Children model themselves largely on their parents.
They do so mainly through identification. Children identify 67 a parent when they believe they have the qualities and feelings that are 68 of that parent. The things parents do and say and the 69 they do and say to them therefore strongly influence a child’s 70 . However, parents must consistently behave like the type of 71 they want their child to become.
A parent’s actions 72 affect the self-image that a child forms 73 identification. Children who see mainly positive qualities in their 74 will likely learn to see themselves in a positive way. Children who observe chiefly 75 qualities in their parents will have difficulty 76 positive qualities in themselves. Children may 77 their self-image, however, as they become increasingly 78 by peers groups’ standards before they grow up.
Isolated events, 79 dramatic ones, do not necessarily have a permanent 80 on a child’s behavior. Children interpret such events according to their established attitudes and previous training. Children who know they are loved can, for 81 , accept the divorce of their parents’ or a parent’s early 82 . But if children feel unloved, they may interpret such events __8_3 a sign of rejection or punishment.
In the same way, all children are not influenced 84 by toys and games, reading matter, and television programs. 85 in the case of a dramatic change in family relations, the effect of an activity or experience depends on how the child 86 it.
