The article that is presented by the New York University is dealing with the parents’ influence on the children’s ability to control emotions and recognize them. It is claimed that the aggression between parents is likely to have an adverse effect on the development of children. There is no difference whether it is verbal or physical, aggression that is seen by a child makes one face difficulties in this very moment and future.
The researchers mentioned that children have problems with composing themselves; they cannot control such emotions as sadness and fear even in ordinary situations (in the classroom, for example). When growing up, they may yield to depression or anxiety (Fighting parents, 2014).
The follow-up study may focus on the other forms of adversity that was noticed by the researchers as the ones that have the influence on the children’s ability to recognize and control emotions. This study may conclude what has the greatest impact on emotional adjustment and how the reduction of parents’ aggression can improve the situation.
For now, realizing the issue, educators and parents can do several things to improve the situation. The parents should realize that their behavior can ruin the life of their children. They should not have quarrels in front of the kids. It is possible to sort things out when the children are not at home or to go out.
The parents should learn to understand each other and reach a compromise, so they should interact more. If oral communication turns into quarrels, they can write messages each other. It is crucial to learn how to compose oneself and control emotions (frustration, anger, etc.).
The parents should not transfer the problems they have at work to home and need to balance different spheres of life. They should organize priorities (it may be done in written form) to see that the lives of their children are more valuable than their quarrels. The parents should consult a specialist if they are not able to cope with the issue themselves. If they have no possibility to do this, they can talk with friends or relatives.
The educators should also be involved. First of all, they should monitor the state of the children and evaluate their condition. Realizing that there are some problems, they should speak to the children in a friendly manner to find out what is wrong.
Educators should also talk with the parents. It can be done face-to-face if a particular issue already exists, or the parents of different students can be gathered and informed about the negative influence of their aggression in general to prevent possible problems. They can also help to find a specialist who can help the parents (give a phone number, etc.).
Original Work
The article written by Jerome Kagan tells about the parents’ influence on the psychological development of their kids. This topic is connected with the previous one, as it deals with the way parents affect emotions of their children as well, which may presuppose that Kagan contributed to the future researchers. Still, he also discusses such things as direct interaction and transmission of family stories.
The researcher points out that while interacting with children, parents form the way their children behave and will behave in future. Thus, it is extremely important to reward the little child when one does something as it is expected (for example, eats properly) and punish for acting wrong (refuse to go to bad).
Parents also transfer their knowledge to kids when explaining them new things (naming previously unknown animals that are pictured in the book, etc.). If such kind of education is not seen when the child is little, one is like to perform an asocial behavior in future and provoke peer rejection.
In the same way, when children are encouraged to develop and learn new things, they will become strong-willed and motivated; it will be easy for them to cope with various tasks. Children also follow their parents in emotional perspective, including temperamental qualities.
For example, girls imitate the emotions their mothers have (fear of big animals, heights, etc. and fearlessness). Kids follow their parents’ model in terms of class, ethnicity and religion. Still, it may be negative, and children may feel depressed or ashamed and become vulnerable when identifying with poor families, etc. When children are told about the achievements of one of the family members, they tend to feel proud and willing to repeat such success, which makes them perform the same traits of character.
Kagan’s work is contributed to developmental psychology greatly, as he proved that “parental behaviors and personality traits influence the child’s talents, motivation, academic performance, and social behavior, their influence is part of a larger web of conditions that includes inherited temperamental biases, ordinal position, social class, ethnicity, quality of peer friendships, and the historical era in which adolescence is spent” (Kagan, 1999, p. 166).
In other words, he investigated the way children’s behavior change under the influence of their parents, which is the interest of developmental psychology (The principles of developmental psychology n.d.). It is crucial that he underlined both positive and negative effects and proved that parents play an important role in child’s development but not to be the only source of influence, as many scientists argued regarding these issues for a long time.
References
Fighting parents hurt children’s ability to recognize and regulate emotions. (2014). Web.
Kagan, J. (1999). The role of parents in children’s psychological development. Pediatrics, 104(1), 164-167.
The principles of developmental psychology. (n.d.). Web.