Middle Childhood
Middle childhood (usually ages 6-12) is a time that children are becoming more independent of family and begin looking toward their peers for social direction (Peer Relationships in Middle Childhood, n.d.). At this stage children are spending more time with their friends and wish to be liked and accepted by others (Psychology Campus, 2008). Children are now competing with each other to find their position in the social hierarchy (Kennedy-More, E. 2013).
According to (Kennedy-More, E. 2013), there are four main groupings that middle children tend to fall into. These groups are also known as “cliques”. About 1/3 of children fall into the popular group, within this group children are constantly challenging each other to maintain or enhance
their social status (Kennedy-More, E. 2013). Next comes the wannabe group that hang around the popular kids hoping to gain acceptance but rarely do (Kennedy-More, E. 2013). About half of the students fall into the middle group (Kennedy-More, E. 2013). These involve smaller friendship groups, where the importance is on being trusting and supportive of each (Kennedy-More, E. 2013). These kids tend to dislike the popular group but also look down on the less popular kids (Kennedy-More, E. 2013). At the bottom of the social hierarchy there are students who don't belong to any clique and are socially isolated (Kennedy-More, E. 2013).
Simply put gender cleavage is when boys’ and girls’ friendships are restricted to their own sex (Feldman, R. 2015). This seems to be a time when boys identify with their masculine traits and girls with their feminine traits. Boys tend to have a larger network of friends and tend to play in groups (Feldman, R. 2015). Girls focus on one or two best friends and maintain equal status friendships (Feldman, R. 2015).
Looking back to my childhood I was most comfortable with having a few close friends rather than competing for popularity. Having a few close bonds with my girlfriends made this difficult growing time much more tolerable for me. I vividly remember thinking that boys were yucky and the boys thinking that all girls had cooties.
According to (Kennedy-More, E. 2013), there are four main groupings that middle children tend to fall into. These groups are also known as “cliques”. About 1/3 of children fall into the popular group, within this group children are constantly challenging each other to maintain or enhance
their social status (Kennedy-More, E. 2013). Next comes the wannabe group that hang around the popular kids hoping to gain acceptance but rarely do (Kennedy-More, E. 2013). About half of the students fall into the middle group (Kennedy-More, E. 2013). These involve smaller friendship groups, where the importance is on being trusting and supportive of each (Kennedy-More, E. 2013). These kids tend to dislike the popular group but also look down on the less popular kids (Kennedy-More, E. 2013). At the bottom of the social hierarchy there are students who don't belong to any clique and are socially isolated (Kennedy-More, E. 2013).
Simply put gender cleavage is when boys’ and girls’ friendships are restricted to their own sex (Feldman, R. 2015). This seems to be a time when boys identify with their masculine traits and girls with their feminine traits. Boys tend to have a larger network of friends and tend to play in groups (Feldman, R. 2015). Girls focus on one or two best friends and maintain equal status friendships (Feldman, R. 2015).
Looking back to my childhood I was most comfortable with having a few close friends rather than competing for popularity. Having a few close bonds with my girlfriends made this difficult growing time much more tolerable for me. I vividly remember thinking that boys were yucky and the boys thinking that all girls had cooties.