Running head: SOCIALIZATION AND THEIR IMPACTS

Socialization Agents and Their Impacts on Children

Allie Brown
ECE 31: Child, Family, School, Community
Dr. Laurie Daly
September 8, 2014

Running head: SOCIALIZATION AND THEIR IMPACTS

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Socialization Agents and Their Impacts on Children

Some parents might find the agents of socialization irrelevant to child development, but
parents dont realize the affects they have on their children's growth: physically, mentally, and
cognitively. Through these agents children absorb their own norms and values, which can be
good or bad, depending on how they are presented to the child. It is vital to focus on these agents
from the period of the baby's birth, all the way to adolescence. Family, media, and school/peers
are three agents vital to child development; throughout this paper I will demonstrate in personal
examples, and my professional knowledge and research how the different socialization agents
affect children.
Family
Family is the first agent of socialization a child experiences, and the most significant of
them all. An example of how family can affect a child is if there is fighting going on in the home
of the child. My whole life my parents have fought like cats and dogs and it had a huge impact
on me and my siblings lives; it caused depression and stress as we watched our parents yell and
throw things. Ackerman and Pickering state, "Families under stress produce children under
stress" (1989). I agree with this statement because of the high stress inflicted on me and my
siblings causing negative effects on us mentally and physically.
All members of a family have a vast impact on children's lives, providing them with their
habits, beliefs, and values. As a child I would mimic my mother's every move, and still do at age
19! I have taken in my mother morals and values for my own. I don't drink, smoke, or cuss
because I have always strived to be just like her. Children tend to do this with their parents from
infancy all the way to adolescence and that's why it is vital for you to portray good morals and

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values in the home of a growing child. Socialization through the family continues throughout the
child's whole life. In my family, media has always been a big deal.
Media
Media can be affective through TV, internet, video games, books, magazines, etc. In my
family, it was always the video games; I grew up in a family of video game lovers! We had two
TV's in our living room (and one in all of our rooms), one for my brother to play Call of Duty on,
one for my dad, as well as my parents having two computers in their room for when they'd play
Star Wars online. My families love for video games has always affected my family; I didn't
realize it when I was younger, but it caused fighting throughout my family, influenced our values
and morals, our language, the way we dressed, what kind of music taste we had, etc. For
example, my dad's addiction to video games has caused him to not have a job for years, this not
only affected my family's financial state which caused my parents to argue, but started my 5 year
old brothers addiction as well. My brother plays violent video games such as "COD", aka Call of
Duty, all day long and I've notice an increase in aggression over the years and an alter in his
morals. For example, while losing at one of these games he get extremely aggressive and will
yell and throw things. Friedlander says, exposure to violence has been implicated as one cause
of subsequent aggression and violence: It is believed that repeated exposure to real-life and to
entertainment violence may alter cognitive, affective, and behavioral processes (1993). Media is
a increasing problem in the development of young children today.
Peers and School
According to Giodano, a peer group is a group in which young people associate with
others who are approximately their age, and who often enjoy a similar social status (2003). For

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instance the kids a child chooses to hang out with at school is their peer group. Because children
are going through that "mimic" stage and are trying to figure out what is normal and what they
like, the children they surround themselves with most of the time are going to have a major
influence on how your child develops. A child's peers can influence a child's choice of: clothing,
language, places they go, music they listen to, etc. For example, my freshman year of high
school I liked to surround myself with the "popular crowd" (my peer group) and because of this I
got pressured into going to parties, dressing in expensive clothing, and talking a certain way. My
family did not have money because of my dad not having a job, but I still would cry if I didn't
get certain clothes because I didn't "fit in" with the other kids I surrounded myself with. Peer
Pressure has a big involvement in negative paths for children causing them to get involved in bad
things in school, or at an older age get involved in crimes, just like I was peer pressured to go to
parties, even if I didn't like to. Not only does the kids in a school affect you but the curriculum
does as well. There is the "formal" curriculum which includes Math, English, History, etc, then
there's the "hidden" curriculum which teaches children morals such as, not to lie, cheat, hit, how
to use proper manners, etc.
Conclusion
Family, media, and peers continue to be an issue in the development of children. In order
to assist children in a positive developmental path parents should surround their kids in a positive
environment and limit the media a child takes in, along with making sure the media is positive
and not violent; instead take them on bike rides or to the park! Also, make sure you are being a
superior role model for your children in order for them to understand what it is good morals and
values. In addition to the morals and values of children, make sure they are surrounding
themselves with the proper peers who will illustrate what good morals and values are.

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References
Ackerman, R and Pickering, S (1989). The Effects of Domestic Violence on Children. Retrieved
from http://www.acadv.org/children.html
Friedlander, L (1993). Violence exposure in real-life, video games, television, movies, and the
internet: is there desensitization? Retrieved from
http://wpmedia.blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2010/06/study_2.pdf
Schaefer, R (2010). Agents of Socialization: Peer Group. Retrieved from Sociology, A brief
Introduction.