The Effects of Transitions on Child and Young Person Development

Transitions mean changes or movement from one position or stage to another in a child’s or young person’s life. Transitions can be gradual or sudden, can affect different aspects of the pupil’s life and may last for various lengths of time. (Transitions, n.d.)  All children experience changes in their life at certain points, but it depends on their personality, the nature of transition and the support they receive from family and school, how they react to these turning points.

Transitions experienced by all children

Some changes will inevitably happen to every child, because these are natural landmarks in everybody’s life that can fall into three categories: physical, social and intellectual transitions. A child who receives consistent caring support from the adults surrounding them will have enough mental strength to cope with these changes.

The first physical transition in a child’s life is when they start nursery and the environment where they spend certain time each day changes, new people (nursery teachers and little peers) step into their lives. Similar transitions happen again when the child starts primary school and later when transferring into secondary education. At these turning points all the people around them, including teachers and pupils are experiencing the same change, which helps the child to accept the new situation.

A social transition for each young person is reaching puberty and experiencing changes on their body and in their thoughts and emotions. Puberty changes the way they look at their own body: they might find it awkward in the process of transition and feel ashamed of it. Adolescents start to think in a different way about the world, their priorities shift and friends will have a central role in their social lives instead of family. They experience strong waving emotions, the first love, hatred towards their parents who try to control them etc. therefore this period is arduous for both the teenagers and their parents.

Intellectual transition means the shift between key stages or finishing school. When starting the next key stage pupils find themselves facing new challenges and new goals that they have to reach. The academic requirements are higher and higher as they go forward in formal education but based on their previous knowledge and experience they should be able to meet the new expectations. Leaving school and starting a job or university may be an absolutely different situation; the young person can find him/herself against totally alien priorities and requirements.

Transitions only experienced by some children

Transitions that do not occur in everybody’s life but only experienced by some children or young people during their development can affect different aspects of their lives as well. In these cases it is advisable for the teaching staff to pay closer attention to the pupils affected, because they might need additional support to cope with these changes.

Moving house and as a consequence transferring to another school is a physical change whereby the child might experience a sense of loss. Their home environment suddenly changes, they have to get used to a new place and in addition, integrate into a new school. They feel that they are losing their old friends and have to make new ones. Also, they have to get to know new teachers, maybe new methods and new rules in the new school setting. They do not have a say in this decision and might blame their parents for forcing the new situation on them if they are not explained why the changes are necessary for the family.

Transitions in social life can include the death or illness of a family member or relative. A young child might have difficulties in understanding the concept of death while they see their family members being emotionally struck by what happened. In this case nobody in the family has control over the situation; they can only accept it and try to cope with the loss. The parent’s divorce is also a transition that causes loss in the child’s life because their family as they have known it so far does not exist anymore.

Certain transitions can cause fear and terror in a child’s life and if a teacher does not recognise early signs of these problems they can have a long lasting negative effect on the pupil’s development. It can be physical, emotional or sexual abuse by a family member or somebody else, as well as bullying in school or outside the premises that cause a break in a child’s or young person’s development. In any case, if a transition means for the child the loss of safety, outside help is needed urgently.

The effect of transitions on children’s development

Children react to changes in different ways, depending on their own personality and the nature of the change they are experiencing. Their behaviour can go to the extremes: they can either become quiet and withdrawn or start to produce anger and aggression against their environment. They might regress in their studies and cognitive development: daydreaming during class, forgetting to do the homework. If something is gnawing at a child, they might express their problems by unusual conversations and remarks, strange drawings and actions that are not typical of them.

A typical transition situation is changing schools (either because the family moves to different location or due to normal academic advancement), which can easily make the child nervous and sad about losing the security of the old, well-known school as well as their friends. Even if a child reacts with withdrawal or extroverted behaviour to the changes, their academic and communication development will suffer. The stress caused by this situation my lead to mental or physical problems, a pretend or even genuine illness in order to delay the upsetting changes. Younger children might react by being clingy and displaying the behaviour of a little child because they feel vulnerable, older children can have nightmares, sleeping problems, loss of appetite or show moody behaviour. All these reactions lead to a negative influence on the child’s physical, emotional and cognitive development. (Lawrence, 2012)

Nevertheless, changes do not necessarily mean negative effects on a child’s behaviour. For example, the parents’ divorce can bring a positive turn in the family’s life, when the mother and the child move in with the grandparents and the child experiences a busier social life, being surrounded by loving family members. Also, seeing their parents happier in separation and not having to listen to their fighting can help the child understand that some changes are for the best.

The effect of having positive relationships during periods of transmission

When experiencing changes is their lives, children need the support of the adults surrounding them to be able to deal with the situation. Therefore it is essential to maintain positive relationships with children affected by transitions, even if they are being introverted, hostile or aggressive as a reaction to the changes.

It is advisable to be prepared about the child’s situation so that we are ready to talk to them about it: listen to them if they want to tell us about their feelings and answer their questions. Adults can guide them in dealing with the situation by showing that the loss of the old will be balanced by the anticipation of something new in their lives. (Transitions, n.d.) We have to be open and sensitive to their needs: if they require more attention, to make sure they do not feel neglected, or do not force them to participate if it is not absolutely necessary.

Communication with parents is crucial, as they have to be fully aware of the effects of the changes on their children. Children may show different behaviour in school and at home, therefore parents may not notice how deeply their child is shaken be the recent transitions. Also, parents and teachers in cooperation can make the child feel that they can take control of the situation by having a positive attitude and embracing the advantages of the change.

If the transition is about starting a new school (e.g. at end of Year 6 in elementary school), the teacher can help the affected pupils to soothe their fears by taking them for a visit to the new school. This way they will have an idea about what the building looks like, how the classrooms are laid out and what is the general atmosphere like in the new institution. They may also make some friends during the visit, so that the new community will not consist exclusively of strangers. Conversely, the teacher can invite a few pupils and teachers from the secondary school to talk to the year 6 pupils about their experiences.

Whatever the transition is in the life of a child or young person, they cannot be left alone with their fears and emotions caused by the change. Effective communication between teacher and pupil is essential because the children need opportunities to express their thoughts and the feelings. Support from the adults around them in this critical period will help the children to work their way through the transition and do not let it to be a negative influence on their development.

Reference list

Lawrence, Claire 2012, How Different Transitions Affect Child Development, StudyMode, accessed 22/10/213,
<http://www.studymode.com/essays/How-Different-Transitions-Affect-Child-Development-1259270.html>

Transitions n.d, Young Minds in School, accessed 22/10/2013,
<http://www.youngminds.org.uk/training_services/young_minds_in_schools/wellbeing/transitions>