Characteristics of Children Growing Up in Socially Disadvantaged Families

Hard economical situations, unemployment and inadequate governmental social policies provide fertile conditions for alcoholism, violence, drug use and child neglect in families. The minor aged children are the most vulnerable. The number of the socially disadvantaged families and the number of children in these families is constantly rising. The purpose of this thesis is to elucidate the characteristics of the children in socially disadvantaged families. To this end a questionnaire was prepared and responses from 191 persons solicited. 120 of the persons were school aged children, grades 5-9, coming from socially disadvantaged families. The balance of the respondents was their teachers and 50 family members. The anonymous survey����s intent was to evaluate how well the children feel in the family and the school, to evaluate the relationship between these children and their parents, to learn how the children feel about their educational activities and finally also to evaluate what the parents and teachers predict will be the children’s responses in these categories. The survey revealed that children see poverty and alcoholism as the two most important problems in the family. The teachers concurred that poverty and alcoholism were the most important problems. Additionally the children identified that parents not living together is a problem. Children from socially disadvantaged families have weak motivation for education or show an interest in just one kind of activity. Additionally the children describe that they feel good at school. That shows that school is important for these children and sometimes it is the only place to find security from the problems in the family. The parent’s survey showed that they think their children are doing well in school. This raises the question of how involved the parents are with their children’s performance. The main description children give for their parent’s involvement is that they only check their grade book. The parent’s attention to the children’s attendance and education is poor. The negative environment, poor parenting example and a complex of other reasons causes depression, anxiety and aggression in the children. The study supports taking care of the family as well as assisting the children and emphasizing family success as a unit.Švietimo akademijaVytauto Didžiojo universiteta