Middle Childhood and Adolescent Development

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Middle childhood, is a very exciting time for young children from the ages of seven to twelve years old. It’s known as the school years and new social and cognitive traits are being learned at home and at school. Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory found this to be the latentcy period in which no much happens. He described this because children at this age sexual and aggressive urges are repressed ("Stages of Growth Development," 1898-1987). This paper will also discuss the changes from middle childhood to adolescence, the affects of parents and peers and the affects they have on developing children.

Functional families help children in middle childhood become more productive in society and more self reliable. Children cannot obtain the basic needs without functional parents. Such needs are shelter, food, and clothing. At this age children are self dependent in that they can bathe, dress and most likely clean their own rooms. Parents in a functional family will show children love and comprehension, thus allowing the child to become self-critical as they develop cognitively. Last but not least parents of functional families encourage children in academic affairs and to nurture peer friendships, a very important element while transitioning into adolescence (Merchant, 2001). On the other hand children from dysfunctional families, tend to miss treat children and not really nurture as often. This could include single parent homes, drug addicted parents. The following factors have a profound impact on social development for middle childhood children; excessive conflicts within the home, overly authoritarian parents and coldness in the family (Merchant, 2001).

As for physical development, the cognitive development of middle childhoo...

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...actual outcome that the child will have in later years in life. Parents must be vigilant and cautious of their actions in front of children. Parents must maintain an active status in the child social and academic life, to be able to guide the child on the most correct manner as possible. No parent or teacher is perfect but as a parent of facilitator one must be open minded to negative development in any stage of life of a child.

Works Cited

Berger, K. S. (2010). Invitation to the Life Span. New York: Worth Publishers.

Merchant, D. C. (2001). What are the differences between a functional, dysfunctional family?. Retrieved September 28, 2011, from http://amarillo.com/stories/051601/fri_051601-5.shtml

Stages of Growth Development. (1898-1987). Retrieved September 28, 2011, from http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1826/Child-Development-Stages-Growth.html

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