the family ensures its members follow a particular perception about political issues.
The comments that parents make regarding political parties will influence the decisions their children make in the future; therefore, most parents will aspire to influence their children to follow their political parties. Those who make bad remarks about a political party will make their children to believe that the party does not support democracy or constitutional issues. Consequently, their children will despise people who are affiliated to that political party.
Thirdly, people have the right to join political parties of their choices, and this decision is influenced by the policies and leaders in these parties. When children grow up they try to find out the political parties their parents prefer and investigate the issues that make them to be members of these parties.
However, this does not affect their perception unless their parents are staunch followers of these parties. Family members cannot disagree due to political differences compared to work mates, neighbors and peers; therefore, the family has major impacts on the political views of an individual. This means that when children realize that their parents are ardent members of a political party they will follow suit and start accompanying them to political meetings.
Moreover, children get social security and confidence by ensuring that their political views are similar to those of their parents. Family members are likely to have similar political views than friends or work mates; therefore, they influence an individual easily because they have limited options. Therefore, the family plays significant roles in shaping the perception of their children regarding political issues.
Lastly, children spent more time with their parents and other family members compared to other agents of socialization. Therefore, they learn a lot of political issues from their parents since all their childhood years are spent next to them. On the other hand, schools, churches and friends are not very close to individuals because their interactions are limited by circumstances.
Conclusion
Children develop communication skills and learn other aspects of life from their societies to become independent and productive individuals. Family members have tight relationships; therefore, they can exchange ideas freely without fear of being discriminated against by other people. Therefore, the family is more influential than peers, media, church and school in shaping the political views of its members.