Julian Serchion

ENG 102-14
Professor McDonald
4/1/2016

Coming of Age: The Effect a Persons

Environment Has on Their
Development

Abstract

This research that was conducted was to better understand the influences that a childs
development no matter where they are. A childs influence stretches from their household into
their neighborhood, into their school and so on and so forth. A person can easily succumb to peer
pressure this research will explore the negative and positive effects that a person will experience
is easily persuaded to live life a certain way. An influence that a person can succumb to changes
depending on their stage of development they are currently on.

Growing up is different for every living person, because everyone grows up with
different circumstances. These circumstances are what helps decide what type of member of
society we turn into whether good or bad. Many people say that it all depends on the person and
not their environment, because you should be able to shape your own destiny, and make life
however you want it to be. Then there are people who say that who you are is determined by the
circumstances of how you were raised. These circumstances extend from the parents within the
household, to your neighbors in your community (whether good or bad), to your friends and
other members of society that could have an impact on people. This research is going to prove
that a persons environment has a huge impact on who they become in society. The influences
are much stronger than most people will give them credit before, but thats because they dont
see the greater impact of these influences because of they dont realize that that their
subconscious is taking those signals coming from your environment and adapting to their
behavior (Morrow, L. M. 2001). Another reason why people dont believe that their environment
doesnt have any effect on them is because they are already past the developmental stage and
they have established who they want to be already, its just that since no one brought this matter
to their attention at a younger age they didnt have to think about it much.
Whenever a child dreams of what they want to be their first source of an influence is
there parents, which is why people hear that lots of kids want nothing more but to follow in their
mothers or fathers footsteps. This extends far beyond just their job, this fascination can go to
what type of educational institution you decide to go to, if they are greek affiliated, then they
could also want to join that greek organization. The parent are the first drop of influence that a
person can receive because, they brought you into this world. A baby human is the same as any

other animal when it comes to when you first become conscious you automatically bond with
who you believe to be your mother (Ainsworth, M. S. 1989). When you enter your toddler stage
you tend to be able to walk, understand certain words and, should be able to speak certain words.
Whoever your legal guardian is they are your first drop of influence because since you live with
them you are constantly hearing them talk, seeing them walk, seeing them interact with certain
objects, and most importantly how they deal with other people. You pick up on these skills
constantly and subconsciously, because at the toddler stage your brain is just a giant sponge
trying to absorb and retain any and all information that it can.
When you enter adolescent stage you have a decent understanding of who you are shaped
into, but there is a piece of you missing that your legal guardian can never help you understand,
and that is who you are when you are outside the comfort of your own home. This part of your
maturity is going to mainly come from your environment, but more importantly this part of
yourself is learned by the type of people you choose to allow in your presence, because whether
or not anyone wants to admit it people tend to listen to their friends or other people who arent
their legal guardians even if they are both saying the same exact thing.

That is because when people enter their adolescent stage they tend to ignore what their parents
are saying, because they believe that they are giving them the advice that a parent and not a
normal person in society would say. Your friends determine what type of person you will be in
society, because they get you to do the things that you would never do in front of your parents
whether it be drugs, drinking, your language choice, the clothes you wear, and even to how you
perceive your reality. At this stage in life the only thing that drives what we do is impressing
people. We have to make sure that we have on the right clothes, the right shoes, the right cologne
or perfume, you have the most up-to-date technology that you can find, and the right accessories
that you feel will earn you acceptance in society.

The main thing to watch out for while becoming the image of what your reality is, you
need to make sure that it doesnt have an effect on your mental development. Society has a funny
way of showing us how we should act whenever we are out with whomever we choose to let
within our inner circle, but a side effect people dont realize is that if they keep up that persona
for too long that persona is who you become which could affect how you are in front of your
parents, at a job, when it comes to your education, and many more (Moshman, D. 1993). When
your mental development has been skewed then there is no way to get back to what you initially
were because you have been influenced so many times by different sources but all of these
different sources have ensured the person involved that the way that they are now is how you
need to be in order to have peace and prosperity in their life. There have been many way bad
influences that have made people believe that this is the life they need to live in order to get to
what they perceive as what they consider a successful lifestyle whether it be selling drugs, doing
drugs, stealing, killing people, becoming part of gang, etc. The illusion of the perfect life is the
main factor that skews are mental development is when people start off with the small stuff that
isnt seen as deviant behavior but at the same time unless you understand the consequences of
what happens to you when you get caught then you are going to escalate to either perfecting your
craft that you started with or youre going to find that you dont like that particular activity so
you proceed to choose another activity which is equally bad and you start enhancing that activity
and making it your craft until youre stopped.
Now while there are many way that your mental development can be skewed there are
also way to better yourself so that your mental development stage improves and you become the
member of society that people want you to be including your legal guardians. One of the easiest
and best way to make sure that you improve correctly is simply to watch out for the people that

you allow to influence you. Everyone can be influenced by the people that they trust so you need
to be careful about who you choose to call a friend. Another way that you can ensure that you
develop mentally correct is to stay in school. School is actually the most influential environment
you will ever enter. The reason for this is because this is where you will more than likely run into
the people you will eventually call your friends. This is also the place where you will fall in love
with certain classes and will ultimately be the deciding factor in what you want to pursue as a
career choice, and will want to study when you get to college. It is said that how you choose to
go about your scholastic career is another deciding factor in how you mentally develop, because
your work ethic is first tested in school, because you will determine whether or not to cheat in
certain subjects, or search for help whenever you know you need it.
While conducting research one person who took part in a survey said that they believed
that the media and role models are the biggest influences on how a person develops both
mentally and spiritually. This confirms that other people believe that another persons influence
is what might predict the type of person you become, because the point of a role model is that it
is a person that you trust to lead you through all of your trials and tribulations that you are most
definitely going to have to go through. Role models are supposed to be mentors , in a sense,
because they need to be able to share all of their experiences with the person that they are
supposed to be helping through life so that way they can grow up without going through the
same issues that the other person had to go through.
Another look at the data that was gathered showed that most people believed that your
friends are the highest form of influence that you could succumb to. When asked why did they
believe this they said that your friends are how you determine who you are in this world, because
they show you what you like or dislike. Unless its a matter you are extremely strict on then most

of the time your friends will put in their input and try to make you see that particular matter
through their viewpoint. Friends can influence people to do a lot of things that that person would
probably have not done that deed in the first place, but they succumbed to peer pressure which is
the strongest influential tool that any and all friends will use, and due to an adolescents mindset
they want to be accepted by their peers. As long as people allow others to influence how they
portray themselves in society will constantly have people who will do certain acts in order to
impress other people, because we will in a society where acceptance is one of the main goals of
any human being.
Due to the research that was gathered the investigator has proved that their hypothesis
was correct. A persons environment has a high influence on who they become in society because
anyone can be influenced by anything, it just depends on what you choose to have to greatest
impact on your personality. Influence is everywhere, in the comfort of your own home, whenever
you choose to go out with your friends, at school, at church, and every other place that you go to
in your society. Another reason why people are so easily influenced by certain things is because
if they see enough people getting away with certain acts that make their life easier to live, they
will instinctively join that group of people so that they can experience the payoff/reward that
came with committing that act. Once they get a taste of that payoff/reward then they will be
hooked on what they just did cause they got a rush to go along with the feeling of
accomplishment that they got from getting away with whatever that person did. Always be sure
that you allow the correct people into your life because if you have the wrong people then most
likely you will turn into a bad member of society, and not the productive person that so many
people know you can be.

Citation Page
Ainsworth, M. S. (1989). Attachments beyond infancy. American Psychologist, 44(4), 709-716.
Best Start Resource Centre. (n.d.). On Track.
http://www.beststart.org/OnTrack_English/2-factors.html
Coming of Age [Personal interview]. (2016, March 28).
Make Better Decisions with the World's #1 Survey Platform.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/

Morrow, L. M. (2001). Early Years Literacy. Literacy Development in Early Years.

Moshman, D. (1993). Adolescent Reasoning and Adolescent Rights. Human Development,
36(1), 27-40.