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Lindsey Wind

Mrs. Cramer

Comp Pd. 4

5 Oct. 2018

Who Has the Biggest Impact, Teachers or Parents?

Parents and teachers play a role in children’s behavior. Should the behavior of children

be taught by parents or teachers, and who should enforce it? Parents and teachers are both around

children a great amount of time. Children are taught behavior constantly and this needs to be

positively enforced all the time. As children grow and gain authority later in life, adults should

be responsible for enforcing behavior to prepare children for the world after school. All

guardians and role models for children should display good behavior and help teach and be

responsible for it. Children are taught at a young age and as they grow, the traits they learned

stick with them and will apply in their lives. If children can be taught the same correct behavior

by teachers, parents, and adults, they are bound to be much more successful in life.

Next, children are with teachers a great amount of time as well as parents. Parents and

teachers’ help shape lives, but teachers’ roles have a large impact. Teachers jobs are to educate

children. One respectively major virtue a teacher is to enforce is, patience and responsibility.

Children react to different situations based on how the role models around them handle the

problems. If teachers can educate children to act accordingly and respectively, then they will use

those skill throughout life. Studies show that if teachers are involved, children tend to build self-

confidence and behave differently. An example would be, students are given projects with

groups and must work together with different jobs, the teachers create an opportunity to learn

skills and responsibility of working with groups (Martin and Pear). A group of teachers did a
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study where when a child had a problem, they would intervene and talk them through it calmly.

The next time a situation arose, the teachers let the children work it out on their own and it

showed the children went about the situation calmly with no major behavior disruptions.

However, positive behavior needs to be enforced by all adults. Positive behavior shows

that kids react stronger to the positivity rather than a condescending negative lecture. Studies

showed when teachers were strict, students acted out. When the teachers were calm and

addressed the situation with a smoother tone and explained what the they did wrong, the students

later handled the problems calmly and positively (Pear 22). Positive behavior made the children

more understanding and comprehend what they were told. Children learn the skills from their

role models and guardians and take those skills through life. When the teachers are positive, it

would make the children want to act more like the teacher. Teachers are great role models for

kids’ lives, so the they need to perform and enforce the behavior all the time. Teachers need to

teach proper behavior any way possible for the children’s sake. If your job is to work with

children and teach them, you should be responsible for ensuring their behaviors are growing

along with the knowledge (Hilletal). Positivity is a key to enforcing behavior to children. If

teachers are educating children on how to react and behave, they should do it as they would their

own children. Not only are teachers a main part of the students’ behavior, but parents should also

be very involved with teaching children and other kids in their care proper behavior. Overall,

teachers play a large part in children’s behavior.

Next, not only od children learn behavior by being taught, adult’s actions are a source of

education. The children’s parents are who the kids look up to. Adults’ behaviors have a large

effect on how the children’s behavior is. As kids grow up and start to learn the different

behaviors, whether they are good or bad, the parents need to discipline and teach what behaviors
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are acceptable. The children are the future of our world. If the adults do not teach proper

behavior now, the children will grow up to have disrespectful behaviors (Hilletal). Children look

up to their parents and want to be like them. Parents need to start from the beginning and teach

their children the correct behavior. The guardians need to practice what they preach and set the

example of how to behave. Since the parents brought the children into the world it is their

responsibility to make sure the children are behaving appropriately (Doyne). A current example

would be, in politics, the public always talks about how disrespectful the candidates are. If adults

teach children now how to react to others, there would not be as much of a debate and the states

and people can agree and work together. As a parent, you would not want your child to give you

a bad reputation as not being a parent figure. Children’s behavior reflects on the adult. As a

parent you want to make sure you are doing as much as you can to make sure your kids are

successful.

Lastly, children learn from all adults around them. Guardians and elders affect behavior,

so they should enforce it properly. Children look up to the adults around them and if the adults

are not acting respectfully then the children will not as well. All adults need to take control and

demonstrate and educate the children how to behave. Teachers’ jobs are to enhance children and

if that means enforcing behavior then that is what needs to happen. When behavior is being

enforced, it should be done positively. Children react greatly more understanding when they are

addressed calmly and positively. Not only do teachers have a large impact on how children act,

the parents need to teach them how behavior should be and show them the tough love when

enforcing behavior. All adults demonstrate behaviors and whether they are good or bad, children

learn from that and react the same way. Adults everywhere can teach children behaviors whether

they are good or bad, so it should be done the correct way and by everyone. The controversy may
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continue, but there are many viewpoints and a lot of evidence to prove whether parents or

teachers should teach behavior two children. Overall, the parents play an important part and

teach certain behaviors but also the teachers play just as big of a role in teaching some of the

same and new behaviors. Children learn behavior from both teachers and parents.
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Works Cited

Doyne, Shannon. “How, and by Whom, Should Children Be Taught Appropriate Behavior.” The

New York Times 15 Oct. 2012.

Joyce L. Epstein "Teachers' Reported Practices of Parent Involvement: Problems and

Possibilities," The Elementary School Journal 83, no. 2 (Nov., 1982): 103-113.

Martin, G., Pear, J. (2014). Behavior Modification. New York: Psychology Press.

“Parents Need to Take Responsibility For Their Children's Behavior.” Excite Education,

Walker, Hill, et al. “Good Behavior Needs to Be Taught.” American Federation of

Teachers, 3 Nov. 2014.