Question

• If the current trends continue, in 50 years do you think the family unit will be stronger or weaker than it is now?
• What research and trends did you use as the basis of your opinion?
• Describe how peers and media can influence socioemotional development.
• How do media and peers influence family relationships?
• What is your opinion of the current trends relating to social media and relationships?
• Now, think back to your middle childhood years (6-12 years old), what are some examples of experiences that led to feelings of competent and self-assurance?
• What are examples of experiences that led to feelings of inferiority or self-doubt?
• Based on these personal experiences and the influence of social media what recommendations do you have for parents and school officials?

Answer 1

Answer 1. There are a lot changes in today’s time . Research has evidenced that the divorce rate is going up drastically and it has great impact on the family life of people. Not only divorce, there are other serious issues that are resulting in hampered family lifestyle like faulty parenting, separation of parents, lack of communication in family etc. Parents are now more occupied with their work and other stuff . This results in lack of attention towards their children. The child may feel left out and unwanted due to this. Children can easily indulge in harmful and destructive activities like substance abuse, suicidal behaviour etc.

Not only parents but younger members are also getting negligent. They are failing to take care of the elders and old members. Research has shown that the percentage of people in old age homes is increasing drastically.

If these trends continue to occur, family as a unit will definitely become weaker.

Answer2. The research has proved that family trends are changing day by day. Divorce rates are increasing. People are doing remarriages. A research was conducted in UK and it showed that 4 out of 10 marriages are remarriages (2005).

Another research suggested that 24% of women got separated within 5 years of marriage.

Answer 3. Peer influence our socioemotional development in many ways. They play a very important role in child’s life from the very beginning. The type of relationship built with ones peers influence a person's personality later in life. An individual raised with competitive and positive peers would become aspiring and competitive in nature. Whereas someone with peers with negative mindset and behaviour , would become negative in nature. We learn a lot of behaviours like sharing , empathy, cooperation etc. when we meet our peers.
Media also influences our socioemotional development in a lot of ways. Nowadays social media is something that has drastically increased over time. There is almost no one who is not using social media. Adolescents specially are almost addicted to social media platforms. They are all out displaying their lives on social media. This has huge impact on the overall development of the person. It affects social, emotional , cognitive and physical aspects of development. People are getting more prone to stress , anxiety and depression.

Answer 4. Both media and peers can have great impact on individuals family life. As discussed earlier, peers play a very important role in a person's life. The kind of relationship we have with our peers can influence family life as well. Sometimes people, specially adolescents give more time to their peers and less to their families and close ones. For them friends are everything. At this age specially, we think family does not understand us at all. And only our friends understand us. Thus we tend to spend less time with our parents, siblings and relatives . This results in conflicts, communication gap within the family.
Media also affects family life. Nowdays specially , people are more involved with their phones rather than talking to each other. For instance, if my father wants to convey a message , he would write in the family watsapp group. It’s just an example. People are getting technology savvy and getting dependent on media a lot. Family members are spending less time with each other but more time with their phones and laptops.