ENVIRONMENT AND THE CHILD

ENVIRONMENT AND THE CHILD

Every child born into this world is born into a place called environment. None exist in a vacuum or space. This has a very big role to play in the belief system, the thought pattern, behaviour, character and sometimes the entire make up of this child. I am not disputing the fact that heredity also plays a key role in individuals (To this we have little or no control) but what I am going to concentrate on today, is the effects (both positive and negative) that environments have on our children. Before then, the question is does environment has any influence on a child? Let's dive into the the matter and explore.

TYPES OF ENVIRONMENT

We have the social, the physical and the spiritual environments.

The physical environment comprises all the things visible to human (both natural and artificial). The natural environment comprises the trees, the water bodies, landscapes and vegetations. While the artificial physical environment are those things made by man such as, the industries/ factories, houses, etc. The social environment has to do with group of individuals coming together to pursue a common goal such as family, peer group, clubs etc. And the spiritual environment talks about the belief system such as religion and traditions.
Now all these factors come together to shape and reshape a child into the adult he will become.

THE SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT

This is where a child;

1. learns how to greet the elders at home before starting school.
2. learns basic toilet skills.
   3.learns to appreciate and also expects to be appreciated.
3. learns how to read and write from the teacher.
4. learns how to recite poems and some basic body movements.
   These are also means through which societal norms and practices are passed from one generation to another.

NEGATIVE INFLUENCES OF ENVIRONMENT TO A CHILD

There are some ills and vices which a child is exposed to in the environment. For instance;
who taught a child how to tell lies?
Who taught a child to keep malice?
Where did the child learn stealing from?
How about refusing to answer when an elder calls?
How about snobbing or despising people?
We see all these in our children. And we wonder where they learnt them from, sometimes their parent don't have a trace of these characters in them. Who thought them? The answer is "Environment"?
Does environment has a board, does it has cane to punish or compel defaulters to comply? What magic does it perform? These are some hard nuts to crack. The bottom line is you and I are the environment, our lives are encyclopedia of acts and actions that this innocent ones consciously and unconsciously imitate, they watch and Keenly study our every action , they follow our footsteps even when we don't ask them to. Let's begin the good life from the family. Let's make our environment good and "odour" free for our children.