Thursday, May 29, 2008

Parent’s role in developing the child’s self concepts

‘Self concept’ or ‘self identity’ is the manner in which a person thinks about himself. It is the awareness of oneself in terms of perceptions and the way in which he views himself. This idea about oneself primarily develops in the early on years of life. The first five years of a child’s life are the most crucial ones as they determine the future of the child’s identity in front of his own eyes.
In this course of development, the child tends to learn and pick a lot of things from the environment. His environment in the elementary years consists of his parents and intimate family members. Their behavior and attitude towards the child plays a very important role in forming of self concepts by the child.

The child absorbs the opinions and ideas of his family members and tends to formulate and shape his thinking accordingly. Parents are the makers of the child’s thought process about himself.
Self concepts are formed in the early years but do alter and change in the times to follow. Friends and peers make a profound impact on our thinking patterns and beliefs. In this phase of the child, parents play an important role in reiterating the child of values which not only helps the child in building his self concepts but makes them stronger.
The parent must help the child to develop positive self concepts and eliminate the negative ones. This would add the right amount of confidence in the child and help him to survive and bypass the path of life.
The development of the right kind of attitudes for oneself is very essential as they determine the life of an individual. Parents must extend a helping hand to their child at every juncture they surpass and help him enhance and augment his self concepts.

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