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Socialization Influenced by Children

Monica Espinoza

ECD 300

March 30, 2016

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Families belong to subcultures and networks that reflect their social class position,

ethnic group membership, and, possibly, their kindship (Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2009). Families

establish socialization to their children by the way they raise them. Raising a child to be who

they are and the types of decision makings they ought to choice when they grow up will

influence their surroundings of choices. Some of the influences that children can take upon their

parents are, the kind of people they could be socializing with, it either benefit their children or

affect them when they grow up. Based on the way people live their life can be through a chain

connection that is passed on from generations to generations based on decision making. Two

articles that strengthen this argument are; The Influencing Role of the Child in Family Decision

Making and Girls Rule! Gender, Feminism, and Nickelodeon. These two articles define how

parents can influence their children decision making so therefore they can be that much

successful in life.

When parents go grocery shopping, there are a lot of temptations to choose from, for

example, the many different types of chips there are in one aisle. The price of each item can also

impact the way they spend their money. Another way of selecting food items that can influence a

parent are their children. Children are always tempted to pick what they think is best for them,

for example, the candy, cereal box, fruit snacks, etc. It can be extremely difficult to choose what

is healthy for a family, if the children havent been educated about the different types of foods.

On the other hand, it is never too late to educate children, based on their eating habits. Some

parents have strict rules on the types of foods that are allowed in their homes. Children will learn

and adapt on what they are supposed to eat at home or not. Being a parent and ignoring or simply

saying no to their child when they want specific types of foods can cause a tantrum. According to

Benet-Weiser (1968), She tends to ignore the child and to purchase what she thinks will do the
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child the most good. In this article, the mothers incorporating education on their children based

on the food items at the grocery store. As usual, children tend to always lean on the common

unhealthy foods, but this mother did not let herself get stop by her child wants. Instead, she went

in and got what she thought was best for her child and continued with her grocery shopping. This

mother cared less about how her child felt during her experience in the grocery store but in the

end she knew that what she had purchased was going to benefit her child. There are parents

either purchasing what their children want and parents of what their children need. What their

children need is much more effective that what they need. Their eating habits will be much

healthier and their decision making will be reasonable as they grow older.

The amount of influence children can have as a society in a grocery store has a great

amount of impact as a child from watching television. There are many different types of shows

that children are watching, for example, Disney, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. These are a

couple of many other different shows that are being shown to children. A parent has multiple

different way of teaching children now in days, since technology is advancing as time goes by.

Knowing what is appropriate or not for a child can be as easy as putting a lock to specific shows.

As states by Banet-Weiser, S., (2004) Nickelodeon is a powerful commercial cable network of

television, internet activities, toy manufacturing, and video production. It provides several

different activities that show what children are best interested in. On the other hand, they are

shows from the 90s, when those shows used to be popular. Nickelodeon also shows their awards

ceremony of different famous artist and actors that support Nickelodeon. Through Nickelodeon

was a study based on Girls and the amount of girl power they were receiving while watching

Nickelodeon. Like it was mentioned, commercials of famous people are being shown through

advertisement, many young children want to become like these famous people on television.
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Banet-Weiser (2004) states, In the sporting world, the success of the 1999 Womens Soccer

World Cup tournament, the public focus on tennis superstar Venus and Serena Williams. This

type of influence that young girls are receiving is a great way to show them that it is possible.

Whether if youre a boy or a girl an achievement can be done on either ends. Just as common it

is for boys to constantly be winning championships, it is also common for girls to win just as

much. The importance of education in a parent can make a huge impact on a child and what they

watch.

In conclusion, socialization can influence a parent by the way they educate their children

and what they are accepting or not. Going to a grocery store can be a hassle when being with a

child. On the other hand, if they are well educated, the experience in the grocery store can go

smoothly. There will be temptations for children when they go grocery shopping but providing

the correct skills and the ways of handling the situation can be easily done. In addition, accepting

a child to watch television at home can also make a huge impact on a child due to the amount of

encouragement there is in specific television shows.

My experience throughout the assignment has given me the opportunity to see the

different amount of outcomes there could be to influence a child. Parents, teachers, peers, etc.,

can make a huge impact on a childs life, based on how they are influenced. An example of this

could take place with technology, many families have some sort of technology devices that

children can get a hold on. Technology can be viewed as two different outcomes, either positive

or negative. Based on the way a child is raised with technology is how they will adapt to it. I

have learned that providing technology and using it as a good resource, will impact a child and

make them successful in life. I will also encourage parents to become aware of the good recourse
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there are for their child. My thoughts of technology differ from day one and I will apply my

knowledge to my daily experiences with children.

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Reference

Banet-Weiser, S. (2004). Girls rule!: gender, feminism, and nickelodeon. Critical Studies In Media

Communication, 21(2), 119-139.

Berey, L. A., & Pollay, R. W. (1968). The Influencing Role of the Child in Family Decision

Making. Journal Of Marketing Research (JMR), 5(1), 70-72.

Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2009). Child, family, and community: Family-centered early care and

education. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Merrill Pearson.