Factors Affecting Child Development

As a child grows, changes keep taking place in the body, in the mind and feelings, and in the way the child gets along with other people. A newborn baby can only cry and sleep. A few years later the same child walks, talks, plays with friends, feels shy or proud, and learns to wait for a turn. Taken together, these changes are called child development.

Development does not wait for birth. It begins in the womb, while the mother is pregnant. For this reason the environment around a child, first during pregnancy and then after birth, is the main foundation of how that child develops. What the mother eats, how much she rests, and how calm or worried she is all reach the baby before it is born.

No two children grow up in exactly the same environment. Think of two sisters born to the same mother. The elder was born when the family had a steady income and the grandparents were at home to care for her. The younger was born in a year when the father was ill and the mother worked in the fields from dawn. Same mother, same house, yet their surroundings were different, and so their development can be different too.

The factors in a child's surroundings that affect development most are these eight:

• The social and economic status of the family
• The education of the parents
• The burden of household work
• Nutritious food
• Fulfilment of the child's expectations and needs
• A sense of security
• Parents' treatment of children on the basis of gender
• Physical condition

Of all the factors, the social and economic status of the family has the greatest effect on a child's development. Social status is about how the family lives: the relationships between its members, their manners and their values. Economic status is about what the family earns and what it can afford to spend on its needs.

Children learn by watching. In a home where people speak kindly to one another, respect their elders and settle quarrels by talking, children pick up these good habits without anyone teaching them in words. When the family is also educated and financially sound, the child is brought up properly. From an early age such a child receives proper care and a suitable environment for future growth. The child is surrounded by love and affection and gets a fair chance to begin education at the right age. All of this has a favourable effect on the child's development as a whole.

Parents play the deciding role in a child's all-round development, which means the growth of body, mind, feelings and social life together. A child's first school is the home, and the first teachers are the mother and father. Long before a child meets a classroom teacher, the parents have already taught the child how to speak, how to eat and how to behave with others. That is why the parents' own education matters so much.

Educated parents give their children four things that support all-round development:

• Care: looking after the child's daily needs and wellbeing.
• Guidance: showing the child the way when the child does not know what to do.
• Control: setting limits so the child does not fall into harmful habits.
• Right direction: pointing the child towards good goals and good choices.

Such parents are far-sighted and understand the value of education. They also have basic knowledge about health care and nutrition, so they know, for example, why a child needs clean water, vaccinations, pulses and green vegetables. Because they pay attention to the child's balanced development, they lay the foundation for the child's bright future.

In some families the mother and father, or other guardians, carry a very heavy load of work. The reason may be the family's economic condition, the kind of work they do for a living, or some other difficulty. The load falls on the adults, yet it reaches the children in these ways:

• In some families the eldest children do not get a chance to study, because they must help with the work or look after younger brothers and sisters.
• Busy parents do not find time even to think about their children's education.
• In some families even pregnant women have to carry heavy work, and this affects the growth and development of the unborn baby, called the fetus, in the womb.
• After birth, the child may not receive proper health care, nursing, love, food, time and guidance, and development suffers.

When these are missing, mental, emotional and motor problems appear in children. Motor problems are difficulties with movement and physical skills. So the burden of household work also affects a child's development.

Picture a twelve-year-old boy who is the eldest of four children. His parents leave for work before sunrise, so he cooks, fetches water and minds his little sisters. By the time he could study he is tired, and on many days he does not reach school at all. Nobody in the family wanted this. The workload simply left no room for it.

Nutritious food builds a child's body and develops the ability to fight different diseases. For a child's physical and mental development, parents need to arrange a nutritious diet from before birth, which means feeding the pregnant mother well. Children who get nutritious food from a young age grow healthy in body and in mind. They are physically fit and mentally creative.

Children of poor families often cannot get nutritious food. They suffer from malnutrition and are troubled by various illnesses. As a result their bodies become weak and inactive, and their minds become slow and less creative. This is why nutritious food is an important factor in a child's growth and development.

Every child has needs, such as food, sleep and clothes. Every child also has expectations, such as being loved, being praised for effort and being listened to. These expectations and needs are a child's motivating factors, because they are what push a child to act and to try. Both are linked to physical and psychological processes.

When a child's expectations and needs are met, the child feels self-satisfied. A child whose needs keep being met grows steadily in self-confidence, and the child's personality takes shape at the same time.

A child whose expectations and needs are not met comes to believe that his or her own morale is weak, and develops a feeling of inferiority. In the end such a child becomes frustrated with friends, family and society. Instead of moral development, a developmental deviation appears, which means the child's growth turns away from its healthy path. These children become mentally tense and emotionally aggressive.

A sense of security is another important factor in a child's development. Whether at home, at school or in the neighbourhood, children should feel safe in any environment. It is the job of the school and the parents to assure children of their safety and to raise their morale, so that they can take part in different activities without fear.

Mistakes are part of learning. A child learning to write may spill ink, and a child learning to count may get a sum wrong. Children should not be scolded or punished for such ordinary mistakes made while learning. If they are, they begin to feel insecure, and a child who feels insecure becomes afraid to ask questions or to try new things.

The family should have an open and interactive environment, where children can say what is on their minds and adults listen and reply. In such a home children get the chance to form concepts, meaning clear ideas about the things around them, and to build emotional relationships with others.

Treating a child differently because the child is a girl or a boy is discrimination, and it directly affects the child's development. When a mother and father treat their sons and daughters differently, the personalities of those children develop differently too. A daughter who is always kept in the kitchen may grow up shy and unsure of herself, while a son who is sent out to play may grow up expecting others to serve him.

Sons and daughters should be treated in a balanced way in everything, from housework to studies. Guardians should not discriminate by gender when they give their children any responsibility or any facility. If the son washes the dishes one day, the daughter does it another day. If one child gets a new book, so does the other. If one goes to a good school, so does the other.

Physical condition is another important factor that directly affects a child's natural development. When a physical defect appears, deviations can show up in the child's mental processes, physical activities and emotional balance.

Some children become disabled because of an abnormal condition at birth. Others become disabled after birth through various accidents or illnesses. In some cases a part of the body may stop working altogether. Such children can find it hard to adjust among friends, in the family and in society.

What these children need is enthusiasm and encouragement from the people around them. Nobody should behave in a way that hurts their self-respect. They should be treated with the belief that they can do work just as others can. A student who walks with crutches can still lead a class discussion, keep the class accounts or win a chess match.