CLASSMATES’ SUPPORT
We all thought that friends at school were just friends with which we had good times and we played at the background. We agree with the idea that children help each other, doing homework or explaining something that you do not understand, as Paula says: “In my class,there were some children that enjoyed teaching and when they finished the exercises in class, they helped the rest of the class”. Until this point is what we understood about being friends. Now, we have learnt something more that we had never thought about.
To begin with, relationships between pupils are essential because it does not exist hierarchical, as opposed to what happen between children and adults. Furthermore, they have a socializing function. Children need to get along others to learn how to behave in a society (Trianes, 2002). For example when a child tricks in a game, his or her friends can say that is not correct; this way children learn.
According with Paula’s experience: “In my last year of primary school, there was a period of time in which a girl of my class came with pink wicks in her hair, and then, almost all the girls wanted to do the same”, we can observe that children identify with friends and they can work self conception and self perception (Escobar, 2008). During the years you are at primary school you want to do or wear the same as your classmates. This is why you need to feel identify with others and be accepted.
Moreover, friends help you to realize you are not the center of the world. Because when you are at home, and you are an only child in your house, you are the focus of your family. Otherwise, when you are with friends each one have a different role but you are all together and you have decisions, as we can observe in Rosario’s experience: “I remembered a girl of my class that cried if we didn’t play what she said and she told the teacher that we didn’t want to play with her, so she sometimes didn’t play with us because it wasn’t the game she had decided”
We believe teachers have to look after these relationships and now we are concerned in a stronger way. We have to keep in mind that we live in a multicultural world and our goal is everybody respect and accept each other. As well, we need to confront prejudice for preventing a future discrimination (Santos, 2003). As a result, every child will get social among others consequences of having friends.
References:
Escobar, M. (2008). Aceptación sociométrica e inadaptación socioemocional en la infancia: Modelos predictivos. Málaga: Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Málaga.
Santos, M. A. (2003). Aprender a convivir en la escuela. Madrid: Akal.
Trianes, M. V. (2002). Estrés en la infancia. Madrid: Narcea.
