The importance of peer relationships for children social development Essay

The importance of peer relationships for children social development - Essay Example Social development entails continued enhancement of skills relevant to help ones interact with the immediate social environment consisting of people and prevailing conditions and situations. The peer relationships development in children is aided by the combined role played by parents, practitioners as well as the attitudes of the children being taught. Moreover, peer relationships create a sense of responsibility in children, eradication of loneliness caused by family troubles, as well as the enhancement of social competence. These are rationales to the development of social development in an individual. Many problems in children are as a result of poor social upbringing, which ultimately leads to the withdrawal of some children from their peers. However, the recent years have seen researchers, scholars, as well as academicians getting actively involved in the study of the effects of peer relationships in human life (Ford and Harris, 1999). The discussion in this paper aims at inves tigating into the importance of peer relationships in social development. The role of practitioners is crucial to establish at this juncture, as well as the key elements of peer relationships to enhance a better understanding. The reasons as to why children withdraw from their peers as well as the rationale of peer relationships in the future life of children will also be established. Key elements of peer relationships Peer relationships are attributed to a number of significant elements, which include self/irritability, family, school and peers as well as work. Self/ irritability element determines the response of distinct individuals to occurrences/ phenomenon. Some children who are faced with difficulties resulting from physical, family troubles, abandonment, resiliency, and exceptionality respond slowly to peer-relationships. In contrast, those in the relevant contexts often demonstrate a quick response to the peer relationships. Secondly, family context plays a pivotal role in the performance of a child in the social realms. Bronfenbrenner’s systems refer this as the main micro-system influence (Siegel, 2008). Mesosystems explain the influence that occurs as a result of how children respond to the immediate environments, which are composed of a connection between any of the two micro-systems. For instance, a connection between family and school, a child who has difficulties in family life will definitely have difficulties interacting with teachers as well as other children. Recent research has indicated teachers as contributors of poor peer relationships due to their utilization of favoritism on some children. The same is impacted in the societal set up since the child has already developed a negative attitude. Peers are also long-term rationales for the extents of peer relationships and finally social development. These are the friends that one has to interact with in all contexts. Harsh treatment by some peers is also a major cause of withdrawal. Some peers also result in poor