Child Upbringing
Socialization is one of the earliest processes and among the most important in shaping an individual’s personality. From birth, a person passes through several stages in which they interact with society, and through this interaction they form and acquire societal values and culture, which enables them to establish a reciprocal relationship between themselves and their community. Nevertheless, the process of socialization always requires an aware and cohesive family.
As the family today faces increasing and diverse challenges, including social, technological, economic, environmental, and health-related ones, the social and economic cost of raising children appears high. If this issue is considered in isolation from achieving harmony and coherence within the societal system (the family, the school, and the wider community), the choices involved in the process of building future generations will be marked by contradictions. This leads families to adopt mechanisms and methods of upbringing without a genuine understanding of their soundness, and these methods may also fail to align with other requirements imposed by the changes and nature of the current global stage. Consequently, this can create difficulties that families may encounter during the stages of socialization.
From this standpoint, I emphasize the importance of parents being thoroughly knowledgeable about methods of child-rearing and of devoting sufficient time and effort to safeguarding their children and ensuring the healthy development of their personalities, in line with the vision of the societal system grounded in values, ethics, and national culture.
We are now witnessing the emergence of a generational gap and a conflict of values, which are undoubtedly the result of the rapid pace of technological and cultural change. This has led to differences in the way the demands of daily life are handled and has been reflected in communication between the generation of grandparents and parents and the generation of children.
For this reason, the role of the family and educational institutions must be strengthened, in addition to developing strategies aimed at enhancing family and social cohesion, and launching community initiatives that promote the development of knowledge and approaches related to the psychological and social issues with which parents must be familiar in order to know how to deal with their children at each stage of the socialization process.
Likewise, parents and other family members bear the responsibility of teaching children the customs and traditions of their society. They must be knowledgeable about its heritage, history, and culture, and place emphasis on instilling the social values that are essential for children’s sense of belonging to their community, strengthening their identity, and deepening their loyalty to their country. Parents should also provide guidance and continuous follow-up throughout the stages of socialization, supporting their children and guiding them so that they remain on the right path.
It is also important, during the socialization period, to focus on improving children’s skills in all their forms. Parents and all those who have a direct role in the process of socialization should nurture and develop the skills that play a significant role in shaping children’s personalities, so that they grow up well-adjusted, enjoy good mental health, possess social intelligence, and have the ability to adapt and interact with the surrounding environment. This requires parents to serve as positive role models for the behavior they wish to instill in their children and to strengthen their children’s ability to communicate and interact with their siblings, relatives, and peers at school, in the playground, and within the school environment in general. This equips them with social skills that form a sound foundation for building their personalities and enhances their ability to adapt and choose what is consistent with the orientations of society and contributes to achieving the goals of sustainable development.
Fatima bint Mubarak
