parents play key role in children's development

According to some people, parents are the most influential people in a child’s life; others insist that friends and gadgets like television have a greater impact on them. In my opinion, parents are certainly important in a child’s life but now friends and media are becoming even more influential. Parents are important. After all, they are the first teacher and the role model of a child. Children learn much of the social skills from their parents. In fact, the atmosphere at home plays a crucial role in shaping their character and personality. That also explains why kids born to successful parents also become successful in their life. Likewise, kids coming from dysfunctional families are more likely to have personality problems. Even so, in this age of information explosion parents are becoming less influential. To start with, most parents are now busy and get to spend only a small amount of time with their children. Now, the television has assumed the role of the baby sitter. Children spend enormous amounts of time in front of the TV and get influenced by the programmes on it. Consequently, their understanding of the world is now shaped more by the programmes they watch on television than by their parents. Friends are even more influential than gadgets. Children spend a great deal of time with their peers at school and outside of it. It is quite natural for them to get influenced by their friends. Every child wants to be popular among their friends. Actually, many children are willing to even disobey their parents to impress their friends. To conclude, parents are slowing losing their influence on children because they do not manage to spend adequate time with them. Not surprisingly, friends and gadgets are replacing parents as the greatest influence on children.