The Influence of the Social Environment on Children's Education

The Influence of the Social Environment on Children's Education

            The environment is one of the greatest influences on education, especially on children's education. Children will grow and develop with good character and manners if they live in a good environment too, and vice versa. Therefore, parents must pay close attention to their children's social circle and the influence of the environment on their education. The social environment is a place where people interact with each other and do things together. The social environment is divided into several levels. The first level is the family, followed by school, and the last level is society.

            The family is the first environment and has an important role and great influence in children's education. This is because the family is the first place for a child's growth and development, both physical and spiritual. The family is very influential in shaping the child's faith (aqidah), mentality, spirituality, personality and way of thinking. What we instil during these years will leave a lasting mark on the child's soul and will not easily disappear or change afterwards.

             School is a new environment for children. It is where hundreds of children from different circles and backgrounds meet, with different social statuses and religions. At school, children are coloured by various styles of education, personality and habits that each child brings from their different home environments and conditions. A teacher is a figure and role model for children in taking on all kinds of values and ideas without distinguishing between good and bad. Because children see the teacher as someone who is admired, listened to and imitated, the teacher's influence on a child's personality and thinking is very great. Therefore, a teacher must equip themselves with sound religious knowledge (ilmu dîn) that is authentic (Shahîh) in line with the understanding of the Salafush-Shalih, and with noble character, as well as affection for their students.

             Children learn about character and knowledge from these three levels. The role of the social environment can also be called a learning factor, that is, a factor that influences whether a character is formed well or badly. On the streets where children play and pass by, there are many people with all kinds of temperaments, ideas, and social and educational backgrounds. With such diverse backgrounds, they greatly endanger children's education, because children do not yet have a filter to sort out what is good and what is bad. While playing, children pick up and imitate the temperament and behaviour of their friends or of people passing by, so that sometimes a straight way of thinking can be corrupted, especially when those people have bad habits, such as smokers, drunkards and drug addicts, who then spread corruption more quickly among children and teenagers.

            Looking at the news on social media, the decline in children's character is still widespread, with cases such as sexual abuse, bullying, rape, pregnancy out of wedlock, theft, brawls and others. This is probably due to a poor social environment, which in turn produces poor character. It is the duty of all of us, whether family, school or society, to strive to create a positive environment so that it has a positive impact on character and on children's education. A dignified nation is one that is built on good character and moral values.

https://www.tamiang-news.com/2023/06/pengaruh-lingkungan-sosial-terhadap.html