Beginning of Social Behaviour - Role of Peers in Social Development

Peers are friends, playmates, and classmates—people of our own age and interests. Peers are important for learning social skills, building self-identity, and feeling emotionally supported. Playmates and classmates are important for socialization and personality growth. They provide models for how to behave and interact.

Friends influence the attitude, behaviour, motivation, and values of the child. The impact depends on factors like:

• Child's independence in attitude
• Capacity for interaction and communication
• Whether the child withdraws from or welcomes others
• Level of attachment with peers and friends
• Ability to attract peers and fulfill their needs, aspirations, and drives

The child’s sense of security and pleasure while working or being with friends determines how much peers affect social behaviour.

• Children without peers and friends, often due to circumstances, stay alone.
• Sometimes, lonely children create imaginary playmates (like "Anu Bibi" for Sweta in the U.S.A.), but these do not actually solve loneliness.
• Social development is limited when there aren't real playmates.
• Such children may become selfish, overprotected, overdependent, quarrelsome, and finally asocial.
• They miss the chance to learn social, cooperative, and competitive attitudes.

• Real playmates are needed for proper social development.
• If a child has only adults as role models, they may imitate adult behavior and thinking, which may not be age-appropriate.
• Interaction with imaginary playmates alone may cause personality maladjustment.
• That is why children are sent to pre-primary and primary schools, where they can find peers and playmates—this is rarely possible at home.