Role of Family in the Child Upbringing [Part II]

The effect of family environment and parent’s behavior on the child’s intellectual growth: Intelligence and intellectual capability is the result of interaction and integration between heredity and environment. Orderly environment and motivating of mind with love and encouragement of parents without paying any attention to socio-economic condition and family status can predict the primary intellectual level of children. Many of parents due to variety of reasons send their children to kindergartens where the child spends a considerable time. Quality of nursery has significant impacts on the growth of the child’s intellect.

If the quality of kindergarten is not good, regardless of the family’s socio-economic status, the children of this kindergarten will be weaker in social and cognitive skills; conversely, if nursery is of appropriate quality, it even can reduce the unpleasant influences of inappropriate family environment.
Environment and the home life have great impact on the intellectual growth even in post childhood. For example those children who have access to appropriate toys and books, their parents are warm and loving and help them to develop their language and scientific knowledge, and also provide them with out-home entertainment and recreation, have better intellectual growth as they have interesting things to see and amazing works to do.  The parents of this type of children expect their kids to have good behavior and they do such; however, in the case of conflict they (Parents) use logic and dialogue instead of humiliation, physical pressure and punishment to solve the problem.

Mutual influence of children and parents
When a baby is born, in addition to physical difference in appearance from other infants, it has especial personality characteristics; as we can observe differences in its reaction and irritability to the environmental changes from early days of the infant. Some babies cry a lot while some others are silent and relax. One reacts to every sound and another one is indifferent to all sounds. Some babies become relax when their mothers take them into their arms but some others keep on crying.
Those personal features of babies that exist at the time of their birth and are the indicators of biological differences among them are called “tempers” or “nature”. Although, it is expected that the primary habit and humour (nature) of children remain constant throughout life but researchers believe that stability or change of nature, is dependent on the interaction of heredity characteristics of the child and its breeding environment ( child-rearing style). So, it can be said that children due to having different nature (habit and humour) need child-rearing style of their own; and the secret of healthy growth of the child is the level of coordination between habit and humour and family environment.
In addition to temperament (natural) differences, one of the growth characteristics of children that take shape in early days of life is “attachment”. Attachment means the desire to communicate with certain people and feeling relaxation and security in their presence.
Usually, the child at the end of first year of life becomes attached to that individual who satisfies their physical and psychological needs; and generally this individual is the mother. But the kind of attachment is different. In some cases it is secure and in some other cases it is insecure. In the first case, children prefer their mother and feel relaxation in her side. When they become alone, they may cry or not, but when their mother returns they like to communicate with her and their cries will reduce; while in the insecure type of attachment, when they are alone, they cry, and when their mother returns, they avoid interaction with her.
Those mothers, whose children are enjoying a secure attachment, are mostly sensitive towards received symptoms of their children and affectionately answer to them without delay and on regular basis, while in the second situation, the mother responds to them not on the basis of received sign and symptoms from her children, but on the basis of her own habit and humour.
Shortly, it can be said that the key to healthy and normal growth of children is adopting the appropriate style of child-rearing that is characterized with establishment of a sentimental, lovely and unconditional relation with children; creating a secure, quiet, stable and receptive environment; development of auto- regulation and freedom of action; a sense of social responsibility and self- esteem of children with monitoring and control suitable to physical, emotional and cognitive ability of the child.

By: Dr Nour Muhammad Bakhshani
The writer is faculty member of the Medical University of Zahadan