call me elma

WHO IS TO BLAME IF THE CHILDREN SHOWS INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIORS?

Theodora Elma Tambuwun, S.Psi

Department of Psychology

BINUS University

            Many people believe that family life determine children’s personalities. Family is not a single factor that can involve children’s personalities. If children show an inappropriate behavior, children do not always represent the behavior of their family. There are possibilities that children’s personalities are involved by other social contexts: peer groups and school life (Santrock, 2008).

            It is worth stating from the outset that the peer group has possibility to become one of the factors that can involve the personality of peer group’s member. There is a strong emotional bond within peer group’s member. The member of peer group sometimes strike another people who is come from different peer group or did not have friend in the school. That phenomenon called bullying. In Canada, every 7 minutes, bullying happens to someone who plays on the playground (Belsey, 2000). There are many people on the playground. What do other people do when they are seeing the bullying process? Based on research, another people did not help the victim when they are watching the bullying process (Belsey, 2000). They do not want to interfere in the bad situation. The peer pressure is one of the factors that can be affect children’s personalities. Member of the peer group will do everything, as long as they still become a member of the peer group, including bully another student in the school. The bullying and peer pressure case can show us that the personality of children may be affected by them.

            Secondly, the school life has a possibility to affect the personality of their student. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological System Theory showed the educational system, teaching method and the role of the teacher affected the personality of children (Paquette and Ryan, 2001). Bredekamp and Copple (1997) evolve the educational system fitting to stage of children development (Santrock, 2000). One of the content of their educational program decribing about the children as active learners and should be encouraged to construct understanding of the world (Santrock, 2000). Emotional, cognitive, and physical—child development is important thing to know in the school.

            In conclusion, it would seem that the personality of children is affected by other social contexts: peer group and school life. Now, we have to stop blaming the family if we see the children who show inappropriate behavior. We have to open our mind to see other factors that are like to affect the children’s personalities.

References

Belsey, Bill. (2000). Bullying: when you are not alone. Retrieved at May 23^rd, 2011, from URL: http://www.bullying.org/htm/main.cfm?content=1084.

Paquette, D. and Ryan, J. (in press). Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory. Retrieved at May 23^rd, 2011, from URL: http://pt3.nl.edu/paquetteryanwebquest.pdf.

Santrock, J. W. (2008). Educational psychology, (3rd ed). New York: McGraw-Hill.