Category: Family

Interpretation of observations about theory

My focus child is a young girl expecting the birth of her first sibling. Such change in her life has several implications in her place in the family and her role as the only child and future older sister.

Much can be reflected from the attachments established between a child and the significant people in her life. Several factors may affect such attachment. In the case of my focus child, the fact that she will soon cease to be an only child and the hormonal changes that affect her pregnant mothers emotional states may threaten whatever secure attachment she may be enjoying at present.

Infants are given the opportunities to form attachments, be they secure or insecure ones, become attached to the person very familiar to them. Most of the time, it is their mothers (Small, 1998). Children remain attached to their mothers or significant caregiver even if their attachment becomes insecure due to abuse or battering.

A sensitive mother helps her child feel secure and a less attentive mother engenders insecurity. In the first few years of life, a child with a secure attachment can learn how to balance separation and reunion. He is unafraid when he is separated from her, trusting that she will be back for him. On the other hand, a child with an insecure attachment to his mother manifests panic, anger, and a desperate search for her, thinking that she will never come back. When the mother returns, a host of responses may be observed of the child. Some children would be delighted and warmly embrace the parent; others would appear to be indifferent, withdrawn, hostile, uncertain, or confused. The kind of response the child had led the psychological observers to develop the attachment categories of secure, avoidant, ambivalent, and disorganized (Small, 1998).

Some factors that may disrupt the synchronicity of a mother and child may be mismatches between the temperaments. Clashing temperaments may create tension in the bond between mother and child. Temperament is a biological predisposition towards behaving in certain characteristic ways. The mixture of the disposition of mother and child then is where biology and experience interconnect (Small, 1998). In my focus childs case, her mothers pregnancy symptoms may be a cause of emotional upheaval affecting the child.

Another source of tension or ambivalence in the mother-child bond is a mothers inconsistency in giving due attention to her child. When a crucial change takes place such as the birth of a sibling a child reacts by seeking the attention he used to enjoy constantly. Since children are not pleased with the change in their mothers treatment of them, they resort to attention-seeking behaviors that are not pleasant most of the time, hence, ensuing stress and tension in the mother-child relationship (Small, 1998).

Hence, it is sufficient to say that attachment is crucial to the emotional development of the child. Other theorists have attempted to explain how children cope with different situations. Erik Erikson developed his theory of Psychosocial Development which attempts to explain personality growth by describing how people respond to various conflicts that they may face in specific periods in their lives (Giorgins, & Glazer, 2008).

The focus child in this study is in the early childhood stage. Psychosocial Development theory, falls under two stages. According to Erikson, during the ages of 2 and 3, children struggle for autonomy. The conflict is between autonomy and doubt (Giorgins & Glazer, 2008). Toddlers show their need for independence from their parent or caregiver by trying to do things on their own, but on the other hand, harbor some fear if they can do it. Children aged 3-6 fall under the Initiative vs. Guilt stage. In this stage, preschoolers are so into doing things on their own and showing everyone how much they have grown in many ways. Thus, they initiate help. However, at this stage, children may be awkward, and their good intentions may backfire as in destroying some things in the process. When this happens, they are overcome with guilt.

It is important to understand where the child from all angles to plan the best intervention for her.

Action plan

Family support

Being an only child in the family since she was born and now faced with the reality of having a sibling may feel like a threat to my focus childs secured position in the family. The child in this situation may undergo a lot of stress. Neurobiological research addresses how stress can have a great impact on brain development (Sims, 2008). The child needs to be able to overcome any stress and anxiety she may be experiencing about the birth of the new baby & when the child is born then this will have a positive impact on her future development and help her to deal positively with stressful situations in later life.

So far, the focus childs family is doing well in helping her understand upcoming changes in her life as a future big sister. She is made aware of how the baby inside her mothers womb is growing, as she is included in doctors visits.

As the time gets nearer and nearer for her sibling to be born, it would greatly help if she is brought along in stores while shopping for baby things. Her opinion may be asked as to her choices in color or design in the babys things, as well as the nursery being prepared if any. It is important that she feels she is part of the preparation process and that she is consulted with some ideas.

Best of all, she needs to be constantly reassured that she is very much loved no matter what and her place as the first and oldest child in the family will only be hers and no one elses. That makes her very special and unique and it would greatly help her self-esteem to know it.

Group care program

In the daycare, books on family should abound. Her carers should read books to her every day, especially with themes on the expectance of a new baby. Many books focus on the thoughts and feelings that children undergo when a new baby is added to their family  excitement, jealousy at losing their parents attention to the baby, frustration that the baby cannot do anything much with them, and the like. The books also show how children resolve these issues. Such coping mechanisms must be implanted in my focus child as early as before the baby arrives so she is well-prepared.

Forming stronger emotional bonds with my focus child must also be the goal of her carers. Howes et al (cited in Hutchins & Sims 1999, p.130) state that infants who have secure attachments to their caregivers are advantaged in terms of developmental outcomes, play and interactions. Erikson (cited in Hutchins & Sims 1999, p. 125) also talks about why attachment is so important in the early years stating that learning to have confidence in the adults around them is an essential stage in development. My focus child has developed multiple attachments. Some studies indicate that children who have multiple attachments have faster growth rates, Hardy refers to multiple attachments as alloparents (Sims 2009).

Bronfenbrenner & Nevile (1994 cited in Hutchins & Sims 1999: xx) state that strong attachments that are characterized by reciprocal activity enhance the young childs responsiveness to his or her environment and influence the childs motivation to explore, manipulate, elaborate and imagine.

She needs supportive people to lean on when she would feel that she is dethroned. Her self-esteem needs to be assured that she remains special no matter who comes to their family and that she will retain her position, and even be promoted to an older sister, now responsible for a helpless baby.

Nixon and Gould (1996, p.110) state the development of self-concept impacts on other aspects of the toddlers social and emotional self, such as play. Children begin to play out experiences theyve had or witnessed, to deepen their understanding of these situations. The daycare center should be able to take advantage of childrens play situations to be able to observe how my focus child is coping with the upcoming changes in her life. Providing puppets to let her express her inner emotions by pretending one puppet is the baby and the other is her may let her vent out her feelings to the coming baby. This may also be done by using the other puppet as one of her parents. Other play ideas would be providing her with play baby things so that she can practice being a big sister by feeding dolls, giving them baths, or walking them in baby carriages. In these pretend play activities, she would develop good self-esteem that she is going to be an efficient big sister someday.

Discussion

A family anticipating a huge change can bring about stress to everybody. In particular, young children who have a limited understanding of what is happening around them may manifest various behaviors and maybe a change in disposition in finding an outlet for the stress. In most cases, ones emotional strength and the attachments established to significant persons in ones life are relied on to cope with the stress.

My focus childs parents have been including her in their preparation for such change by bringing her to doctors appointments with them and involving her by educating her of the progression of the pregnancy. Likewise, her parents have sought the cooperation of her daycare center in preparing her for the huge life change coming ahead for her. There is a growing body of evidence that parents need the support of a third party if they are to establish and sustain nurturing relationships with their children (Bronfenbrenner & Neville, 1994 quoted in Hutchins & Sims 1999: 29). To maintain a secure and nurturing relationship with their child this family is utilizing the support of the carers at the child care center. With regards to Bronfenbrenners (1979) ecological systems theory, the case shows that within this childs Microsystem adults are being responsive to this childs needs.

About the Mesosystem in this situation this childs parents and carers are demonstrating effective communication, sharing the news of the pregnancy. They are working together to include and prepare this child for the birth of her first sibling. Since the child attends care three times a week, this service has and is utilizing the valuable opportunity to support this childs development and needs. As within the Exosystem, this child may be impacted by the workload and hours of her parents work. Hence the support of attending care three days a week would assist in supporting this childs needs and in preparation for this change.

In being able to bring along the focus child to her mothers doctor appointments, the health system and society show that they allow and involve children to be part of the pregnancy and birth process with their families. Therefore, the Macrosystem is supporting this childs needs and family goals.

My focus child is very fortunate to have all the support she needs in this phase of her life when she needs to deal with change. Both home and daycare centers efficiently work together to prepare her for the coming of her first sibling. Communication between the two social circles is essential, as stated in (Huntchins & Sims 1999:28-29), developing partnerships with parents is crucial in the well-being of the child, providing families with the support of a third party. This is demonstrated in the support that the carers are providing the child, by allowing her opportunities to foster the childs strengths and needs in her social and emotional development.

Indeed, this focus child is on her way to a bright future as a loving big sister from a supportive and caring family!

Reference

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979) The Ecology of Human Development. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Giorgins, C. & Glazer, J. (2008). Literature for Young Children: Supporting Emergent Literacy Ages 0-8 (6th edition). Boston: Pearson, Educational, Inc.

Hutchins, T. & Sims, M. (1999) Program Planning for Infants and Toddlers, Prentice Hall, Australia.

Nixon, D. & Gould, K. (1999) Emerging Child Development in the First Three Years, Social Science Press, Katoomba NSW

Sims, M. (2008) Applying Neurobiological evidence in caring for infants and toddlers, DVD.

Sims, M. (2009) Caring for young children: What children need. Policy Brief 15. Centre for Community Health.

Sims, M. (2009) EDEC340 Young Children Developing and Learning Topic Notes, University of New England

Small, M. (1998) Our Babies, Ourselves : How Biology and Culture Shape the Way we Parent, New York : Anchor Books

Introduction

As you know, all people are different taking into consideration their appearance, traits of character, and ideas on various issues, though peoples views can be similar as well as they can be alike. The same thing is with families: a range of problems existing in different families can be similar, though their members apply different approaches to discuss and solve numerous issues.

Family Partnerships by Jobeth Allen

The current paper is based on the article written by Jobeth Allen. The article Family Partnerships was published in September 2008 in the Education Leadership, 66^th volume which is called The Positive Classroom. After this, the article was presented in the Annual Editions: The Family 10/11 completed by Kathleen Gilbert. The Family Partnerships is situated in the first unit of the book which is called Evolving Perspectives on the Family. So, even without reading the article one can say that all articles situated in this unit should discuss some problems related to the family, perspectives of the family, and development of possible perspectives which can be introduced in a definite family. The author presents her view on the problem of cooperation between families and schools which could improve the learning process and facilitate understanding between children from different families, especially those where parents are representatives of different races. When children come to know that all families are different in terms of cultural variations, they can experience discomfort and would not know how to act and respond. The article written by JoBeth Allen helps to understand the importance of cooperation between schools and families in the process of acquiring knowledge on cultural diversity.

Partnerships between schools and families are aimed at helping to make the process of sharing information with other children and learning among children easier and less strained. Respect for the family is one more essential principle of partnerships discussed in the article Family Partnerships. The strengths and abilities of every family should be respected by its members; moreover, children should be aware of cultural varieties within families and respect them as well. Parents as members of their families can offer help in extracurricular activities or make monthly or annual contributions to fundraising, while they can help in a different way to support their children and facilitate learning among children. The process of education should not be unilateral; it has to take into account all parties concerned. Parents, instructors, and children become participants of a certain action while using specific strategies, which take place both at school and at home.

JoBeth Allen introduces different strategies which can facilitate partnerships between families and contribute to better learning of children. Instructors should provide two-side relations which would help to learn a child and his or her environment. Ethnically diverse families should not be discriminated against; however, the approach to partnerships with such families must be different. These strategies are aimed at supporting the ideas of learning at home (where parents can help) and applying them to cultural diversities within families.

Personal Evaluation

I like this article because it is written in clear language which is easy to understand; the author tries to explain her strategies and the basic principles of cooperation and partnership in simple words. The article is devoted to a discussion of culturally diverse families and ways that can facilitate learning among children from families with culturally diverse problems. I have managed to find aspects applicable to all families irrespective of their cultural origin and diversities. The aspect of partnership can be considered the one that can be used in all schools by different children and families.

The article I have chosen does not discuss any similarities regarding my family, though my parents were always ready to contribute to the fundraising effort and volunteer in extracurricular activities when I was at school. My family cannot be considered a cultural-diverse one; however, there appeared some misunderstandings concerning the partnership with the school because my mother tried to engage my father in my learning.

I agree with the authors purpose for writing the article because such guidelines as engaging families in school activities and providing a genuine dialogue with families to facilitate learning among children. I believe that the article is based on the authors experience of communicating with students from families where cultural variation is a problem that influences the childrens learning. Although the author discussed issues relevant to education in the modern multicultural society where bigotry and discrimination leave no place for impartialness and unprejudiced actions, the theme of partnerships seems very original can be established between schools and families for the benefit of students.

To conclude, partnerships can be established between different groups within the society. Cooperation and understanding can make cultural variations an aspect that would not be visible or significant for people. Thereby, strategies of engaging families into class activities can become the very beginning of an objective and unprejudiced society; the multiracial society should treat equally all its members regardless of ethnic origin and cultural variety.

Works Cited

Allen, JoBeth. Family Partnerships. Annual Editions. The Family 10/11. Ed. Kathleen Gilbert. United States: McGraw-Hill, 2009

Introduction

Television forms part and parcel of a family, and this has been the case for ages now. People tend to regard television and its related programs not only as agents of entertainment in the house but also as an integral part of the living rooms and sometimes bedrooms. In doing so, parents are always tempted to consider televisions part of their homes oblivious to the effects they have on both their kids and themselves. Quite a number of articles have been written in regard to this topic. It is important to note that keen scrutiny of these journals and scholarly works have more or less the same information. This paper will, however, focus on the influence of television on the family as discussed by two articles, an article by Shankar Vedantam that appeared in Washington Post and a scholarly journal.

The scholarly journal has an inherent audience. It particularly addresses researchers and discusses the importance of analyzing the specific effects television has on families and how they are produced. The authors of this article refer mostly to researchers and family specialists as his audience. They say that most researchers on the effects of television on families overlook the fact that televisions form an integral part of the family. They further note that this is perhaps the reason why parents value television in their houses as compared to many other things.

The sole purpose of this article was to educate researchers, parents, and family specialists on the various measurements that are viable for regulating the negative effects televisions have on the family. Additionally, the article was meant to illustrate the benefits of televisions to both parents and their children. The article further imparts the knowledge that television viewing should be considered a socializing influence in society more than a church, family, and school.

The authors of this article took into consideration quite a number of factors while writing the paper. For instance, the language and vocabularies used in the paper accommodate quite a number of audiences and, most especially, the key audience of the article, which was researches and family specialists. This is championed by the fact that most of the vocabulary used is simple and easy to comprehend. In addition to that, the style of writing is simple and lovable by many. This is so because the reading process is not thwarted by ambiguous words and incomprehensible sentences. Despite the fact that the article is long as compared to the other article, the story and all its explanations flow in a rhythm that is encouraging and not tiring (Richard, Fabes, and Scott, 1989).

In addition to the style, the tone of the article is welcoming too. Richard, Patricia, and Scott, the authors of this article, presented their work in a tone that appeals to all the intended audiences. For instance, the article does not give a negative impression or defaming phrases to its audiences. The tone is friendly and accommodates all the probable audiences and perhaps unintended readers who may merely come across the literature. It is important to note that the authors had in mind the effects of blaming the negative influences of television on certain audiences inconsiderate of whether they were the intended audiences or not. For this reason, quite a number of sentiments and complements in the article are general and do not directly attack and individual or audience (Richard, Fabes, and Scott, 1989).

The second article, on the other hand, focuses on a more general audience. Unlike in the previous article, the authors of this article do not direct their sentiments to a specific group or audience. The article attributes violence amongst young adults to televisions and their related programs. It purports that in as much as television is educative and entertaining, it inculcates certain negative behaviors that are associated with violent programs and movies. The article reveals that a good percentage of young adults adopt violent behaviors from violent movies and television programs (Dintrone, 1996). They then become perpetrators of violence even in their older ages, and all these are effects of televisions to the family.

Form the few statements on the article mentioned above, it can be noted that the articles sole purpose was to highlight the filths and negative influences brought about by television viewing. The article gives an in-depth discussion of the violent behaviors of young adults as brought about by television viewing. It further implicates parents and family specialists in this matter. As noted in the article, parents and family specialists are blamed for these characteristics amongst young adults. The article further recommends that television viewing should be regulated by parents and guardians.

The articles tone is not impressive. Additionally, the style, too, is not welcoming as compared to the previous article. This is perhaps due to the fact that it implicates its audience and blames it for the negative influences of television on young adults. It is, however, important to note that the tone may play a significant role in revolutionizing the purported negative influences on TVs (Dintrone, 1996).

Conclusion

In conclusion, therefore, television viewing in the family is productive in terms of enhancing interaction and socialization amongst family members. However, the positive bit of television viewing is only achieved when discrete moderation is applied during watching. Parents should educate their children on what to and what not to watch in TVs.

References

Dintrone, C. V. (1996). Television program master index: Access to critical and historical information on 1002 shows in 341 books. Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

Richard, A., Fabes, P. W., & Scott, C. F. (1989). Family Relations. National Council on Family Relations: New York.

Introduction

Soul food was a series that revolved a black family living in Chicago. The two families consisted of the Van Adams and the Chadways. The Chadways had one son while the other did not have a chance of getting a baby. The family was faced with various problems such as, members of the family being framed for committing a crime, incidences of racism, cases of unfaithfulness in a relationship, alcoholism, occurrences of crime such as murder and kidnapping, police harassment and issues relating to adoption.

Body

Black families did face a challenge of unemployment. Lem had tried to look for a job, but his efforts were not rewarded. He simulated a situation that he had a job, where he woke up early and left the house. Bird discovered what Lem was doing and decided to confront him. The manner in which she confronted him was wise because she knew how protective he could get. She decided to help him to look for a job and told no one about his unemployment. Lem agreed to be helped so that they could become financial stable.

It has been recorded that crime related problems have been associated with black families. When a crime was committed, the police assumed that the first suspects were of minority descent. When an arsonist burned down the grocery, Lem was arrested and jailed while the investigations were conducted. The rest of the family turned their back on him but Teri defended him. She did her job well to the extent that the judge offered bail. The bail was so much that the family could not afford to raise it. Lem remained collected while the rest of the family tried to find ways of raising the amount.

Ahmad was framed for snatching a purse from a woman. The entire school perceived him as being a criminal to the extent that police officers were brought in to question him. It was at this point that Ahmad faced Problems associated with being a black man. Ahmad was calm during the whole time and told none of family about it. This was a wise decision since it would have sparked conflict between the school and his family.

As Ahmad walked home, he witnessed a drug related murder. He decided to tell Lem about it because he was the only person that could help him deal with that issue. Lem decided that it was best for Ahmad to remain silent about it because if Teri knew this, He will be forced to testify. This would lead to the endangerment of their lives. Lem decided to do that because he knew the consequences of testifying against drug dealers.

The families are also faced relationship issues ranging from cheating cases to lack of commitment. This was witnessed where the Chadways were about to celebrate their 13^th anniversary, Maxine found a letter that was written to Kenny by Lila. She drove all the way to Milwaukee to confront Lila together with her three children. She did that because she thought Kenny was cheating on her. That was an irrational move because she would have confronted her husband before deciding to visit Lila. With her, lack of trust to men, Maxine advised her friend who was about to get married to sign a pre-nuptial agreement with her partner. Maxine told her that the pre-nuptial agreement was good for her marriage because it was prevent her husband from cheating.

These problems have led to individuals turning to drugs or to some cases developing diseases associated with stress. Damon developed a drinking habit, which finally made him an alcoholic. Most men turn to alcohol as a solution to their problems. The whole family decided to help him deal with the problem and get him a job that would keep him busy.

The following issues are still prevalent among black families. Issues pertaining to relationships do form a huge percentage. Mistrust amongst partners have led to several cases of divorce and has encouraged most young couple to sign pre-nuptial agreements before they are married. Lack of commitment in a relationship is still a problem. This has resulted in disagreements that have catastrophic consequences. Lack of commitment has led to raising cases of abortion cases among black families.

Prejudice is still prevalent among black individuals. The unlucky fellows are framed and jailed for crimes they did not commit. Their rights are violated by the police force. In some case, police brutality is imposed on them. Most black families have lost their members to prisons or death just because the law believed that, behind every crime, a black man was involved.

Alcoholism and panic attacks are mostly associated with families that faced those problems. Alcoholism was mostly associated with men but rarely to women. Women mostly succumbed to panic attacks that affected their health.

Conclusion

Lem was one the characters that a young man would love to copy. With his tainted background, he was able to adjust with the whole family. The manner in which he solved his problems was professionally done. Damon was an alcoholic but was wise to accept rehabilitation. Young men were encouraged to solve their problems professionally and seek assistance.

Background

Good discipline in children is always the desire of every parent and for this reason; parents must know and learn strategies that constitute good discipline among their children.

In advising parents about effectiveness, methods of instilling discipline in their children the relationship between the parents and the children, importance of good behaviours and consequences of bad behaviours are of great concern (Carey, 2003).

The word discipline is adopted from a Greek word discipline, which can be interpreted as teaching or instructing. The early stages of a childs development are essential in the development of a child discipline and any values that a child acquires at this stage of development will be reflected in their adulthood (Powers, 1990).

The purpose of this study therefore was to investigate how parents can be effective in disciplining their children. The study therefore was an investigation on the effectiveness of the various methods that can be applied in instilling discipline among children (Kohlberg, 1992).

In this study, the investigation was carried out among children below the school age. In addition, the main aim of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of the different approaches that are taken by parents in disciplining their children.

Good relationship between parents and their children is an effective method of promoting good discipline among children (Papalia, 2006). Good behaviour among children requires an effort from both the child and the parents and for this reason rewarding desirable behaviour is not only important in encouraging good behaviour but it can be an effective tool for instilling discipline among children.

Punishment for bad behaviour has always been thought to be a solution for bad behaviour among children. However, corporal punishment is not an effective method of disciplining children (mash & Wolfe, 2008).

Synthesis

The relationship between parents and their children is an effective tool of promoting good behaviour. Children cannot be forced to have good behaviour and therefore encouraging good behaviour among children becomes effective in promoting good behaviours. Good relationship between the child and the parents ensures children of their security and hence promote their behaviour (Wallis, 2003).

Rewarding children for good behaviour is an effective strategy of encouraging children to behave well (Sears & Maccoby 1976). The parents or guardians must make an effort in the promotion of good behaviour among children and hence rewarding children for their good behaviour is a method that has been known to work.

Although punishing children for the mistakes they commit has been applied by many parents, as a method for promoting good behaviour among children the fact is that this method is not effective. Continued use of this method will also promote bad behaviour among children.

Actually, it will harden their response to any effort meant at promoting good behaviour that is it will make children rebel against the authority and their parents. Corporal punishment is one of the biggest mistakes that parents can make as a method of promoting good behaviours among children (McCord, 1996).

Method

During the investigation, several methods were applied to collect and analyze the data with the main aim of producing a comprehensive report on children behaviour. The subjects of the investigation were parents, children below school age and nurses assigned with the role of taking care of children in children homes and homes of individual parents.

The investigation was divided into two parts where the first study was to focus on response from children and the second part was to focus on the parents side of the story. In this study, the data collection tools that were applied were questionnaires, interviews and direct observation.

These tools were applied on the two phases of the study according to their suitability. In the first phase of the investigation, parents and baby sitters were given questionnaires, which they were expected to fill and hand back to the field interviewers within one day.

The questionnaires used had structured question where some were open-ended questions while others were closed ended questions. These questions were designed in such a way that they could provide us with sufficient information that was required in the study.

The questions in the questionnaires were designed in a way that they addressed the interests of both the parents and the children. The questions therefore enquired about the methods that parents and guardians think are effective in promoting good behaviour among children. The questions also investigated on how children view the discipline measures applied by their parents and guardians (Pantley, 2007).

Observation was also another effective tool that was used in the investigation. During the study, our fieldwork representatives were supposed to select a case study, which was supposed to be a home or a baby care centre.

The representatives then spent about one day in this selected place and carried out an observation on the behaviour of children and on their response from various disciplinary measures that were applied by their guardians. The field representative also observed on the relationship between the child and the parent or the guardian before and after a child was punished or was involved in bad behaviour.

The use of secondary resources was also applied as a method of finding ideas about the research problem. The secondary sources used to find the information that were required in the study were books, magazines, and journals, which were obtained from the library resources. Each member of our group was involved actively in identifying and finding these recourses (Wendkos-Olds, 2006).

In the study, the data collected was recorded in tables and various parameters were assigned according to the research findings. The data was then analyzed using statistical software SPSS to evaluate mean, median and the variance.

Results

• In the study, the findings were that children who had good relationship or those who took their parents as their friends had good behaviors.
• Parents who did not have good relationship with their children used inappropriate methods to discipline their children.
• Children who were rewarded for good behaviors by their parents or guardians had better behaviors than those who were not rewarded.
• Children who were constantly punished for a particular bad behavior were more likely to repeat the same mistake than those who received counseling.
• Parents who applied corporal punishment as a method of dealing with children who misbehaved did not have good relationship with their children as compared to those who did not punish their children.
• Children were afraid of punishment.
• Parents use corporal punishment on their children as the last alternative.

Discussions

Good relationship between children and their parents or guardians is a known effective method that can be applied in promoting good behaviours among children. In the study, there was a direct correlation between good behaviour in children and strong relationship between children and their parents (Salkind, 2006).

The reason why children who have good relations with their parents behaved well is because such children confided in their parents and they believed in their parents as their guides and mentors (MacDonald, 2000).

In the investigation, it was found out that children who were rewarded for good behaviours are likely to behave badly in the future (Sears & Maccoby, 1976). Children learn through imitations and for this reason, rewarding children for good behaviours are an incentive that has been known to work.

On the other hand, children who lacked incentive for good behaviour did not see the reason for continuing with good behaviour and in the end; they behaved badly (Straus & Donnelly, 2001).

Although most parents and guardians have the idea that corporal punishment is a tool for discouraging bad behaviour in children it does not work in the long term. In a report released recently less that, 59% of paediatricians recommend it (McCormick, 1992).

Children who are constantly punished for committing a certain mistake become used to the punishment and therefore at the end they stop responding to the punishment and misbehave constantly (Garmezy & Rutter, 2003).

Conclusion

Good behaviour in children is an important factor in their development and in building strong relationship between them and their children.

Punishing children for bad behaviour is a short-term solution or method of dealing with bad behaviour among children. Although establishing good relationship between parents and their children do not have immediate results it is a good method of ensuring good behaviour among children in the long term.

References

Carey, S. (2003). The whole child: Rrestoring wonder to the art of parenting. Oxford. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

Garmezy, N., & Rutter, M. (2003). Stress, coping, and development in children. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Kohlberg, L. (1992). Development of moral character and moral ideology. New York, NY: Russell-Sage Foundation.

MacDonald, A. (2000). Parenting with heart. Haverford: Infinity Publishers.

Mash, E., & Wolfe, D. (2008). Abnormal Child Psychology. Belmont: Cengage Learning

McCormick K. (1992). Attitudes of primary care physicians toward corporal punishment. JAMA267, 3161, 3165

McCord, J. (1996). Unintended consequences of punishment, Pediatrics. ; 98:832834

Pantley, E. (2007). The no-cry discipline solution: Gentle ways to encourage good behaviour: New York: McGraw Hill.

Papalia, D. (2006). A childs world: Infancy through adolescence (10th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Powers, S (1990). Adjusting chair time-out enforcement procedures for oppositional children, Behav Ther21, 257, 271

Salkind, N. (2006). Encyclopedia of human development Volume 1. Michigan: Sage Publication

Sears, R., & Maccoby, E. (1976). Patterns of child rearing. California: Stanford University Press.

Straus, M., & Donnelly, D. (2001). Beating the devil out of them: Corporal punishment in America. New Jersey. Transaction Publishers.

Wallis, M. (2003) A parents guide to preparing your child for school: London. Pascal Press.

Wendkos-Olds, S. (2006). A childs world: Infancy through adolescence (10th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Introduction

Education is not an isolated experience but can be considered as an interactive endeavor that takes place over the course of a persons life. When parents, families and school work together, they can provide the best possible resources and expertise to enhance the education of all their children.

In a synthesis on parents involvement, it was established that families and parents had a major influence on their childrens achievements in school and education in general. Parents and families can also be described, explained and understood more effectively by the illustrations explained of how a teacher or a school can encourage this type of partnership below. Parenting knowledge and skills.

According to Morrison , this is the education and the knowledge acquired by both the parents and the family as a whole of how to bring up their children. The parents are learning how to rise up children who value and appreciate the need of education as a part of their growth.

A teacher or a school encourages the need for parenting knowledge and skills when the advantages and the response of children and the community can be notified to the parents. Communication between home and the school.

A synthesis by Boult (2006) describes this as the relationship between school, parents and family of a student in a particular learning institution. A teacher encourages this communication by giving the parents opportunities to know teachers and interact with them. This encourages working in partnership to improve the children at the same time improving the morale of the teachers.

Volunteering at the school and in the community

It is where parents, teachers and children are able to give the feedback to the society. This can be through working on community projects which encourage the interaction of the parents, teachers and children. Teachers and schools encourage this as it enables the partnering of both teachers and parents. They are in a better position to know more of the ways to help children to improve on their education.

Supporting students learning at home

This can be described as the encouraging students to spend some of their spare time at home studying and the provision of the proper study environment at home. According to Boult , teachers and schools encourage this by offering home visits and visits of children the school community.

Involvement in decision making and advocacy

Parents and families are included in the decision made by teachers and school about their children with their suggestions that are also taken into consideration. Before changes are made in schools, parents are allowed to offer their suggestions and give their views on the issues.

Collaboration with the community

This is the working together between parents, families and teachers of students with the community to ensure educational success of the students. Teachers and schools encourage this by taking part in community activities as members of the community and, thus, being able to interact with families and parents discussing the ways of overcoming challenges in education.

This, therefore, leads to the conclusion that parents and families working together as partners with the teacher to support learning and education; this leads to children achieving better academic performance. Students can also stay in school for longer to complete their education.

References

Boult, B. (2006). 176 Ways to Involve Parent: practical strategies for partnering families. California: Sage Publications Company.

Cox-Petersen, A. (2011). Educational Partnerships. London: Sage Publication Limited.

Morrison G. S. (2009). Early Childhood Education Today (11th ed.). California: Pearson.

A personal reflection on the reading

Most of the class readings have examined the challenges faced by educators and parents in the country. The article Challenges for Educators: Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Families by James Sears examines the issues affecting various groups in different societies. The article explains why the question of gender and racial conflict has remained a significant problem in many organizations. The world has failed to acknowledge the fact that homosexuality is a reality. This explains why educationists have designed inadequate curriculums by omitting the homoerotic themes and imageries by different poets and scholars (Sears, 1994, p. 151). For example, some of the omitted works are those of great poets such as Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes (Sears, 1994, p. 151).

The author has presented some of the best findings from different studies. Such results are essential because they can help parents and educators address some of the problems affecting their children. For example, many children will find it hard to display the sexual identities of their parents. Scholars and educators can use these findings to make better decisions and recommendations. Children of homosexual parents will experience various difficulties and challenges, such as peer harassment and oppression (Sears, 1994). The discussion explains why such children might not succeed in their academics. The author has gone further to examine how scholars and educationists have ignored this subject for decades.

That being the case, the article has gone further to identify some of the best recommendations to address these adversities encountered by children of homosexual parents. These recommendations are meaningful because they encourage educators to implement new curriculums that will address the needs and expectations of such students. The article also presents the best ideas to assist single-parent families. As well, the report proposes the best strategies to create a safe place for homosexual parents. This approach will ensure the parents participate in their childrens education. The outstanding fact from this material is that every educator should safeguard the educational needs of these children (Sears, 1994). The author also explains why educators and administrators should guide and counsel both parents and children. This is the best strategy for a successful learning process.

The article by James Sears offers some of the best theories and concepts to address the problems faced by children of homosexual parents. The report encourages educators to examine the issues affecting different families. The approach will alert them about the problems that originate from the family setting (Sears, 1994, p. 152). Finally, the material explains the importance of engaging both administrators and teachers in different activities. Such practices will address the cognitive and behavioral aspects of human homophobia (Sears, 1994, p. 153). The approach will solve the problems faced by different learners. The strategy will eventually promote the quality of education in the country. This article is admirable and respectable because it equips both parents and educators with the best ideas towards a successful learning process. Educators and parents can use the questions below to address the issue of homosexuality in their societies and schools.

Two questions for discussion in class

1. What are the roles of school administrators, educators, and parents towards providing quality education to children of homosexual parents?
2. How accurate or valid are these findings and arguments by James Sears and how can they be put into practice today?

Reference

Sears, J. (1994). Challenges for Educators: Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Families. The High School Journal, 77(2), 138-156.

Building family and community relationships

Family is an essential part of human life. Being born in families, children are impacted by the surrounding environment at home as well as the climate at school and in the community. Therefore, being a teacher, I will do all possible to unite childrens families and schools with the purpose of bringing up the deserving members of society. To make sure that I do all possible to educate children with the greatest success and help from the family and the community, I will follow the next steps.

First of all, I will get to know more about the diverse family and community characteristics. This is really important as only by possessing qualified knowledge I will be able to bring up children in an appropriate way. It is important for me to get knowledge about family and cultural values, socioeconomic conditions, ethnicity, and other factors that may impact my understanding of the childrens development. Second, I will have to get to know how to cope with families from diverse cultures. The problem of language should be predominant as family traditions are usually strong and the cooperation of children from different families and their ideal match in the community.

I will try to guarantee that family is the main source of curriculum and school program development as teaching children, I will have to meet the family requirements. Third and final requirement which I will have to meet is to make sure that family takes part in childrens learning and development. The role of parents in childrens development is great. Parents will participate in the learning progress of their children, and I will make sure that the purposes of the family correspond to the school and community ones.

Observing, documenting, and assessing to support young children and families

Observation, documentation, and assessment are important in the educational process as they help evaluate past success and plan future learning with the purpose of achieving more results. Teaching children, I will make sure that the goals and benefits of the observation are clearly stated. I will do all possible to create the observation and assessment scheme, which allows successfully consider the achieved results and with the help of appropriate documentation, I will compare and contrast the set goals with the gained success for planning the future curriculum and setting new goals. Setting goals, I will make sure that I use different types and forms of assessing and observation, and their variety is one of the most important aspects for children.

I will do all possible to set the challenging goals which will be achieved by children as I understand that setting too complicated goals may lead to childrens disappointment and lack of desire to learn more. Assessment should encourage children for better results, and appropriate documentation and further analysis should make teachers be interested in connecting the set goals of the curriculum learning with social and parental success.

Therefore, to gain results in the future, I will start with observation and documentation as I am sure these are the first steps for each teacher who wants to achieve success. Most of the observation is going to be devoted to school hours. However, different mass events and other circumstances may help me conduct a family and community observation to make sure that I am able to consider a child from different angles.

Introduction

Literature review pertains to cross-examining what other scholars have done in the field of study. This is based on the idea that knowledge is cumulative. Revisiting other peoples ideas and thoughts help in formulating both theoretical and conceptual frameworks. In this study, the researcher will employ some theories of motivation, which are part of theoretical literature.

Conceptual literature will be revisited by scrutinizing what other researchers have concluded in their studies regarding to motivation of employees. Literature review is important because it offers a foundation to any study.

Generally, literature review is related to determining how much is known. It is important because it keeps away unnecessary duplication of data and gives more knowledge to the researcher (Lauby 2005, p. 7). The researcher can only avoid mistakes committed by other researchers if he/she reviews literature. Therefore, review of literature helps a researcher to formulate a study that stands the taste of time.

Child Pornography

Research shows that child pornographic material found on the internet is usually a result of abduction. This behavior has always threatened to interfere with the very survival of society since it has various effects to children. Children found engaging in pornography are normally victimized.

In one of the studies conducted in the US, 100 victims were interviewed and the results had some similarities. First, victims complained about physical pain because they were forced to engage in activities that they are not used to doing. Children feel threatened because those taking them through such pains might even be their relatives (Dombrowski, Gischlar, & Durst, 2007).

Unwanted sexual solicitation

As shown in the graph below, adolescents are in danger of sexual solicitation. Since there is no enough data to support this claim, this study would try to prove that unwanted internet sexual solicitation affects family relations in one way or the other.

Through the internet, the family is exposed to risky sexual behaviors. A study conducted in Dutch among the adolescents indicated that adolescents were likely to engage in sexual solicitation as opposed to adults. In the study, females were frequently solicited as opposed to men. In the study, the benefits of sexual solicitation were few as compared to the risks (Bourke, & Hernandez, 2009).

Conclusion

From the above information, it is eminent that research gaps exist hence it is pertinent to conduct a study to establish the extent at which the internet affects family relations.

Methodology

The proposal would utilize quantitative research methods in conducting the study and collecting data. Quantitative research would be used since it aims at summarizing data mathematically.

In this regard, the research will take the form of a survey, whereby the researcher will identify some individuals and post questionnaires to them. The sampled population will be selected randomly in order to eliminate biases (Hakim, 2000). The researcher will further make follow-ups, by conducting respondents on phone.

Design

There will be two key methods used to gather information in the proposal. The first one will be through a questionaire, which will be administered online to the selected victims and offenders. The questionaire will seek to capture various attutudes of victims and offenders as regards to child pornography and unwanted sexual solicitation.

The second source of information that will be used in the proposal would be literature on various aspects internet harassment. The focus of the literature review will be to find information on effects of the internet on family members and also to determine the current state of research as regards to the effects of the internet. The questionnaire will have four Parts.

The first part will seek to capture the biodata information of respondents. The second part will deal with the demography and gender of the respondents. This would ascertain the prevalence of views in varoius categories in order to ensure that if any differences come about, then they would be captured in their demographic space.

The third part will deal with societal status and experience of both victims and offenders as regards to child pornography and unwanted sexual solicitation (Creswell, 2003).

The motivation for this section came from the understanding that different sections of population respond differently to change, based on age and societal status. The fourth part will delve into the specific issues relating to the effects of the internet to victims and offenders, starting from the understanding of the concept to the possible effects it would have on respondents.

Theoretical and Conceptual Framework

The study will utilize deductive scaffold because some theories will be used to give a certain picture of the study. Deductive reasoning starts by analyzing some concepts before moving to the field to confirm the claims.

The researcher will analyze some theories related to child pornography and unwanted sexual solicitation before moving to the field to collect data. The technique is constructive because it equips the researcher with relevant information. In other words, deductive reasoning moves from generalizations to the specific idea. Two theories will first be analyzed before moving to the field.

Sampling Methods

The most applicable sampling method for the proposal will be random sampling. Considering that the targeted population consists of children and adults in the families, there was no much risk of having biased data.

If the survey needed to cover the entire family members, systematic sampling, coupled with stratified sampling would be ideal to ensure cross-sectional representation. However, the survey targeted children and their parents. Hence, random sampling would prove to be sufficient to collect required data (Crotty, 2003).

References

Bourke, M., & Hernandez, A. (2009). The Butner Study, Redux: A Report of the Incidence of Hands on Child Victimization by Child Pornography Offenders. Journal of Family Violence, 24(3), 18393.

Creswell, J. (2003). Research design: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Crotty, M. (2003). The Foundations of Social Research: meaning and perspective in the research process. London: Sage.

Dombrowski, S., Gischlar, K., & Durst, T. (2007). Safeguarding Young People from Cyber Pornography and Cyber Sexual Predation: A Major Dilemma of the Internet. Child Abuse Review, 16(3), 15370.

Hakim, C (2000). Research Design: Sucessful Designs for Social and Economic Research. New York: Routledge.