Kindergarten friendships ensure behaved boys - Times Of India

Kindergarten friendships ensure behaved boys

ANI Nov 30, 2011, 06.14PM IST

(Good kindergarten friendships linked to fewer behaviour problems in boys)

High-quality friendships for boys in kindergarten could mean that they will have fewer behaviour problems and better social skills in first and third grades, a new study has claimed.

Jennifer Engle and her from the University of Illinois examined data from 567 children who had participated in the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development.

[From Kindergarten friendships ensure behaved boys - Times Of India]

Do we need a study telling us good friendships help us later on? A lot of parents (and teachers) know that socializing helps children do better in school. Social skills lead to healthier interactions with others, friend or not. My assumption would be that good friendships help children do better in all aspects of life.

What we need is a way to help parents teach their children social skills. Children need freedom to experiment and explore relationships. Guidance beforehand and review afterwards is necessary, and an adult being available in case of extreme discord is a good idea, but adults being in the middle of every interaction does not allow children the opportunity to experience problem solving on their own.

A fact of life is there will never be equality in all things concerning environment, ability, maturity, sense of humor, or empathy. There will always be children who take advantage of others, those who are trusting of everyone, quiet, noisy, reflective, impulsive, tactile, aural, visual, etc. Home life for every child is different, as are faiths, senses of propriety, tolerance, values, and morals, all having a huge impact on how children view and integrate lessons at school.

A really useful study would be on how to create ideal environments within all of these variables, allowing children to create the self esteem and social skills for creating healthy relationships. While I applaud every effort to create healthy environments for children, regardless of how it affects their education – though every improvement is great, I hate efforts which call for homogeneity of people and environments. Differences are the spice of life!

What I would prefer, is an environment of respect for differing beliefs. Some basic values and morals are required for a healthy society, but room must remain for disagreement. These are lessons children need as much as making good friends.