Reflective Journal Chapter 13

1. After watching the video and reading in the textbook, what is social cognition and
how would you describe the development changes that occur during middle
childhood?
Social cognition is the set of mental abilities that guide interactions with others. There
are so many development changes that occur during middle childhood. At this age, they
started being responsible in performing their own chores, they try to conform to peers
in clothes, language and so on, they raise preferences about their after-school care,
lessons and activities. (Berger, 2018, p. 368). At the same time children, overall self-
esteem may decrease as they start the process of social comparison with their peers
and that is why it is important for us as parents to look out for any challenges or
problems that may negatively impact the development of their overall self-image and
self-esteem and do what we can do to address those problems early on so they don’t
contribute to our children’s more permanently low self-esteem.
“Children’s self-concept becomes influenced by the behavior and opinions of everyone
else, even by other children whom they do not know” (Berger, 2018, p. 369).

2. How do competing loyalties challenge a step or blended family as shown in the video?
How might they be addressed?
There are so many challenges that happen with step or blended family. Most of the time
these challenges happen because of the selfish decision that parents make. Parents who
make those decision, only think about themselves instead of thinking about their
children first and what will affect them. In the video, it mentions that when both
biological parents bad-mouthing toward each other to children, it only increases the
stress and the strain within the family. We as parents need to know that if there’s
constructive criticism that you need to give to the other person, do it behind closed
doors. When those things happen, it really does makes parenting more challenging.
When biological parents bad-mouthing the step parents, you are creating negative
feeling towards the step parents and there is no growth in there. Here in our island, I
see it everywhere to a point, the biological dad, attack the step-dad, just because he
hates the step-dad. Parents needs to know how much trouble they put into their
children behavior towards one another.
3. After reading Elder Packer’s April 1992 conference talk, Our Moral Environment, what
is the relationship between moral reasoning and moral behavior? What can parents
do to strengthen the connection and help children walk the talk?
“I do not intend to indulge, but I vote for freedom of choice for those who do” (Packer,
1992). With this quote from the talk, that’s the differences between moral reasoning
and moral behavior. Moral behavior is what we believe to be right and true and the
right thing to do. Sometimes moral reasoning makes us point out and events to
determines what is right and what is wrong and what people ought to do in a particular
situation but for parents to strengthen the relationship moral reasoning and moral
behavior, they really need to teach their children that they are a child of God and we are
a offspring of God. We as parents must take a righteous course and strive with all the
might never do a wrong but do good all their lives.