SEC-S16/W3 - "Who has the strongest influence on children? Father, mother, teacher, siblings, or friends?

Firstly, I will love to define influence according to Longman Dictionary Of Contemporary English.

"Influence can be defined as the power to affect the way someone develops,behaves,thinks without using direct force or orders".

In my own view, I feel the five factors; Father, Mother, Teacher, Siblings and Friends play either major or minor roles in the influencing of a child.

The parents are usually the first teachers of a child and they play a major role in the child's influence. Starting from the infant stage the child is being influenced by what he or she sees or hears, even though may not be able to communicate at the initial stage, the child is very observant and tries to act according to what he or she observes.
The parents are said to be the first teacher because they play very vital role in the child's early development being that they are care givers of the child. It is often noticed that the first language a child speaks is the language used for communication at home by the parents and siblings.

Source

The teacher also plays a major role in the influencing of a child,This is because most children tend to start schooling at the age of two to three, so in this case the child spends more time at school than home. Teachers are usually the first people outside family to guide and teach a child ,not only academically but in terms of positive values and attitudes and they tend to also provide emotional support for a growing child.

The siblings most likely tend to be the first friend of a child,in a home where a child already got elder siblings they bond perfectly and the child is prone to act or behave like the siblings especially at that early stage.

Source

The friends are not usually left out because they tend to offer themselves emotional support. Coupled with the fact that they are from diverse homes with different upbringing and training, they child might want to act like the friend for sustainability of the friendship and there is usually a strong bond between people of the same age.

Actually,all these factors tend to affect a growing child which plays a major role in the mindset, attitude and behavior of a child. Attitude refers to someone's thoughts and feelings which are influenced by the mindset. Behavior refers to how someone acts towards a particular situation while Mindset refers to the way a person thinks and it affects the attitude which influences the child's behavior. The mindset may be formed as a result of influence for instance a child that is usually abused or insulted by the teacher or parents in order to correct him or her may think that the proper way to correct a child or person is to be abusive and may grow up with such a mindset. Another example is children from violence homes where the parents fight may think violence is the only way to address an issue which is totally wrong.

In summary a child is a total of the influence from these five factors,as each of them tend to influence a growing child.

I feel this depends on the availability of the gather while the child was growing. A readily available Father has a very strong influence on a child than a Father that is rarely available. A father that is around can influence the behavioral pattern and emotional intelligence of a child.

_{with my mom}

Personally I feel Mothers have the strongest influence in the life of a child because they are like the safest arms for a growing child and children tend to form stronger bonds with Mothers than any other person, That is why Mothers who abuse and use foul language on children tend to raise abusive children because they child may feel that is the only way to correct someone.

_{Teacher and student}

Children of schooling age tend to spend more time at school than home so they most likely tend to learn alot from the teacher and practice in their everyday living.

They sometimes do because growing older children tend to confide in their siblings than anyone else and may want to act like each other.

_{With my friend @vudeme123}

As the saying goes "Nobody is an Island" everyone has a friend as no one can survive alone. Children tend to take advice and want to act like their friends and this is when peer pressure and influence comes to play this is very common with children in secondary school especially the boarding schools. For example a friend of a child that smokes is more likely to influence the child into smoking. Friend go a very long way in influencing themselves positively and negatively that is why it is proper to know the friend of your child and advice where necessary.

After proper explanation without leaving any stone unturned, I hope I have been able to explain that Fathers, Mothers, Teachers, Siblings and Friends play diverse roles in the influence of a child and the Mothers tend to have the strongest influence on children.

Thank you for your time reading my long article. I hope you learnt a thing or two from it.
I invite my bosses @inspiracion, @wilmer1988, @bossj23 and @uduak01 to comment and participate in this engagement challenge.