Children and Social Competence

Hey everyone, I’ve been thinking a lot about my blog two topic and at what age we as humans are likely to develop social competence. Is it something we develop as young children or do we learn to become socially competent through our experiences. Personally as a child I believe I was a chatterbox and on most of my primary school report cards you would be able to read “Jacqui is often distracted by her peers and talks too much in class”. As a child I was fairly extraverted and loved to dance, participate in drama performances and preferred group work and class discussions over class work which we were made to do individually. I’m wondering if these traits have had impact on the development of my personality over the years and what my personality is like today. A question that I am wondering is if we don’t achieve social competence and are not comfortable or confident in group situations at a young age, then will this have negative impact on our lives as adolescents or adults?

Throughout my research I have found that during the past two decades, a convincing body of evidence has found that unless children achieve minimal social competence by about the age of 6 years, they have a high probability of being at risk into adulthood in several ways. Rogoff (2000) suggests that a child's long-term social and emotional adaptation, academic and cognitive development are enhanced by frequent opportunities to strengthen social competence during childhood.
Hartup (2002) notes that peer relationships in particular contribute a great deal to both social and cognitive development and to the effectiveness with which we function as adults. He states that "the single best childhood predictor of adult adaptation is not school grades, and not classroom behaviour, but rather, the adequacy with which the child gets along with other children. Children who are generally disliked, who are aggressive and disruptive, who are unable to sustain close relationships with other children, and who cannot establish a place for themselves in the peer culture are seriously at risk" (Hartup, 2002, p. 1). Research has suggested that the possible risks are poor mental health, dropping out of school, low achievement and other school difficulties, and also poor employment history.

It would be great to hear your thoughts on this topic. Do you think that you're socially competent as a result of your childhood experiences or is being socially competent something you have grown to learn over time?

Thanks for reading,

Jac :-)

Hartup, W. W. (2002). Early peer relations: Developmental significance and prognostic implications. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 5(1), 1-18., 405 887.

Rogoff, B. M. (2000). Apprenticeship in thinking: Cognitive development in social context. New York: Oxford University Press.