For a society to be complete, it must be comprised of people of diverse ages. The importance of having a society comprised of people of diverse ages is that this ensures continuity of that particular society or community. Put differently, the members of the society are sure that their community will continue in existence as the young people in that society will come of age and the cycle continues. To that extent, children are a key component of society. They are important because they are the future of the society. Without children, such a society runs the risk of becoming extinct in a couple of years. However, a society does not just entail having people in that society. To have a proper society, it is a prerequisite that all members of the society conduct themselves in a manner that is acceptable in that particular society. Often, it is not possible to have all the members of a society behave as per the norms of the society. However, such persons must not be the majority. This is because if they are the majority, then such a society will lack harmonious coexistence of its members. The need for a harmonious coexistence in the society is among the key reasons that underlie the researching of the topic of child behaviour. It is a well-known fact that the behaviour of the children in a society is reflective of the society in which they come from. Indeed, the behaviour of the children in a society can be an indictment or a vindication of the particular society. It must also not be lost that understanding child behaviour will be key to guiding their conduct so that in future they can fit in well in the society. A society that fails to understand and monitor the behaviour of children within it is likely to have several outcasts when the children come of age.
Perhaps the single most important reason for studying this topic is to understand and possibly rectify the factors that are contributing to the increasingly worrying trend of ‘unacceptable’ children behaviour. The environment in which children are growing in today has had a tremendous influence on their behaviour. It is however, sad to note that this influence has largely been negative. As a result, there has been an increase in behavioural disorders affecting children. It follows that the correct first step in trying to rectify this problem must entail researching into the field of child behaviour. While this may not provide all the answers, it is a step in the right direction, a step that will shed light on this topic which is becoming of increasing concern. A study of this topic will enable one to understand child behavioural patterns and factors that contribute to both positive and negative child behaviour. The knowledge generated from a study in this topic will be an invaluable tool to aid all stakeholders who are concerned with child behaviour. It will be useful for the concerned authorities as well as parents and teachers among other stakeholders.
There are a number of facts which have informed the examining of this topic. Key among these is the need to encourage good behaviour in children. Granted, while in the past there was no great emphasis on issues to do with proper upbringing of children, the children of today find themselves in a very different society. It is a society where they are most likely to spend limited time with their parents as the parents spend most of their time at work. Their behaviour is thus majorly shaped by other persons and even devices such as the television. It is common knowledge that not everything that comes from the media is good for the young minds of children. However, the current world is such that children will almost always inevitably end up being exposed or have access to the television. Consequently, it is only an in-depth understanding of child behaviour that will enable parents to be able to positively encourage the behaviour they would like to see in their children. A lack of understanding of child behaviour will leave such parents and other persons concerned with bringing up children clueless as far as guiding their children towards a certain desired behaviour is concerned.
Another key fact that has informed writing on this topic is the worrying statistics on certain indicators of child behaviour. For instance, according to the Mental Health Foundation of the United Kingdom, about twenty percent of children in the United Kingdom have a mental health issue in any given year. In a survey conducted by the Office of National Statistics of the United Kingdom, about four percent of children were found to have emotional disorders, six percent were found to have conduct problems and two percent were found to have hyperkinetic disorders. In the United States, around seven percent of children have anxiety disorders while another ten percent have sleep disorders. It is important to note that anxiety disorders in children are usually a pointer to other underlying issues such as mental or emotional disorders. A study conducted in the USA also revealed that the kind of environment in which a child is brought up ultimately affects their behaviour. The focus of the study was to establish how violence among spouses influenced the behaviour of the children of such spouses. The study findings revealed that children aged six to eighteen years who are brought up in families in where there is constant violence between the spouses will almost inevitably have behavioural disorders. Such behavioural disorders may include depression, anxiety, withdrawal and in severe instances, some children even exhibit suicidal tendencies. All these statistics are a pointer to the fact that it is important to study child behaviour. Such a study will go a long way in finding solutions to the above illustrated disorders which more often than not have a detrimental effect on the behaviour of children.
The third significant fact about child behaviour is that it is a pointer as to how the changing times are affecting the behaviour of children. Research has shown that as the world has changed over time such that children are in a way ‘neglected’, there has been a corresponding increase in diseases and disorders that affect children. The diseases and disorders which affect children in today’s world include bipolar disorder, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, eating distress and obsessive compulsive disorder among many others. The fundamental question that begs to be answered in whether there is a correlation between the way of life in the present world and the sharp increase in these disorders which affect the behaviour of children. A study of child behaviour will go long way in providing answers to this question.
This topic raises a number of concerns. Indeed, anyone who comes across the worrying statistics highlighted in earlier sections of this submission will be greatly concerned about child behaviour. The principal reason why the topic of child behaviour is of great concern to this study is the fact that more and more children are increasingly having various behavioural disorders yet there seems to be no concrete efforts by the concerned stakeholders to address these problem. Indeed, it appears that perhaps there is a lull in activities to address this problem as it is treated as a relatively minor issue. This submission contends that there is need to ensure that all concerned stakeholders have a proper understanding of child behaviour. It is time to reverse the worrying statistics on the various disorders that affect child behaviour. This can only be achieved where there is sufficient knowledge and information about child behaviour. Among other things, this study will go a long way in increasing the amount of knowledge and information that is available on the topic of child behaviour.
This study is also greatly concerned by the fact that matters to do with child behaviour have at best taken a back seat or at worst, been given a raw deal by the government. While the government has continually channeled large amounts of funds to facilitate research into other problems that affect the general population, very little attention has been given to the issue of child behaviour. By and large, the general assumption is that the issue of child behaviour is one that is to be left to be dealt with by individual parents. This submission contends that this is hardly a correct approach. An issue such as child behaviour which is increasingly affecting a significant percentage of the population is one which merits robust government intervention. It is not enough to leave it solely to parents to handle. Indeed, it is important to keep in mind the fact a society which neglects its children is sure to perish in due time. Having highlighted the above, by illustrating the magnitude of the issues that underlie or nuance child behaviour, this study hopes to be useful resource that will not only point out the gravity of the problem but that will also propose ways that can be used to effectively address it.
Another key concern about this topic is the need to give children a strong start in life. It is a well-known fact that a strong start in life for a child encompasses many things. These may include but are not limited to such things as proper healthcare. Perhaps it would be important to extrapolate the issue of proper healthcare for children. Proper healthcare must not be interpreted in a narrow way to convey to it meaning in a medical sense only. On the contrary, proper healthcare and especially as far as children are concerned ought to be given a robust interpretation. It must be given an interpretation which covers the overall wellbeing of the child. In this regard, it must encompass anything that may cause harm to the proper development of a child. Consequently, anything that has the potential of adversely affecting the behaviour of a child must be incorporated into healthcare programmes that are targeted at children. If proper healthcare is essential for children to have a strong start in life, then it is equally important to ensure that such children learn and are of good behaviour. It is only when such children have a strong start in life that they will be able to later on become respected and respectable members of the society. It is thus incumbent to understand the issue of child behaviour as this will contribute to giving children a strong start in life.
Research Questions
Being a research, the study has to be guided by research questions. This study will be trying to answer the following three questions about child behavior.
- How does parental behaviour influence child behaviour?
- What is the impact of the media on child behaviour?
- What is the nexus between various childhood disorders and child behaviour?
Thesis Statement
The study will be guided by the thesis statement that the change in lifestyle in the twenty first century has directly and negatively affected child behavior.
In conclusion, this submission contends that a study into the topic of child behaviour is long overdue. It is long overdue because despite various issues which nuance of child behaviour having arisen in the recent years, little research has been conducted into this topic. Furthermore, issues touching on child behaviour are multifaceted. This calls for a multidisciplinary research into the topic so as to be able to come up with wholesome solutions to the problems emanating from and associated with child behaviour. All concerned authorities have an obligation to stem the tide as far as problems to do with child behavior are concerned.
Works Cited
Blyth, Maggie, Robert Newman and Chris Wright. Children and Young People in Custody: Managing the Risk. Bristol: The Policy Press, 2009.
Patton, Sally. Don't Fix Me, I'm Not Broken: Changing Our Minds About Ourselves and Our Children. New Alresford: John Hunt Publishing, 2011.
Rutter, Sir Michael, et al. Rutter's Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 2011.
Smith, Sally. No Easy Answer: The Learning Disabled Child at Home and at School. Manhattan: Random House Publishing Group, 2012.
United States Congress House of Representatives. Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder- Are We Overmedicating Our Children. Washington: BiblioGov, 2010.
