Parental Influence: Understanding Your Impact on Your Child's Life

Introduction

Parents can have a massive influence on a child's life. The way that a child looks at the world and their image of self can also be significantly determined by how parents shape the mindset of a child. As per research published in the journal National Academies Press, 2016 parents not only help a child learn important habits and values but can also have a significant impact on their growth and development.

A child's ability to critically solve problems and think more creatively can be determined by the type of support they are given at home. An involved parent who is always there to support their child may see some significant improvement in a child's ability to carry out academic tasks and even participate in extracurricular activities. Additionally, as a child grows up and makes new friends in life and learns how to interact with elders, parents can also help the child learn how to be respectful and build good social behavior.

How Parents Influence a Child's Life

For parents, trying to understand the significance of their role in their child's life, here is how parents may impact a child through different factors.

• Language Acquisition

Language acquisition refers to the ability of a child to properly understand a language system, its alphabet, the grammatical rules and build a strong vocabulary. As per a research paper called The Role of Parents in Early Children’s Language Development , published in 2021, a child learns how to speak a particular language by observing their parents right from infancy. Initially, the parents might see the child making some random sounds. However, soon these sounds are transformed into proper and understandable words. The child then learns how to join these words to form meaningful sentences. Additionally, a child might also become multilingual if parents introduce multiple languages to the child right from the beginning. Hence, the difficulty level or the easiness of learning a language for a child can be determined by how proficient parents are at speaking a particular language.

• Cognitive Development

Cognitive development in easy terms can be defined as the ability of a child to indulge and mentally stimulating activities. This may include academic obligations, learning, new games, indulging in critical thinking, and other activities like this. A child who is properly cognitively developed may also be able to easily carry out day-to-day activities such as buttoning up their shirt, time, shoes, and laces, and cleaning their room on their own. With age, a child's cognitive development is determined by their ability to understand complex concepts and perform well in extracurricular activities, such as debates, declamations, and other such things. As per a research paper published in the journal the National Academies Press in 2016, parents can have a strong influence on a child's cognitive development by making them learn various activities and providing their necessary guidance to the child.

• Emotional Intelligence

As per research published in the journal Environmental Research and Public Health, published in 2020, a parent’s influence on a child’s intelligence can also be massive. Emotional intelligence can be defined as the ability to have a strong command over one's emotions and know how to navigate them. Being emotionally intelligent is not only limited to understanding one's own emotions. It may also include the ability to truly understand what the other person is going through by looking at their facial expressions and body language. Emotionally intelligent students may be extremely respectful and kind towards their peers and elders. Such a child may develop into an extremely responsible and mindful individual.

• Social Skills

While each child is different from the other, certain types of kids are extremely comfortable making conversations in new surroundings. This is referred to as the act of being socially confident. As per research published in 2023 called the Journal of Critical Studies in Language and Literature, a child's self-confidence and self-image can also be highly determined by parents. One of the biggest benefits of having social skills from an early age is that the child might never feel under-confident or hesitant. Such a child may be able to freely participate in various activities without feeling hesitant. The child can also tap into two important opportunities in life and make meaningful connections from an early age.

• Motivation Levels

When a child is motivated from the inside, they do not need any external persuasion to participate in various activities and do well academically. Motivation levels can be determined by the type of conditioning a child is provided with at home. A child who is allowed to truly explore their likings and make decisions for themselves might feel inherently motivated. Additionally, parents who let the child have a proper say in conversations and give respect to them may also make the child more confident and motivated.

Conclusion

The influence of parents in a child's life is everlasting. Small actions from parents, such as positive words, participation in day-to-day activities and just being present can make so much of a difference in a child's life.