Introduction
Human growth and development is a complicated process which is inevitably impacted upon by socioeconomic circumstances within which an individual is growing up Damon and Lerner (2006). In the end these circumstances determine the personality and behavior of an individual as well as their health and socioeconomic status. An individual’s attitude and perceptions are largely shaped by the socioeconomic surroundings within which they grow up and live as children and to a considerable extent as adults. The purpose of this task is to discuss how social influences affect outcomes for children growing up in two different socio-economic circumstances in Sydney, that is, in Double Bay and Redfern.
Double Bay and Redfern are suburbs of Sidney with different socioeconomic conditions. Double Bay is found in new South Wales state four kilometers south of Sydney Rawlings-Way (2010). It is the administrative centre of the local government of Woollahra Municipality Rawlings-Way (2010). Comparatively, Double Pay is a wealthy residential suburb thus its nickname “Double Pay”. On the other hand Redfern is an inner-city suburb of Sidney located three kilometers south of Sydney central business district and is part of the local government of Sydney city Rawlings-Way (2010). There is a high level of concentration of poverty in Redfern and its neighboring Waterloo Rawlings-Way (2010).
The role of social class, and family life
Virtually all societies are stratified in to social classes or groupings mainly on the basis of individual and family incomes and general material wealth. Children growing up in diverse social classes experience life differently. Lareau (2003) argues that social class diversity influence the very pace and rhythm of daily life. In a capitalist economy like Australia a person’s social class generally determines the kind of socioeconomic conditions he or she lives and grows in even though there is upward movement of people in between the classes.
Malina,Bouchard and Bar-Or (2004) point out that living conditions related to socioeconomic status include difference in education background of parents, acquisition power for food and in turn nutritional status, access to and use of health care amenities and programs and by and large regularity of lifestyle. These scholars further observe that the socioeconomic status of a child’s family is an important factor that influences growth and maturation. A child from well off socioeconomic circumstances like Double Bay tend to be on average taller and heavier than those from socioeconomic conditions like Redfern Malina,Bouchard and Bar-Or (2004).
Damon and Lerner (2006) argues that family composition and social class put forth significant influences on the way parents bring up their children and their expectations of children as they grow. It is noteworthy Parenting is important in an individual child’s life particularly during the formative years as well as during young adulthood. Parents of children from the rich classes and small family sizes like Double bay are able to monitor each child closely thereby identify their strengths, talents weaknesses and help them accordingly. Parents from the upper and middle classes are normally more educated than their counterparts in the lower strata of the society thus they tend to be more realistic and liberal in terms of allowing their children to pursue what they are talented and interested in.
They do so by providing the required moral and material support for success in whatever their child chooses to pursue in their lives. Generally, educated parents unlike uneducated ones help in identification and nurturing of their children talents and abilities thereby raising their possibility of success later in life. On the other hand, parents from lower social classes like in Redfern may block a child from pursuing what they are interested in out of ignorance as a result of lack of education and exposure. In most cases they may lack moral and material ability needed to support their children in pursuing their life interests.
In a nut shell, parents have significant functions to play in children’s physical continued existence, social growth, emotional maturation and cognitive development Damon and Lerner (2006). In the end as children attain independence parenthood is understood as having enhanced a child’s self-assurance, capacity for intimate relationship, achievement enthusiasm, enjoyment in play and work, closeness and friendships with peers, and lifelong academic success and fulfillment Damon and Lerner (2006).
However, it is noteworthy that human development is too delicate, dynamic and complicated to hold that parenting alone determines the track and outcome of a child’s development from childhood to maturity Damon and Lerner (2006). More often than not stature in maturity is formed by the actions, changes and unexpected difficulties of an individual child across the life span Damon and Lerner (2006).In other words parenthood alone cannot fix the course and boundary of a child’s development.
This is so because according to (Damon and Lerner 2006; Singleman and Rider 2008) parent and child actively build one another through time. Therefore in as much as parenthood plays a critical role in the physical, social, emotional, spiritual and intellectual growth and development of a child there are other significant socioeconomic factors which determine the outcome of a children growing in differing circumstances as we are going to see in the next sections.
The family is the first societal unit in which a child’s socialization process begins and even continues throughout their lives. As a social basic unit family life is inevitably impacted up on by community circumstances and in turn impacts up on the growth and development of a child. Therefore, communal factors in Double Bay and Redfern suburbs to some degree determine the manner and organization of customs within the family units found there Mawle,Cowley and Adams (2007).
According to Mawle, Cowley and Adams (2007) these factors include educational and employment opportunities that will shape the economic condition of the family and in turn impacting on the availability of material resources significant for sustain a happy and comfortable life in terms of for example maintaining good health. At the family level a child embraces beliefs and values espoused by the elder family members beginning with his or her parents. These beliefs and values shape a child’s perceptions and attitudes as he or she develops from childhood to maturity.
And even though family beliefs and values that a child adopts from his or her family they are subject to change renouncement along an individual child’s life they inevitably affect social stature and personality later in life. For instance, those that grow up in rich families are likely to embrace an attitude of success and greatness as a result of the motivating surroundings they grow up in while their age mates growing up in poor families may lack a positive outlook towards life because of the discouragement and dehumanization that accompanies poverty.
Education and schooling
Education and schooling are certainly important determining factor of the kind of a person an individual grow up to be. It is largely at school where the important intellectual, social, spiritual as well as emotional growth of a child is taken care of by presumably combined efforts of the parents, teachers, government and the wider society. The school that child attend determines the kind of friendships and networks and the accompanying social influences that a child forms. In a great way it also determines who they marry later in life and thus the kind families they raise. A Child’s educational background also determines the kind of jobs he or she will get in adulthood which in turn determines their purchasing power in the market.
Children from rich families like majority of those in Double Bay attend schools with adequate learning facilities and enough teachers Youdell (2010). Therefore, they stand a chance of getting quality education unlike their counterparts from poor families in Redfern where levels of poverty are high. Within the schools of the rich teachers to students ratio is low compared to the overcrowded schools of children from poor families. Teachers are therefore able to pay more attention to a child’s educational, social and emotional needs than in congested schools where teachers are weighed down by the high number of students and pupils.
Apart from the high quality education that a child growing up in Double Bay is likely to get their artistic and sporting talents and abilities are easily identified and closely nurtured by professional teachers unlike in schools of the poor where teachers for unexaminable studies are few or nonexistent at all. Such students also get adequate exposure to real life activities through educational and picnic trips. By and large the kind of education and schooling that a child undergoes is directly linked to the well being of their self-confidence as they grow and to some extent in adulthood.
As mentioned earlier the educational backgrounds of parents for children in Double Bay are different from that of parents in Redfern and in turn their socioeconomic status is different and thus their purchasing power which determines the quality of life that their children lead. By inheritance their children may inherit their either good or bad socioeconomic status and carry it over to their grandchildren. Ricci and Kyle () argues that children are brought up differently by parents of different educational levels, occupations and incomes.
Certainly, there is no one particular social institution that can be said to be the sole determinant of how a child grows up in different socioeconomic circumstances. However, the media as a social institution is increasingly playing a critical role in the formation process of a child’s personality and behavior particularly in the liberal Western societies.Charlesworth point out that the media influence children’s social behavior. Here it is important to note that the influence can either be positive or negative.
Parents have the responsibility of censoring and regulating what their children watch on TV as well as closely monitoring what they can access on the internet especially in the societies where freedom of expression is excessive such that the content disseminated by the media may be unfit for children. However, this is not all always possible because parents are not always with their children round the clock. Under such circumstances responsible parents delegate power and responsibility of regulating what their children consume from the media to those taking care of them.
Social influences of the media on children growing in different socioeconomic circumstances like Double Bay and Redfern differ mainly because of differences in terms of what they can access through the media. Whereas those growing up in affluent families like in Double Bay where TVs, computers and other electronic and print media is available, accessible and affordable may benefit from programs designed purposely for intellectual and social growth and development of the children those growing up in poor families in Redfern lack such an opportunity.
Also Double Bay children get a wider exposure through electronic and print media to other cultures within their countries and outside their countries thus making them more informed and intelligent than their counterparts growing up in poor families in Redfern where electronic as well as print media is a luxury that is unaffordable and unnecessary compared to other competing needs for survival. Besides the wide exposure through electronic and print media that children growing up in rich suburbs like Double Bay benefit from they also stand a chance of acquiring necessary computer skills and access to beneficial information for their school projects through the internet and other modern technologies which are largely alien to those growing up in Redfern poor families Evra (2004).Evra argues that limited access to technology for children growing up in poor families lessen their apparent computer know-how. However, limited technological inaccessibility does not be a sign of a lack of interest or ability to learn the necessary skills Evra (2004).
According to Evra (2004) even though children and adolescents with less access are exposed to fewer harmful messages and information they miss more positive and all of the advantages that computer use can bestow for either information, academic or for entertainment. Weaker computer capability may also endanger future employment opportunities Evra (2004).
Access to resources and the role of governmental policy
According to Anderson and Looney (2002) access to resources or policy interventions may support young children, either by directly improving their outcomes by improving their physical and social environments in a way that leads to better outcomes. Anderson and Looney (2002) point out that access to resources or policy interventions directed to children and their environments can reduce environmental risks and promote positive outcomes. For instance, children growing up in Double Bay where access to financial resources and government sponsored amenities is easy stand a chance of better conditions in terms of their health, educational performance and economic security.
On the other hand those growing up in poor suburbs like Redfern may lack access necessary resources like social amenities as a result of a discriminative governmental policy. Lack of access to health care services for instance impacts on the health of the children as they grow up. Whereas growing up in Double bay may have access to better government and other well maintained resources their counterparts growing up in Redfern where concentration of poverty is high may lack such privileges especially if policy makers are not fair.
Conclusion
To sum up, human growth and development is a complicated process whose outcomes are determined by various social factors. These factors are related to but not limited to social class, family life of a child, education and schooling of both the child and the parents or guardians themselves, the influence of the media and now new technology like the internet and access to resources and role off the government policy. The task has explored the role of parenthood in the formation of a child growing in different socioeconomic circumstances.
Reference List
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