Role of parents in the development of social competency among adolescents

ABSTRACT

Adolescence, the transition period between childhood and adulthood, is a period of great risks and possibilities. Teen years comprise a period of intense growth not only physically but also morally and intellectually. The adolescence has traditionally been portrayed as a state of internal civil war. In the period of revolutionary change, social competence refers to the social, emotional, and cognitive skills and behaviors that child need for successful social adaptation. So in this critical period of change, parents have to deal their child with proper guidance, love, and sympathy to enable his or her to tackle various problems of adolescence of his or her life. This may successfully bring about the welfare of the society and help the child to grow into the distinct individual. In this paper, an attempt is made to explore the connection between parental role and development of social competence among adolescents using effective tools covering various dimensions. A sample of 160 adolescent students of various schools of Ajmer district of India in the age group of 13 to 18 years was randomly selected covering male-female students, rural-urban students, and students of government and private schools. Tools developed for parental role scale and social competence scale were administered. Various statistical techniques were applied on the data collected. ANOVA test results show that three groups of parental role, e.g., higher parental role group, average parental role group, and lower parental role group, significantly differ in achieving social competence. Based on the findings, the paper presents educational implications.