Life Span Development II School Age and Adolescence

Life Span Development II: School age and Adolescence 3 (2+1)

Lesson 12 : Role of Family, School and Peers on Overall development of School age children

Role of peer group in the context of development

After family peer is another important role model for children. Most children find interacting with peers rewarding and satisfying. Unfortunately though, for some children, peer relationships are difficult, painful and unsatisfying.

Two types of unpopular children have been identified. The first type is referred to as rejected children-those who are overtly disliked by their peers. The second type is referred to as neglected children-those who are reasonably well liked even though they lack friends. Rejected children are unpopular for long periods of time and their status rarely changes. In contrast, neglected children’s popularity and status may change from time to time or from situation to situation. Thus, rejected children endure difficulties in their peer relationships, whereas neglected children usually do not.

Further, rejected and neglected children have different emotional experiences with peers. Rejected children are more likely to be lonely and feel victimized than neglected children. Rejected children are more isolated than neglected children are and therefore more emotionally distressed by poor peer relationships.

The research evidence suggests that certain behavioral, personality, and cognitive tendencies contribute to children’s being rejected or neglected. For instance, rejected children are likely to be aggressive, depressed and sometimes, maltreated and abused at home. Neglected children have poor social skills and may be shy or withdrawn.

Different strategies are needed to improve rejected and neglected children’s peer relationships. For rejected children, an important aim of intervention is to reduce the aggressive and disruptive nature of their peer interactions. Altering the consequences for aggressive and disruptive behavior and teaching self-control strategies can help rejected children generate more adaptive solutions to anger-arousing situations. For neglected children, helping them develop social skills that enhance the initiation and maintenance of peer interactions can improve their status among their peers.