The beginning of school coincides with a child’s further sepa- ration from the family and the increasing importance of teacher and peer relationships. Social groups tend to be same-sex, with frequent changing of membership, contributing to a child’s growing social development and competence. Popularity, a central ingredient of self-esteem, may be won through possessions (having the latest electronic gadgets or the right clothes) as well as through personal attractiveness, accomplishments, and actual social skills. Children are aware of racial differences and are beginning to form opinions about racial groups that impact their relationships.
Some children conform readily to the peer norms and enjoy easy social success. Those who adopt individualistic styles or have visible differences may be teased. Such children may be painfully aware that they are different, or they may be puzzled by their lack of popularity. Children with deficits in social skills may go to extreme lengths to win acceptance, only to meet with repeated failure. Attributions conferred by peers, such as funny, stupid, bad, or fat, may become incorporated into a child’s self-image and affect the child’s personality, as well as school performance. Parents may have their greatest effect indirectly, through actions that change the peer group (moving to a new community or insisting on involvement in structured after-school activities).
In the neighborhood, real dangers, such as busy streets, bullies, and strangers, tax school-aged children’s common sense and resourcefulness. Interactions with peers without close adult supervision call on increasing conflict resolution or pugilistic skills. Media exposure to adult materialism, sexuality, and vio- lence may be frightening, reinforcing children’s feeling of power- lessness in the larger world. Compensatory fantasies of being powerful may fuel the fascination with heroes and superheroes. A balance between fantasy and an appropriate ability to negotiate real-world challenges indicates healthy emotional development.
Property of Elsevier Content Not Final Do Not Distribute