Social Class, Parenting, and Child Development (Essay Sample)

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Social Class, Parenting, and Child Development
The subject of social class is attracting a lot of attention from scholars and practitioners in sociology. It is because understanding the effect of social class helps sociologists to understand how to tackle social issues in our society. As evidence, authors such as Lareau (n.d ) and Cherlin (2010) made publications on the influence of social class on child development. It is notable that sociologists have studied the subject of social class extensively. However, there is limited literature on the subject of the influence of social class on child development. It follows that sociologists should venture into this topic because understanding the topic can help policy makers such as educators to develop useful policies to the society. In fact, people who have worked with children appreciate that social class influences child development immensely. Therefore, this paper discusses the influence of social class on child development with the aim of suggesting useful policies to sociologists.
According to Cherlin (p: 47) children’s social experience is more significant that low birth weight. It is because researchers established that social background affects the achievement of students in school and their later lives. Simply put, social backgrounds have greatly influence child development. The social life children experience affects their development because it does not only affect their psychological well-being, but it also provides role models to children. Cherlin (p: 87) argues that the American population has the highest number of divorces in the western nations. Therefore, children from such families are likely to have emotional and psychological challenges, which affect their development. It is critical that children from such families do not have the capacity to maximize their potential because of poor mental health. According to Lareau (p: 3), poor mental health inhibits healthy child development while healthy mental states promote child development.
It should be noted that family income is a key determinant of the social class for different families. As evidence, families with high incomes belong to high social class while families with low incomes belong to low social classes. Lareau (p: 4) reveals that 20 percent of American children come from families with incomes that are below the federal poverty line. Further, the author reveals that poverty is a risk factor for mental, behavioral, and emotional disorders. This implies that children from low social classes are likely to experience poor development because of poverty. It is also notable that Cherlin (p: 67) argues that high rates of divorce are experienced by Americans with less education or lower income. As Lareau (p:5) reveals, children nurtured from families with both parents have develop better than children nurtured by single or separated parents. Considering that couples from lower social classes are likely to end up divorced, it follows that social class affects child development by dictating whether married couples will stick together or will divorce.
It is also notable that social class dictates the facilities different children can access. As evidence, capitalism dictates that people with better incomes or wealthy people can access better facilities than the poor can. At this point, it is clear that a families’ economic status is the main determinant of their social class. Therefore, people from high social classes can afford the best facilities for their children. Simply put, people from high social classes can afford the best facilities such as education, healthcare, and social amenities. Such facilities are crucial because they dictate the type of life children live. Therefore, exposing children to the best facilities implies that such children will develop accordingly. On the contrary, children who cannot afford such facilities have development problems. It is particularly evident if children cannot access healthcare because such children experience health issues they cannot solve. This always affects their mental capacity, emotional state, and self-esteem negatively, which in turn inhibits development. Therefore, social class affects chi...