11 Key Role of Family in Socialization of a Child [Must Check #3]
Family is very important for a child. It is the first mini-society that a person encounters in his life. It acts as a mediator between the child and the society in which he ultimately will have to live and be a part of. The role of family in socialization of a child is quite crucial. It helps the child in social development.
Specifically, a family grooms a child and teaches him right from wrong. It tries to impact the child’s life positively. If you want to know what role does the family plays in the life of a child, you can read our article, Role of Family in Child Development. It will give you a clear and better idea about how and why family is so important for a child.
What is Socialization of a Child?
Socialization is crucial for a child’s progress and development. It is the method through which parents teach their children how to behave in a specific group and also teach him important life values, like right behaviours, honest beliefs and being good to the others.
It means or basically refers to the lifelong process of learning skills that are necessary to live in a society. These skills help the children become successful and happy members of a particular community. Through socialization, children learn to reason and interact in the right manner with the other members of the society.
What are The Roles of Family in Socialization of a Child?
Family plays many roles in a child’s life. They teach many valuable things and helps a child grow and become a better individual in his life.
Let us study about some of the roles that the family plays while introducing the child to the society and making him a part of it.
1. Instill Positive Values in The Child
Values refer to the concept of understanding what is right and wrong. In order to understand what a society values and expects from a child, we must show the child what the society respects and expects from him. This will help him understand that he must instill positive values in himself in order to survive and prosper in the society.
2. Perfect The Child’s All Kind of Skills
Right from the moment a child is born he (knowingly/ unknowingly) begins to learn different types of skills. Some of them are gross and fine motor, cognitive, emotional and language skills.
The family’s role is to teach the child that in order to step ahead in life, he has to learn how to answer and understand his emotions and feelings, work upon all of his skills and only then will he be able to achieve success in his life.
3. Making him Feel Safe
A very major role of family is to ensure that the child always feels that they are his first home and that he can come back to them anytime. However, they also have to tell the child that a society will always protect him.
Through family only the child gets to understand how the society will protect him and look after him, help him in his times of need. When he begins to feel safe in the society only then he will be able to become a good member of the society.
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4. Provides Security
A child’s first sense of security comes from his family. He knows that they will keep him safe, so when the family introduces the child to the outside world, aka society, his sense of comfort and security increases manifolds.
Upon getting the family’s assurance, the child becomes secure that he will be fine and well taken care of. The society also provides emotional security to the child, which he will not be able to get anywhere else in the world.
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5. Transition
Family acts as a form of transition belt that takes a child from the safe haven of his home to the outside world of society. The family helps him understand the manner and way in which he needs to conduct himself and behave in order to be accepted in the society.
6. Enhance the Child’s Personality
Family enhances the child’s personality. It makes him understand that in order to be a part of the society he needs to ensure that he has a positive and people pleasing personality that will inspire everyone around him. Such children are easily accepted and encouraged in the society.
7. Help Meet Relations and Build Relationships
Family teaches a child to build ever-lasting term relationships with the other members of the society. Such relations act as pillar for the child in his life. Family plays a major role in introducing the child with his relatives and help build stronger connections that would help him become a strong individual who is confident and ready to face the world.
8. Teach The Child To Become Model Society Member
Family teaches socialization to young children by showing them the ideal model behaviour that they should set. It shows them the perfect way in which to behave if the child wants to become a part of the social and civil society.
9. Teach Culture
A family also ensures that the child will become an integral part of the society by teaching him his culture. This will help him understand what the society wants from him and vice versa. Culture always safeguards the child from any harm.
10. Social Gathering
Family members take their children to social gatherings and get together. There the children get to meet and interact with other members of the society and form a bond with them. This is also one of the ways of inducting the children into socialization.
11. Teaching Responsibility
Another important role that parents play while teaching socialization to their child is teaching him responsibility. This will help the child understand his roles and responsibilities towards the society.
Like, from childhood itself if parents begin to give the children some kind of small responsibilities, like picking up plates or helping their grandparents with small things, then they will learn to take social responsibilities as well.
So, now we know some of the roles that the parents play in order to improve the socialization aspects of a child. But let us try to understand why this role is important for a child.
Why The Role of Family in Socialization of Child is Important?
Parents’ lifelong concern is proper development of their child. Their life’s primary aim is to ensure the best for their child, in all the aspects. For this very purpose, from the moment a child is born, he is taught how to behave in the society.
They learn the right behaviour from the people around them while they are growing up. This procedure of learning while growing begins from home for all of us and our family tends to become the first teachers of ours in the process of socialization.
A family teaches many things to its child in order to introduce him to the society. At times, a child needs to be told upfront about what to do and how to behave and sometimes in an indirect manner.
But, the easiest, popular and common way to teach a child to behave is by showing how to behave. If family members behave in a certain way the child automatically starts to replicate the manner. The learning and socialization of a child is, to a great extent, subjected to the way his family is. This is so because the family is a child’s basic social group.
In the last, the family is ultimately responsible for altering, changing and molding a child and inculcating in him the good and positive values, social and behavioural skill and comfort and security.
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Final Thoughts
Raising a child is a very difficult task. However, it is like a blessing in disguise too. It is one of the most rewarding gifts of the entire world. The role of family in socialization of child is uncountable. As a parent, we always try to remember that we are not only teaching our child, but also ensuring that we act in the same way in which we want our child to act and behave.
We all know that it is next to impossible to be perfect all the time; however as parents it is our job and responsibility to ensure that our child gets to gel perfectly in the society. None of us is perfect and no family is also ideal. But every family aims to ensure that their child is able to socialize comfortably in the society and gel well with the others.
As such, knowing and understanding the importance and role of family in making a child social is crucial. We all agree that parents are a child’s first teachers. They begin to teach him from the day he is born. More than any school or any other organisation, a child’s initial and primary learning takes place at his home in the comfort and surrounded by his family.
Such a family plays a very important role in creating a sociable environment for the child, so that he is able to learn the correct skills and qualities. Knowing how to socialize and being secures creates a perfect foundation based upon which the child can grow and be fearless, happy and confident.
