Early Childhood Friendships: Article Analysis

Friendships change over time. Some people stay your friends forever others are only temporary. This essay shows how my friendships have changed between Elementary school and Middle school, between middle and high school, and how some have stayed the same over the course of my education.

Childhood, in the 21st century, has become the center of attention because of the highly influential book “Centuries of Childhood” published in the year 1960. In the book, Aries (1960) argued that the concept has been created by the modern history and further indicated that children were considered as mini-adults before the 17th century. According to Dr. Montgomery (2013), the childhood in 1970s and 80s have enormously transformed in terms of their treatment and their lives. Moreover, Dr. Montgomery revealed the contemporary and historical differences in the terms childhood. For instance, children in the 21st century have fewer responsibilities and their lives are characterized by school, play, consumption and family instead of paid labor, work, production and public life. This implies that the standards of childhood differ on the basis of economic setting and traditions of the societies.

Subsequently Corsaro took a different approach to studying children's friendship, Corsaro was more interested in maintaining the children's individual view of the word “friend” and seeing how children talk to each other about this. In addition Corsaro wanted to see what this may mean to children from different backgrounds and personal beliefs.

Compare and Contrast the approach to studying children’s friendships taken in the Bigelow and La Gaipa (1975) study with that taken by William Corsaro.

In the early 1970’s little was known regarding children’s friendships. Bigalow and La Gaipa (1975) assessed developmental differences by having grade school children write 480 essays on what they expected of their best friend that was not expected from other

Friendship means different things to different people in different cultures. Friendship is also different from other kinds of relationship such as love, family and professional. The influential power on people’s behaviour, style, ideas and life is dominant and remarkable and therefore worthwhile for scientific investigation. This essay will compare and contrast the academic research of three dominant and pioneer scientists on the development psychology discipline and especially in the field of children’s expectations and children’s understanding of

As a child, I felt that having friends was the most significant cause in who I am today. Throughout my life I have had many friends who have influenced me in numerous ways, but now most of them have become distant acquaintances. Although the majority

In the contemporary world, there is no standard definition of a child due to the ambiguity of the status. Therefore, the concept of being a child can be viewed from multiple perspectives in a bid to develop standard definition. Another critical aspect of the definition of the child is that it depends on the circumstances as well as history. A person’s conceptualization of a child is affected by the socialization. In turn, the social construction of the concept of a child means that one meaning cannot be applicable across the globe; this, discourses determine the views about childhood. However, despite the ambiguity that characterizes the concept of a child and youth, James and Sprout (2015) defined as social relationships resulting from a negotiated process which constitutes the early years of one’s life. Through this conceptualization, it is apparent that culture influences childhood. This paper explores the importance of the societal construction of childhood as well as evaluated its implications on children.

Presents a taxonomic model of social competence (SC) derived from an integration of theoretical and empirical literature on social development in children. Three behavioral components are identified in the model: temperament, character, and social awareness. All 3 are viewed as equally important contributors to successful or unsuccessful social outcomes, but relatively greater emphasis is placed on the last component since social awareness deficits are seen as the factors most responsible for interpersonal difficulties of exceptional children and youth. Three major approaches to the delineation of SC are reviewed (outcome-, content-, and skill-oriented), and 4 dimensions of SC are outlined: niceness–nastiness, social activity–inactivity, reflection–impulsivity,

Frankston North, across the divide, is one of Victoria’s most disadvantaged communities. Vulnerability and socio-economic status have a strong correlation (Community story Frankston North 2017). Social connection and community engagement have positive health and wellbeing outcomes and have an important focus to the Victorian government agenda (TASC: Technology, Arts and Social Connection 2011, para.2, Arts and social connection 2017, para.2). Social connectiveness in children improves cooperation, sharing, negotiation, patience, language, communication, problem-solving and conflict resolution (McNamara 2015; American Academy of Pediatrics, 2013). Moreover, social disconnection in children can lead to loneliness, isolation, self-doubt and in

Therefore, measuring social competence should interest policymakers. The first reason that policymakers should be interested is that studies have shown that children who are more socially competent outperform children who are less socially competent academically (Downer and Pianta, 2006). It has also been discovered that social competence can be associated with decreased cases of problem behaviors in later years (Denham, 2002). Therefore, social competence is important by helping children display positive behavioral and academic skills.

Prior to commencing their research, Bigelow and La Gaipa and Corsaro needed to decide who the participants would be. They wanted to know what children’s personal views were, so a common factor for both types of research was that those taking part were all children. Bigelow and La Gaipa chose a large sample of children aged 6 to 14 years old (Brownlow, 2012). They all resided in the same city in Canada and came from a similar or identical social group. There were 480 participants all together chosen from eight schools, with thirty girls and thirty boys from each. The age-range was a significant factor to them because they wanted to study how children understood friendship at different ages and stages of their life. Using such a large number of children in their study meant that they could make generalisations about children’s friendships and how they develop over time. This data could then be applied to children as a whole. Corsaro chose his participants differently. The children that took part in his studies were about three years old (Brownlow, 2012). In addition, unlike Bigelow and La Gaipa, Corasro did not limit his research to one city, or even one country. He wanted to know what friendship meant for children at different times and in different places. Therefore, Corsaro studied children in different countries including, the United States and Italy (Interview with William Corsaro, 2010). By

Friendship is often diminished, considering the impact it has on everyone’s well being. Early-childhood friendships are frequently overlooked. Preschool friendships are helpful in initiating the process in forming social and emotional skills. It increases a sense of belonging and decreases tension. People who feel as if they are an outcast or unsocial tend to be depressed throughout their lifespan. It is natural to attach to a variety of people and want friendship and support from others, regardless of who they are. People thrive socially in many different ways. There are various ways to help children develop relationship skills that will acquire connections with others. Early childhood friendships benefit and help children become successful throughout life.

“Friendship attachments are important during adolescence because they are sources of emotional security and support, contexts for growth in social competence, and prototypes for later relationships” (Seiffge-Krenke, 1993)

Social interaction is a complex area of study because of how multifaceted it is. Social stability starts at an early age when the child or adolescent learns how to develop trust, take initiative, and achieve a sense of identity. Erick Erickson is a great example of showing the importance of completing the psychosocial stages of development (Erikson 1994). One can glean how crucial these psychosocial stages are and the support needed around the developing child to meet these checkpoints in their life. Children are incredibly malleable; however, instilling a negative light toward social interaction can affect how they manage their later years. Being aware of the crucial beginning steps of social interaction can set the stage on how one will be throughout their adulthood.