- Published: September 25, 2022
- Updated: September 25, 2022
- University / College: University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
- Level: Undergraduate
- Language: English
- Downloads: 25
Running Head: LIBERAL ARTS CAPSTONE EFFECTS OF FAMILY AND PEER- RELATED ISSUES ON CHILD’S LEARNING EXPERIENCE Megan A Klein (Mentor’s Name and Code)
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Abstract
Studies in the modern times reveal that children require parents and peers for them to have facilitated growth. In fact, it is very vital that they get to have positive life development in a child’s learning experience. Therefore, parents play the basic role of bringing and nurturing their young ones. On other side, the peers and friends to these children also play a role in character formation of the children. However, does this influence affect the entire life of a child? In efforts to answer this question, this paper studies particular children and their lives by interviewing the characteristics of the parents and handling of children. The results however show that there is a relationship between parents/peers and the learning development of a child. Nevertheless, this relationship is not yet fully understood, leading to unintended negative consequences that could be solved if interested parties took the time to gauge their interactions with children. In any case, the studies that have already been carried out point to some trends that can be expounded upon, understood, and turned into an agent for good. Nonetheless, in order to ensure that scholars make the right conclusions, further research should be conducted where theories are tested to determine if a positive relationship can be detected between the actions of peer and parents and then eventual effect of a child’s learning development.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents3
Chapter 1: Introduction4
Introduction4
Background4
Problem Statement: 4
Professional Significance5
Overview of Methodology5
Summary6
Introduction7
Parental Involvement7
Childhood Development8
The School Environment9
Conclusion10
Introduction11
Research Method and Design Appropriateness11
Data Collection Procedures13
Conclusion14
Appendix A: Parent Questionnaire26
Appendix B: Peer Questionnaire27
Chapter 1: Introduction
Introduction
Children require parents and peers for them to have facilitated growth. It is very vital that they get to have positive life development in a child’s learning experience. Parents play the basic role of bringing and nurturing their young ones. On other side, the peers and friends to these children also play a role in character formation of the children. This paper has been designed to evaluate and find out whether the presence of the children and the peers in the children lives has an effect on these children. It is going to identify different effects of the relationship between the children and the parents. It is also going to express the extent into which the peers and friends have influence on the growth of a child.
Background
Children’s entire growth is composed of much injection. These injections include, their immediate associates, who are parents and their friends. Their parents are most likely to have an effect on the early childhood behaviour whereas friends will only influence the rate and the direction towards which behaviour changes. Parents are pivots to their children’s development. They have the mandate to set rules and standards that their children have to meet. These parents may either be authoritarian when they are full of demands and directives. They might also be permissive when they give chances for a child to make his or her own choices (Baimrind par 6). They only respond. Children’s development is highly affected by the character that is in their parents.
Problem Statement:
There has been an observation on how children development gets influenced by their friends and parents. However, this paper will explain whether and how this influence affects the entire life of a child.
Questions
1. Do parents and peer related issues affect a child’s learning experience ?
Sub questions
1. How do parent affect a child’s learning experience?
2. How do peers affect a child’s learning experience?
3. In what ways do they affect a child’s entire life development?
Professional Significance
The major reason for this project is to find out ways by which a child’s learning experience is affected. It will also identify ways through which both parents and friends to a child can affect the development of a child. Moreover, will identify means by which the effects can neutralize or correct. This will enable us to find the best ways to influence a child’s development plan.
Overview of Methodology
The use of particular children and their lives will be involved. When this child’s development is accessed, then first there will be an interview of the characteristics of the parents. The interview based on how they handle the child will follow. Secondly, there will be an assessment of the social associates of the child both in school. The character of his or her friends are assessed. The performance of the child will give an overall rating of the effect caused by the parents and friend on his or her life.
Definition of term
Social associates – friends
Permissive – not used to giving orders
Authoritative – used to ordering around
Summary
The project will intensify on identifying whether parent and friends of a child can have influence on his or her learning. It will identify how they affect the child’s learning. This will be by identifying the characters of each of the parties. The conclusion and suggestions will follow based on the child’s future behaviours and character. This is easily accessible through academic results.
Definition of term
Social associates – friends
Permissive – not used to giving orders
Authoritative – used to ordering around
Chapter 2: Literature Review
Introduction
There have been numerous studies in recent years examining the relationship between children and their families and peers. The focus of this review is specifically on the causal effects of such relationships and a child’s learning experience, both at home and in school. Peers form a large part of any child’s overall emotional, physical, and academic development. In many cases, peers have more significance and influence over a child’s development than their own family. In other cases, parental involvement, or a lack thereof, can dramatically influence the learning experiences and overall development of the child. This review of literature is structured to form the background for this overall study on the correlation between these social interactions and the way in which a child learns.
Parental Involvement
The poor treatment of children is increasingly a concern in the United States. Many children are simply neglected, while others suffer grave forms of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse at the hands of family members and peers. Such negative interactions surely have an adverse impact on a child’s overall learning experience. A child needs to feel safe, loved, and respected in order to perform at his or her best. Only recently have studies become directed at determining the psychological impact of such negative relationship on a child’s development. Hutchinson (2008) mentions that, “ The true extent of this type of maltreatment is more difficult to document than abuse itself” (p. 17). Previous literature does suggest that there is a defined cause and effect relationship in existence between a lack of family involvement and the eventual development of learning disabilities, or other emotional and behavioural problems, in children (Hutchinson, 2008, p. 18).
Children who are treated poorly by either family members or their own peers are found to exhibit a higher level of anxiety, a decreased self-esteem, have suicidal thoughts, possess emotional disorders, and they tend to have a higher rate of learning disabilities when compared to children who have positive interactions within the same group context. The differential oppression theory has arisen out of recent studies to explain the various academic and societal impacts that such poor relationships with family and peers can have a child’s development. This theory contends that ‘ self-defeating behaviours’ often result from negative interactions between child and peer. These behaviours manifest themselves in all types of social environments, particular the school setting, setting the stage for years of negative learning experiences (Hutchinson, 2008, pp. 19-21).
Childhood Development
Family intervention styles and methods have also been studied to determine their effects on a child’s development. The aspects studied, “ include capacity-building and help-giving practices, family needs, family concern and priorities, family strengths, and social supports and resources” (Trivette, 2010, p. 3). These areas are vitally important to childhood development. Absent an adequate support system, for example, and a child could quickly have a negative learning experience as they feel nobody really cares about their progress and achievement. Scholars feel that a strong family support system, coupled with positive peer relationships, are critical to a child’s social, as well as academic, development. This does however, need to be studied to determine the extent to which this supposition is true (Trivette, 2010, pp. 4-5).
Trivette (2010) discovered that parent-child interactions directly affect child development. Assuming this is true, the conclusion is made that strong parental involvement has a great impact on the learning experiences of all youth, regardless of their existing peer relationships. Subsequently, social interactions whereby a child receives help and care from those in an academic environment dramatically increase the likelihood of a positive learning experience. This seems to be born by the fact that children who have positive interactions with other adults and peers tend to exhibit more self-efficacy, leading to a higher self-esteem. These various factors must continue to be studied to determine what assistance should be given to parents in order to foster this cause and effect relationship (p. 6).
The School Environment
There are certain ‘ developmental assets’ that contribute to positive experiences for youth, particularly in the learning environment. Engaging an adolescent in school is vital to ensuring that every opportunity is afforded to a student that results in a positive learning experience. This encompasses the fostering of positive peer relationships, in addition to strong interactions with all members of an educational community. It is not entirely clear, however, how these ‘ developmental assets’ should be used in order to maximize the potential for a positive outcome. This is the focus on research conducted by Ryzin (2011).
Schools are designed to be a stabilizing factor in communities across the country. In recent decades, however, the influence of such institutions has been severely diminished to the point that these very schools may actually be foster negative learning experience for adolescent’s nation wide. Ryzin (2011) notes, “ Researchers in this field have called for the creation of social climates that foster positive psychological adjustment” (p. 1569). This entails a thorough study of the effects of parental and peer influence on the learning experiences of children and adolescents. By implementing strategies designed to create more positive social, familial, and peer relationships, the hope is that these same learning experiences can be strengthened and lead to a more positive self-esteem. This will become a motivating factor in creating a community focused on positive relationships and the strengthening of the overall educational system.
It has become clear that school environments do influence a student’s academic performance. Beyond that, educational institutions can alter the behaviour of children and youth, and these behaviours often change over time. The implication, then, is that research points to a shift in school environment as being mitigating factor in why some youth experience drastic mood and academic changes from one year to the next. Further study is needed, then, to determine what can be done to stop these changes from occurring. One indication is that it could be impacted by changes in administration, or a drastic turnover in the instructional staff. In addition, youth who must change schools often struggle to make new friends, causing them to lose much of their self-esteem. Programs should be instituted to ensure that a positive transition takes place when such changes to an academic environment become necessary (Ryzin, 2011, p. 1576).
Conclusion
Current research indicates a definite relationship between parent and peer relationship with a child and that same child’s learning experience. Research remains to be done, however, to determine what should be done to help foster a more positive learning experience in the midst of broken families and a poor peer foundation existent in many schools. This review provides fuel for this current study and will lead to sound conclusions designed to encourage further study in the area.
Chapter 3: Research Design and Methodology
Introduction
The purpose of this mixed methodology research study is to determine how parents and peers influence childhood development respectively. Chapter 2 has provided a literature review detailing an overview of the importance of these two groups on the development of children. Chapter 3 will describe the appropriateness of the research design and research methods contained in this proposal. It will further discuss the study’s possible population and sampling. The data collection procedures, rationale for the study and a description of applicable instruments will also be provided. As a reminder, the main question addressed in this proposal is ‘ Do parental and peer related issues affect a child’s learning experience?’. The sub-questions that will be addressed are: 1) How do parent’s affect a child’s learning experience, 2) How do peers affect a child’s learning experience, and 3) In what ways do both parents and peers affect a child’s entire life development?
Research Method and Design Appropriateness
This section introduces reasons why this particular research design is appropriate for this study. The proposal is to use a qualitative study, in conjunction with quantitative elements, to identify the family and peer related issues that affect a child’s learning experience. It will further serve the purpose of identifying methods and strategies that are useful in promoting the positive development of children nationwide.
A qualitative method was chosen because it provides an interpretive look at the data being collected and it seeks to describe effective and ineffective parenting and peer influences from the viewpoint of the participants. Interviews will be conducted with both parents and peers of children using a semi-structured set of questions. These questions will be addressed in a subsequent chapter of the research proposal.
This particular study is important to consider because parental, peer influence are both significant, and mitigating factors in a child’s learning development. With this in mind, it is important to all stakeholders involved in the development of a child in order to determine what experiences truly do shape their academic and self-development. Qualitative research is appropriate for this study because such a process enable the researcher to see and hear first-hand why certain ideas and strategies are working for children and their development, and why others are failing.
At the same time, words are not enough. It is not enough for a parent to proclaim that certain experiences are certainly valuable and necessary to the proper learning development of a child. By examining multiple sets of parents, peers, and children, this study will focus on the strategies that seem to be proven effective towards positively impacting the learning development of children. In this manner, this study will allow the researcher to determine effective and ineffective parenting practices first, in conjunction with peer involvement, based upon quantitative data collected during the study. In the end, this type of study will attempt to accomplish the goal of providing parents, educators, and other adults who influence the lives of children with the tools they need to positive impact the development of children.
It is important during the course of a qualitative study to ensure that an adequate number of participants are invited to take part. Pollard and Tomlin (1995) suggest that 20 to 50 individuals should be included in the final data set. This provides enough data with which the research can begin to see patterns in responses, but not so large as to confuse the issues in questions. Each of the three sub-questions in this study, for example, can be discussed in each interview with each respective participant.
The actual number of selected members that will be involved in the final panel should also be dependent on the study design. Because there are a limited number of parents and peers that can be interviewed within the scope of this project, this proposal will allow for the low number of 20 to be included in the final panel. There is evidence that indicates that a panel of this size will be reflective of the general community that is being studied and will be comparable to studies conducted with panels of that same size (Snyder-Halpern et al., 2003).
All selected panel members will be interviewed using a pre-determined set of questions. The interview will take place either in person or via email. This technique will allow members the opportunity to participate without everyone involved having to gather at a set meeting place. Furthermore, this method of data collection will allow all panel members the opportunity to answer questions in a comfortable environment of their own choosing. It will also alleviate any potential distractions that may be present when meeting with other panel members. This method is based on research that has shown, “ Predications made by groups are more likely to be correct than predictions made by the same individuals working alone” (Eggers and Jones, 1998, p. 2).
Data Collection Procedures
Implementing a panel size of 20 participants has many advantages. These include accessible data collection strategies, anonymity, and the ability to allow the researcher to condense comments from each member into succinct statements. One disadvantage to this method is being able to find enough members to be on the panel. Further, this method makes it imperative that the researcher be able to collect survey results in a timely manner, which could become another disadvantage.
Given the perceived advantages and disadvantages of the structure proposed in this study, it is important to look to certain steps that will help ensure the validity of the study. Snyder-Halpern et al. (2003) proposes a series of steps that will help to minimize any disadvantages that may be inherent in this study. It is first important to recruit quality representatives to serve on the panel, to obtain their consent to serve on the panel, and to explain the procedure to them completely and clearly. This involves finding a representative sample of parents and peers that can be honest in describing the experiences present in the child’s life. After this is done, the researcher should make the questionnaires easy to understand and they should avoid over or under structuring. Furthermore, they should select a reasonable number of questions, explore areas of disagreement, and plan for enough turnaround time between rounds of questions. By following these guidelines, the validity of the study can be protected and this design will prove itself to be useful in solving the proposed problem.
In order to add validity to this study, certain demographic information will be asked in the initial survey questionnaire. The goal here will be to determine if other socio-economic indicators that may influence a child’s learning development. This will also provide one more check in order to make certain that the panel members do truly represent the intended population of the study.
Conclusion
This study can prove extremely valuable to any person directly, or indirectly, charged with the rearing of a child. Each sub-question addressed in the proposal will be covered in the interview. The responses given, in conjunction with current and published research, will go a long way towards a reasonable conclusion about the issues that truly affect the learning experiences of children. The data collected will be carefully analyzed to look for trends that can be discovered to help explain effective strategies that will help parents and other interested parties more efficiently work with children moving forward.
Chapter 4: Results of the Study
Introduction
The stated purpose of this research study was to identify ways in which parents and peers influence the learning development of a child. The specific goal was to determine both positive and negative characteristics of parent and peer interactions with a child with the goal of determine a best practice that will impact the overall learning development of a child in an effective manner. In Chapter 3, the appropriateness of the chose methodology, rationale, population, and the data collection measure were discussed. The chapter will now present the information gathered from the study questionnaires that were answered by participants, both via email and in person. Each questionnaire contained open-ended questions and participants were encouraged to elaborate on their responses. The actual questions contained in the brief interview are displayed in Appendices A and B. The main question addressed by these questionnaires was ‘ Do parental and peer related issues affect a child’s learning experience?’. This study also had three sub-questions: 1) How do parent’s affect a child’s learning experience, 2) How do peers affect a child’s learning experience, and 3) In what ways do both parents and peers affect a child’s entire life development?
Research Questions
Each question in the survey was designed to allow the participants many opportunities to consider their own responses regarding the impact that their actions have on the learning development of their child or peer. After each participant completed his or her questionnaire, they were either personally thank, or a thank you email was sent. This concluded their role in the study. Responses were organized by question. The research was checked to see if any questions were left unanswered, (only a few were) and responses were typed into this chapter for further analysis in Chapter 5. Ten parents and ten peers (students) completed their respective questionnaire.
Do Parental and Peer Related Issues Affect a Child’s Learning Experience?
Questions # 2 and 5 dealt on the parent questionnaire dealt with this main question. Parents overwhelmingly said that they would keep their child out of an after-school activity if their grades had fallen in the failing category. The intent of this question was to determine if parents would take away a child’s ability to interact with their peers if they felt that their schoolwork would suffer. In that regard, the answer is 90% in the affirmative. Subsequently, the responses from the questionnaire indicate that 50% of the parents surveyed do not have a firm knowledge of who their child’s friends are. One response read, “ Actually I cannot tell where not even one of my child’s friends home is”. To be fair, another response did read, “ Not only do I know who his friends are, but I have met each set of parents. Of course, I suppose he could have friends I do not know of, but I don’t think so”. Again, five out of 10 responses read similar to this one.
All questions on the peer interview relate either directly or indirectly to this main concept, but let us focus on questions three and four for now. Eight out of 10 students indicated that they have trouble resisting peer pressure. One response read “ I am afraid that I will have no friends left if I said no every time I was asked to do something I felt was not right”. In a follow-up question, this particular respondent indicated that peer pressure does impact his schoolwork because he feels like it is ‘ not cool do well in school as far as my friends are concerned”. Of the two students who responded that peer pressure does not really impact them, one responded that, “ I really do not hang out with other kids who do not share my own interests. It is not that we are the best kids around all the time, but we really are not interested in doing the ‘ bad’ things that other kids do”. The other respondent indicated a similar response and went on to say that felt his academic work actually is better because he is not that focused on friends. In another indicator of peer influence on their learning development, 70% of peer respondents said that they had been bullied at some time in the last year. Of these, all of them indicated that it did impact their ability to do well in school.
How Do Parent’s Affect a Child’s Learning Experience?
Questions #3 and #4 on the parent questionnaire dealt directly with this sub-question. The average time that parent spends weekly helping their child with their homework is 60 minutes. Two parents admitted to not spending any time helping child with their homework, while one parent responded that they helped their child for 250 minutes per week. The follow-up question related to reading delivered similar results. The average time each week spent reading with their child number 50 minutes. Again, two parents responded that they did not spend any time reading with their child, while two parents responded that they spent more than 150 minutes with their child reading each week.
How Do Peer’s Affect A Child’s Learning Experience?
Questions #1 and #2 on the peer questionnaire directly relate to this particular sub-question. Regarding whether or not children make friends only within their own academic level in school, 90% replied in the affirmative. Only one child responded that they had peers from seemingly every level of academic ability. In addition, 80% of the students responded that they would probably not quickly accept a new student into their own group of friends. One person responded, “ I don’t think it isn’t that we are trying to be mean, but we just feel comfortable with our own friends. We’ve been together for years and I think a new person would kind of wreck what we have going on”.
In What Ways Do Both Parent’s and Peers Affect a Child’s Entire Life Development?
Questions #1 directly relates to this sub-question. For question #1, 60% of the participants said that they would definitely confront their child if they came home with a failing grade. One respondent contented, “ Failure is not acceptable with us. We believe that the academic year is long enough that if our child were having problems, she could receive help to make sure she did not fail. So, if she failed, we would definitely need to change our tactics with her”. Another parent responded differently by stating that, “ We believe failure can lead to success. We want our son to find their own way and learn how to correct his own actions. We all fail from time to time. We are really involved with our child and want him to succeed, but if he failed, we would continue to provide the same support we always have”.
Question #5 on the peer questionnaire directly relates to this particular sub-question. Seven out of ten students said that the majority of their friends currently do not really value school. One respondent claimed, “ My friends go to school because they have to. Outside of school, we rarely talk about any of classes or anything that happened in school. Instead, we are interested in other things”. Another respondent claimed, “ I think my friends are in the minority. We are always focused on school. Not that we are always talk about our homework, but we really enjoy out life at school and tend to be interested in our classes and after-school activities”.
Conclusion
This chapter presented the data collected throughout the course of this study. The qualitative research method allowed the study director to explore quality data given by both peers and parents. The data gathered encompasses a broad range of opinions from educators and parents with a vest interest in the learning development of children.
The survey questionnaire (see Appendices A and B) was administered to each participant either in person or via email. No themes or issues were found that arose outside of the questionnaire. Chapter 5 will highlight the key findings of this study and will present the researcher’s recommendations. From this analysis, the chapter will provide solid conclusions to the main question and three sub-questions targeted by this study.
Chapter 5: Summary and Discussion
Introduction
It is vitally important that we understand the various influences on the learning development of a child. From parents to peers, media to teachers, the variety and sources of information that bombard children today on a daily basis is immense. This mixed method study has examined some of the ways in which parents and peers influence the learning development of children. Through the use of various questionnaires, and a thorough examination of existing scholarly literature, various conclusions can be reached that speak to the need of further research that could prove to be promising to any professional educator or other interested parties.
It has been noted that studies in this area that are aimed at determining the psychological impact of adult and peer actions and behaviours on the learning development of children are limited and relatively recent. Schools, for example, are designed to be a stabilizing factor in communities across the country, they the influence of such institutions has been severely diminished in recent years. This has occurred to the point that many educational centres actually may be fostering a negative experience for adolescent’s nationwide. Ryzin (2011) notes, “ Researchers in this field have called for the creation of social climates that foster positive psychological adjustment” (p. 1569). Studying this important issue was the focus on the interviews conducted, and now it is time to take a more in-depth look at what was learned and the conclusions that can be drawn.
Statement of the Problem
The problem is that the actions and behaviours of parents and peers may have a negative influence on the learning development of children.
Review of Methodology
This project began with a review of more than ten scholarly articles pertaining to this topic. It was important to gain a background about existing literature in existence that sheds light on the influences that parents and peers alike have on children and adolescents, either intentional or unintentional. This research, contained in Chapter 2, alluded to certain areas of concern when studying the learning development of children. The aim was to determine some best practices that could used to encourage parents and help guide them towards providing and fostering a more effective learning environment for their children. In addition, a sub goal of this study was to provide parents and educators with valuable information that can help them help children foster more productive peer relationships.
With a solid background of research behind her, this student embarked on a small field research study. By interviewing 20 parents and peers, some interesting observations were made. The questionnaires were administered via email and in person. Questions were purposely open ended in an effort to gain more informed responses from each participant. Some great statistical data was gathered from this portion of this study that shed some initial light on some potential problem areas, while providing a basis for further future study. In addition, the qualitative comments gathered were organized and compiled to provide a representative picture of the participant panel.
Summary of Results
There was one main question and three sub-questions that formed the basis for this study.
Do Parental and Peer Related Issues Affect a Child’s Learning Experience?
Parents in this study revealed that they would be inclined to restrict their child from after-school activities if they were earning failing grades. While this reveals the importance on education that parents instil in their children, it tends to restrict the importance of peer relationships. The qualitative data did not give any indication that parents focused on fostering positive peer relationships in an effort to help their children pull up their grades. In addition, the data revealed a lack of involvement on the parent’s part in working with their children on their schoolwork. Because of this, research reveals the punishment of restricting after-school activities on this basis could be viewed as harsh by the student and could be counterproductive to the intended goal.
How Do Parents Affect a Child’s Learning Experience?
According to this study, parents spend a limited amount of time with their children on their homework. Two parents admitted that they are not involved at all. These same parents revealed that they would likely restrict their child’s after school activities if they were failing one or more classes. Only one parent in the study revealed spending a significant time each week on academic pursuits with their child. This information, coupled with scholarly research conducted in this area, leads this student to the conclusion that outside factors today are contributing more to the learning development of a child than their parents are. Because of this lack of parental involvement in education, children are more likely to receive information from the media, their peers, and other parties outside of the home.
How Do Peer’s affect A Child’s Learning Experience?
Peer participants in this study revealed overwhelmingly that they were unwilling to accept outsiders into their peer group. This affects any child that is new to an area because they will not be able to enter easily into a peer relationship that is fruitful and productive to their development. In addition, peers revealed they generally only associate with classmates that are at about their same level academically. This creates a feeling of division whereby certain children may not be challenged to excel academically out of fear that their existing peer group will reject them. These results reveal the disturbing fact that many children are stunted academically simply because of the peers that they associate with, or out their lack of ability to enter into a relationship with friends that will promote their own academic growth.
Relationship of Research to the Field
While this study was certainly limited in scope, it certainly relates directly to existing research in the field of Psychology. Not only were existing studies in line with the qualitative data gathered in the interviews, but the quantitative data verified certain existing relationships as well. This method of research was employed based on the research of Eggers and Jones (1998) wherein they stated, “ Predictions made by groups are more likely to be correct than predictions made by the same individuals working alone” (p. 2).
Peers and parents alike confirmed the differential oppression theory propose by Hutchinson (2008). This theory contends that ‘ self-defeating behaviours’ often result from negative interactions between child and peer. These behaviours manifest themselves in all types of social environments, particular the school setting, setting the stage for years of negative learning experiences (pp. 19-21). Participant comment in this study revealed a correlation between negative peer interactions and the corresponding learning development of a child. In this way, this student feels that the participant panel in this study was mostly in line with the scholarly research presented in Chapter Two.
Conclusions
While there is certainly much more work to be in this area, this study accomplished the goal of answering the major questions contained in the research proposal. There is a relationship between parents/peers and the learning development of a child. This relationship is not yet fully understood, leading to unintended negative consequences that could be solved if interested parties took the time to gauge their interactions with children. This research, the studies that have been conducted before, point to some trends that can be expounded upon, understood, and turned into an agent for good. Further research should be conducted where theories are tested to determine if a positive relationship can be detected between the actions of peer and parents and then eventual effect of a child’s learning development.
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Appendices
Appendix A: Parent Questionnaire
1) As a parent, would you confront your child if he came home with a failing grade in any subject? If so, what would your likely response be?
2) If your child were failing a class, would you allow them to continue in an after-school activity, or would you require that they first pull their grade up to a passing mark?
3) During an average school week, how many minutes (Monday-Friday combined) do you spend with your child helping them with homework?
4) Do you spend time reading with your child? If so, how many minutes per week?
5) Do you personally know who your child’s friends are or do you leave their choice of friends largely up to them?
Appendix B: Peer Questionnaire
1) Do you tend to make friends with only other student’s who make the same grades as you, or do you have friends who are both doing well, and not so well, in school?
2) If a new student were to enter your class would you help accept them into your group of friends or not? Please explain why or why not.
3) Are you easily tempted by peer pressure (do not give specific examples)? If so, do you feel threatened by your peers if you refuse to do these activities with them?
4) Have been bullied by a peer at any time in the last school year? If so, how has that impacted your ability to perform well in school?
5) Do your friends value school, or do they encourage you to not focus much at all on your studies?