Family Has a Great Influence on Children’s Development

Family has a great influence on children’s development, but influence from outside the home plays a bigger part in children’s lives. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Sample Essay

External influence plays a greater role in children’s development than family influence does. I completely disagree with this point of view because a child’s behavior is always a reflection of that of their parents and they would not be able to pursue their dreams without parental support.

A child’s behavior always reflects that of their parents. Parents are a child’s first teachers and also the people the child is closest to, so it is their behavior that the child tends to imitate the most. A child who sees their parents always argue and fight with their neighbors may well pick this up and become violent as well. For instance, they may continue to bully overweight kids at school even after they have been reprimanded by their teachers. By contrast, children who are raised by caring parents are very likely to become caring people as well. They may go out of their way to help their classmates even if their school only values academic achievement.

In addition, whether a child can choose a path they want to take in life depends largely on whether their families are supportive. This is because even though teachers and friends can support children mentally, normally parents are the only ones that they can get financial help from. Take for example young kids who want to become musicians. If their parents do not believe in their dreams and refuse to buy instruments for them, they would not even be able to get started.

In conclusion, family has a bigger impact on a child’s development than external factors. For one thing, a child’s behavior mirrors that of their parents and, for another, they would not be able to go in the direction they want to go in life without support from their families. (296 Words)

Task Response

This essay question asks us to compare family influence with influence from outside the home. That is to say, no matter which influence you think is more important, you also need to talk about the other influence.

For example, I think family influence is more important, but I also discussed influence from outside the home. I mentioned “school” in the second paragraph, and “teachers” and “friends” in the third paragraph.