Factors Influencing the Development of Children and Young People

Child development is an on-going process from birth until reaching adulthood and typically follows a pattern and a sequence which means that each step takes place in at certain age and in a usual order that is similar in most cases. However, we have to take into consideration the fact that each child is a unique personality and their social, emotional, intellectual, physical and language development is formed by individual, internal and external factors.

These influencing factors can be categorised in different ways. We can regard positive, or protective factors, that enable the child to have a normal or even faster than normal development without any serious hindrances; and negative or risk factors that increase the possibility of developmental delays. (Child and Young Person Development) All children have to face difficulties but it depends on the balance of protective and risk factors if these problems eventually affect their development or not. These two types of influences can stem from several internal characteristics or external circumstances that I attempt to summarize below.

Personal Factors

Internal or personal factors influencing child development include motivation and characteristics, disabilities and illnesses and learning difficulties that a child can suffer from.

Motivation

Children have an innate curiosity to learn and discover and a motivation to find pleasurable activities. When they start school, however, their internal motivation is replaced by a wish to perform well in the eyes of the teacher and to fit in amongst their peers. If their only motivation for learning is to receive good grades and not to be embarrassed in front of their peers, failing a test despite their efforts in learning can lead to a loss of interest and a regression of development. Nevertheless, if children are not forced to achieve only good grades but allowed to find the joy in learning, their aim will be to quench their curiosity, and a lower grade will not necessarily mean disappointment. What is more they will put more effort into discovering topics of their choice that interests them, which eventually results in cognitive and intellectual development. (Motivation of Children)

Disabilities and Illnesses

Although schools nowadays go an extra mile in accommodating physically disabled children in mainstream education and providing the same opportunities for learning and development for everyone, wheelchair bound children e.g. can be potentially hindered in their physical progression. A limited control of the limbs can make it more difficult or sometimes impossible for these children to take part in all the normal everyday activities with their peers and has a negative effect on the development of their fine or gross motor skills. (Debbie65, 2012) An illness like asthma can prevent a child from running around with the others, being active and energetic. It does not only mean a disadvantage in their physical improvement but also makes it harder for these children to develop social bonds because the playground or the after school activities would be the perfect place to make friends. If the child’s condition requires frequent hospital visits and therefore they miss school, they have even less opportunities to develop their social skills with their peers in the children’s normal environment. Not to mention the fact that the missed lessons makes it harder for them to learn the required material and they may fall behind in their academic development too. (Debbie65, 2012)

Learning Difficulties

Having learning difficulties can have an overall impact on the child’s development, including their physical, social and cognitive skills. (Debbie65, 2012) If a child e.g. has dyslexia, their problem with reading and writing makes it difficult for them to process everyday learning material and keep the pace with their peers in the classroom. It can result in a feeling of being an outsider, especially if they even have to take extra lessons separated from the others. Dyspraxia, the lack of coordination and space awareness can affect physical development through the defect of fine and gross motor skills. If it is paired up with a language and perception disorder, the child may find it hard not only to understand the lesson but also to communicate with their peers between sessions. Therefore both intellectual and social development will suffer.

External Factors

The external factors influencing a child’s development include their immediate environment, i.e. their family and their circumstances at home, their socioeconomic background and the education they receive from institutions or their family.

Family environment

There are various family backgrounds a child may come from. If they grow up in an extended family circle, in close relationship not only with their parents and siblings but also with their grandparents and cousins, they might feel more protected by the people who surround them and have more opportunities to develop socially through frequent interactions with their relatives. A bigger family tend to give moral values and education to the child that also supports their social and cognitive progress. However, coming from a smaller, nuclear family does not mean that the child is not provided with the same values, and vice versa a child can have negative experiences, e.g. feeling of being lost in a house crowded with their family members. Reconstructed or one-parent families also have the potential to work well if the child is able to accept the changes and see that e.g. their parents are happier separated or with their new partner. Still teaching staff has to give closer attention to those children coming from broken up families because if they are unhappy or cannot deal with the changed circumstances, their academic and social development will be affected negatively.

Socioeconomic background

The wealth or poverty of a family is a highly important factor in a child’s development since it determines the education they have access to. (Patrick, 2013) A more well-to-do family is able to afford their children to go to private schools or take private lessons in subjects they are interested in or where they need extra help. In their free time they can have the opportunity to pick up more expensive hobbies, like horse riding or sailing and the family might take vacations in exotic places where the children can have new experiences, further developing their cognitive, physical and social skills. Children coming from less fortunate backgrounds, however, are exposed to a number of risks in their development. A family might live in poverty for different reasons, e.g. a one-parent family where there is only one adult to support the children, the parents may be unemployed or suffering from a long term illness that makes them unable to have a job and are forced to take benefits. Families living in poverty usually live under poor housing circumstances: in an unhealthy environment with mould on the walls or in a bad neighbourhood surrounded by noise and the danger of criminal activities. All these factors can easily lead to depression, stress and a lack of motivation in the child whose physical, cognitive and social development will all be disadvantaged.

Education

The education a child receives depends on other factors than the money and it is still a crucial factor determining development. A child’s education starts with birth well before the institutionalised level. A rich and colourful environment that keeps a baby busy is the foundation of their physical, cognitive and social development. The way children are treated in the nursery can be a huge impact on their later attitude to school, teachers and learning. If parents choose home schooling for a child, advantages and disadvantages have to be taken into consideration. The home schooled pupil might receive more attention from their educators but a lack of peer interaction and the common experience of going to school together can result in a drawback of social development. The birthday of a child determines the year they start formal education: children who were born just before the end of August will be the oldest ones in the class and their maturity may mean advantage in physical and cognitive skills as compared to their youngest peers whose birthday is almost a year later. Although every child is treated equally in the education system, another essential factor within education is national origin. Children whose mother tongue is not English may have a hard time in the beginning to understand lessons and even to have a chat with their peers. It can cause a delay in their cognitive and social development therefore teaching staff has to pay attention and support them with pictures in the classroom or by encouraging their peers to be more patient with these children if e.g. they do not understand the rules of the playground games first.

Reference list

Child and Young Person Development, n.d., accessed 13^th October 2013,
 < http://www.homelearningcollege.com/HLC/media/PDF/SampleMaterial/ChildCare/NCFE-Level-2-Supporting-Teaching-And-Learning-Sample.pdf>

Debbie65 2012, Explain How Children and Young People’s Development Is Influenced by a Range of Personal Factors, StudyMode, accessed 13^th October 2013,
<http://www.studymode.com/essays/2-1-Explain-How-Children-And-Young-1315994.html>

Motivation of Children, University of Michigan n.d., accessed 14^th October 2013,
<http://sitemaker.umich.edu/356.omo/young_child_motivation>

Patrick, Josh 2013, How Children and Young People’s Development Is Influenced by a Range of Personal Factors, Livestrong.com (2013), accessed 13^th October 2013,
<http://www.livestrong.com/article/523544-how-childrens-development-is-influenced-by-external-factors/>