Mary Chitty

Professor Christine Germain

English 1101
29 January 2014
Assignment 4: Social orm
!hough" #y la$" %arents must enroll their chil&ren in some sort of e&ucation #y a certain
age" many ha'e o%te& to enroll their chil&ren in an e&ucation %rogram earlier than the
man&atory age( More an& more to&&lers are #eing a&mitte& to %reschools an& %re)*in&ergarten
%rograms each school year( !he im%ortant lessons of rea&ing" $riting" an& arithmetic are +ust
three reasons that these chil&ren fill classrooms all o'er the nation( Chil&ren" $ho are enrolle&
in a %re)e&ucation %rogram an& e'en %u#lic an& %ri'ate schools gain social s*ills" learn from
others, 'ie$%oints" an& are also more -ualifie& for +o#s than those $ho are home schoole&(
Accor&ing to .amily E&ucation" the &e'elo%ment of im%ortant social s*ills is one of the
lea&ing reasons $hy %arents sen& their to&&lers to %reschool( /y interacting $ith other chil&ren
at an early age" chil&ren learn ho$ to ta*e turns" ho$ to listen" an& ho$ to share( Playing $ith
other chil&ren also hel%s them to learn a#out their o$n %ersonalities" an& their o$n li*es an&
&isli*es( !he in&e%en&ence that chil&ren gain in %reschool is also a lesson that is har& to learn
at home( !hroughout elementary an& secon&ary school" chil&ren learn ho$ to negotiate"
com%romise an& interact $ith their %eers( 0ithout learning these 'alua#le s*ills as chil&ren"
in&i'i&uals $oul& struggle in a %rofessional setting $hen they are ol& enough to start $or*ing(
!hrough the &e'elo%ment of social s*ills" chil&ren learn &ifferent %oints of 'ie$(
Chil&ren $ho learn only at home ha'e an in&i'i&ual learning e1%erience" $hereas
chil&ren $ho learn in school &o so through relationshi%s( 2earning through relationshi%s is more
reflecti'e of the a&ult $orl& in $hich %eo%le contri#ute to society #y $or*ing together( Chil&ren
in school systems hear other %eo%le,s i&eas an& 'ie$%oints( !hey learn to #e more acce%ting of
those $ith 'ie$%oints &ifferent than their o$n" $hereas chil&ren $ho are home schoole& &o not
ha'e the a&'antage to %ractice this tolerance( Chil&ren in normal school settings learn to merge
&iffering #eliefs to create their o$n 'alues an& %rinci%les( !his is 'ery im%ortant in hel%ing them
fin& their o$n i&entity an& not sim%ly a&o%ting all of their %arent,s #eliefs( 3n a school setting"
chil&ren learn to listen to 'arious thoughts #efore forming their o$n o%inions( !hrough each year
an in&i'i&ual is in school" they learn to #e more acce%ting of those aroun& them( Com%leting
high school an& e'en gra&uating from college %ro'es to #e an i&eal trait em%loyers loo* for(
Se'eral of to&ay,s em%loyers insist on hiring %eo%le $ho ha'e at least gra&uate& from
high school( 4oung %eo%le $ith high school &i%lomas also earn more an& are less li*ely to turn
to %u#lic assistance or crime than those $ho ha'e not gra&uate&( A high school &i%loma sho$s
colleges" technical schools an& %otential em%loyers that a stu&ent has im%ortant life s*ills such
as %ro#lem sol'ing a#ilities" negotiation s*ills" an& the a#ility to focus( A &i%loma is not gi'en
lightly( 3t is earne& #y stu&ents $ho go to school an& succee&(
Enrolling young chil&ren in school has &efinitely #ecome a social norm in to&ay,s society"
an& is 'ital for a smooth running society( Ma*ing chil&ren go to school is not merely to learn ho$
to rea&" $rite an& sol'e math %ro#lems( School is im%ortant for chil&ren to e1cel in society #y
gaining social s*ills" un&erstan&ing others, 'ie$%oints" an& e1celling in the cor%orate $orl&(