Critically discuss whether it is important for children to feel that Essay

Critically discuss whether it is important for children to feel that they 'fit in'. How can practitioners support the development of a sense of belonging - Essay Example Fitting in has come to take on a negative tone where it is believed that children are forced to adopt the mannerisms of the group that they wish to join in order to feel accepted. Not only does it create a situation where children end up losing themselves, but it makes these individuals live a lie, where they pretend to behave in a certain manner so that they can be able to achieve popularity in their environment, especially in school. This paper seeks to show that despite fitting in being considered important, it is detrimental to the development of children because it ends up not giving them an opportunity to belong. In most cases, children seek to fit in so that they can be considered by their peers to be popular and this is especially the case in schools. Schools tend to bring large groups of children together in a manner that creates a situation where there develop a diverse number of social networks among them (Faircloth and Hamm, 2011). These social networks are vital for children within these institutions because they assume the role of socialising them as well as ensuring that they are able to have a circle of friends on which they can rely. However, these social networks tend to be extremely hierarchical and this in such a manner that the most popular children end up being considered to be at the top of the hierarchy while the least popular end up at the bottom. This creates a situation where there is constant competition among children from an early age to ensure that they are able to join the popular children and through them to also gain popularity. While it may seem to be a commendab le system because it gives children the opportunity to learn the means through which they can be able to survive in a competitive world as adults, it also brings about problems for these children (Cialdini and Goldstein, 2004). This is especially the case where children end up having to reject their own personalities and adopt the behaviours of the group that