Prosocial behavior is a type of behavior that benefits another individual, that does not benefit oneself except by making you feel good about yourself. Prosocial behavior gives the child a feeling of accomplishment and higher self-esteem which usually leads to more acts of kindness. Prosocial behavior is formed through a combination of parental heredity, socialization, and the situations that children are placed in. Prosocial behavior is important in growing up, because if children never develop the ability to care for another person, they may develop antisocial behavior. Children may not develop good social behaviors toward others if they are never placed in a position to see It (Santrock,2019).
I consider prosocial behavior having good morals. I was raised that if someone needed help, we helped. I spent many summers helping in gardens or gathering firewood. Sitting with the elderly when they were sick. Not expecting anything in return but knowing that if we needed something, we did not even need to ask.
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Children appear to inherit important aspects of prosocial behavior from their parents. In a study of identical twins there was evidence that they shared more of the prosocial behaviors and sympathetic concerns than did fraternal twins (iResearchNet,2019). The temperament, and personality traits of agreeableness, self-regulation, and emotion expression which all support prosocial behaviors, appear to be inherited from parents.
Church is an important part of developing prosocial behavior. I think that when a child is brought up in church, they are taught that giving of yourself is something that is expected. In the bible there are numerous examples of God telling the Jews to help the poor. There are also examples in the bible where God tells his people to feed the widows, and orphans (Knickerbocker,2019). Most churches will give help if needed. Some churches have even set up homeless shelters and soup kitchens. Parents could volunteer to work there and take the children with them this would help build better behaviors toward others. Letting them gather some toys or clothes and take them to a homeless shelter to give to some kids there is another way of helping them.
I feel that parents have the biggest role to play when a child is young. Children will often mimic what a parent does. That can be a good opportunity to not only explain why we help others, but also show them by example. I use the Salvation Army change drives around Thanksgiving and Christmas to explain to my kids the importance of giving to those who are less fortunate. We also donate to food drives throughout the year. I talk to my child about the importance of sharing, if they have something and another person does not, they should give.
When my son was in public school in kindergarten the school board decided that parents could no longer bring in snacks for the classes. The kids could bring in a snack for themselves, but they were not to share with other kids. I felt this was wrong. I had spent all that time trying to teach my son the importance of sharing, and they were telling him it was wrong to share. I do not agree with teaching kids to be greedy. As parents we need to stand up against these types of things when they happen. Children should be encouraged in school and at home to share, and care for others.
The situations that we are placed in can affect our prosocial behavior development. The availability of someone else, the time of day, what the person looks like, and the cost are all the situations that can influence how we may react to helping someone. If it is going to be expensive then we usually do not help. Expense is something that sometimes we cannot help but pay attention to. When it is free to help someone, it is easy to do but, when it costs us money that we may need to pay our bills, it becomes hard to do. If someone else is available to help we sometimes decide that it is okay if we do not help this time (iResearchNet,2019). We should show our kids the importance of being there for someone even if they do have someone else to rely on to do it. As parents we should set good examples and show our children that sometimes we must give up things we want to do to benefit others.
I feel that as a society we need to work with children who do not have parents or have inattentive parents to show them how their behaviors can have a positive effect on others. In the schools or through community outreach programs children need to be taught that helping others not only makes you feel useful, but also helps the communities where we live. By teaching our kids these good behaviors we are also helping the next generations to come.
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