I welcome you to my blog. Many people do not believe that the environment a child grows up in has a way it affects the child's behavior and understanding of things. A child's behavior does not completely revolve around the parent's teaching when he goes out either to play with other kids in the neighborhood or even while running errands; the environment teaches them a thing or two. Some kids are streetwise today thanks to the environment they grew up in, and by streetwise I mean they know your every move even before you make it, but they never use this wisdom for the wrong things because the home training they received from their parents is deep-rooted.
With the illustration above, you see that it is not just the parent that raises a child; the environment, society, other adults, siblings, school environment, teachers, fellow kids, and so many other factors come together and contribute to the upbringing of every child. Some parents claim they single-handedly raised a good kid, but trust me, they are not supposed to take all the credit because they did not do it alone; there are other factors that contributed a fraction or two. There are parents who believe that the environment and society can only affect their child negatively, but is it so? Society comes with both negative and positive effects.
Our upbringing, tradition, culture, and the environment where we grow up cause us to see things differently. You do not expect a person who grew up in an estate where neighbors hardly say hi to each other to act and understand things like one who grew up in a friendly neighborhood, one where all the neighbors were like one very big family. The one from the friendly neighborhood will be more social than the other from an estate; the one from a friendly neighborhood will find it easier to associate and express himself because he's used to it, while the other struggles because growing up he lived in a neighborhood where being social was not a thing and had neighbors who were only focused on their business and didn't have time to socialize.
As for me, my family upbringing has played a huge role in my growth and in shaping my values. Growing up, my parents made sure they taught my siblings all that we needed to journey through life. Aside from so many other values, the importance of hard work, empathy, and kindness was one of the many things they made a daily reminder. Not to forget the environment I grew up in, I might be the shy type, but I can still find my way around when it comes to socializing, and in most cases, when the need arises, I set aside being shy and do the needful.
Growing up in a barracks setting where almost everyone knows each other makes it possible to be able to socialize when the need arises.
images used are mine.
