Peer Relationships

To Prepare:

After reviewing the Learning Resources, consider ways peer relationships change as children move from childhood into adolescence.
Imagine you are a parent, teacher, or after-school program leader. An 8-, 12-, or 16-year-old student approaches you with concerns about bullying or aggression on social media. Choose one role for yourself and one of these three ages for your child/student. Based on the research, consider how would you advise him or her to address or mitigate the situation. How would your approach change based on the child’s gender and culture? (Please address culture and gender specifically in your initial post.)

By Day 4

Identify the role you selected for yourself and the child age you selected. Explain at least two specific ways you would advise the child/adolescent who felt bullied on social media. Include talking points or specific actions that the child could take. Frame your approach within the research of peer relationships and social and emotional development. Explain how you would account for culture and gender in the approach you take.

Learning Resources

Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.

Required Readings

Clarke-Stewart, A., & Parke, R. D. (2014). Social development (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Chapter 8, “Peers: A World of Their Own” (pp. 227–250)
Social Development, 2nd Edition by Clarke-Stewart, A.; Parke, R. D. Copyright 2014 by John Wiley & Sons – Books. Reprinted by permission of John Wiley & Sons – Books via the Copyright Clearance Center.

Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., & Schellinger, K. B. (2011). The impact of enhancing students’ social and emotional learning: A meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions. Child Development, 82(1), 405–432. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01564.x
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

Guerra, N. G., Williams, K. R., & Sadek, S. (2011). Understanding bullying and victimization during childhood and adolescence: A mixed method study. Child Development, 82(1), 295–310.
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

Holder, H. (2010). Prevention programs in the 21st century: What we do not discuss in public. Addiction, 105(4), 578–581.
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

Lansford, J. E., Yu, T., Pettit, G. S., Bates, J. E., & Dodge, K. A. (2014). Pathways of peer relationships from childhood to young adulthood. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 35(2), 111–117.
Note: You will access this article from the Walden Library databases.

Document: Final Project Guidelines (PDF)

Optional Resources

Nurse-Family Partnership. (2011a). Proven effective through extensive research. Retrieved from http://www.nursefamilypartnership.org/proven-resul…
The Nurse-Family Partnership Program is a great example of a program that was developed based on developmental and health research that has been repeatedly proven effective.

Nurse-Family Partnership. (2011b). Shakeena [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.nursefamilypartnership.org/first-time-m…
In this video, a young mother talks about her experience with her nurse from the Nurse Family Partnership program.

Walden University. (2017). Skill Builder series: PowerPoint. Retrieved from http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/ASC/skillbuilder/officearchives#s-lg-box-4163368
Note: Next week, you will complete a presentation in PowerPoint or Word. You may access this tutorial for guidance on using PowerPoint.
Answer preview
The adolescents from the age of 12 years find ways in which they can socially adjust in their peer groups. During this development stage, the adolescents feel closer to their peers than their parents (Clarke-Stewart, & Parke, 2014). As an after-school program leader, I have interacted with many students in this age group who have affirmed that they rely on social support from their peers for social motivation and to acquire social status. For instance, there’s a culture in schools where a peer group of boys increases their popularity through bullying. Today, many adolescents have digital devices to interact with their peers in the social media sites, however; such websites have become venues of harassment…
(800 words)

PEER RELATIONSHIPS