Family

school. Four primary sources of importance can offer or withhold the nurturing care that may be critical for a student to successfully function both within school and throughout life. These sources are (1) family, (2) community, (3) teachers and schools, and (4) peers and peer groups.

The principal characters of the film Lilo & Stitch state simply, “Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten” (Sanders & DeBlois, 2002). In a perfect world, all students’ families would be safe havens focused on the welfare of children. But research shows how parenting varies considerably and parenting behaviors contribute as protective or risk factors for behavior problems (White & Renk, 2012).

According to education researchers and authors James M. Kauffman and Timothy J. Landrum (2018), the following are the primary functions of any family with children. • Protect children and provide care. • Regulate children’s behavior. • Pass on essential knowledge and skills for understanding and navigating the physical and social world. • Help shape and guide interactions and relationships. • Facilitate children’s understanding of themselves.

In reality, parents’ supportiveness ranges from rejecting and unresponsive to warm and responsive. When families exhibit a lack of support and nurturing characteristics, their children may demonstrate challenging behaviors. Specifically, low supportiveness from parents is associated with poor psychological (for example, mental and emotional) outcomes that start in childhood and may continue to impact children later in their lives (Brumariu & Kerns, 2010).

Children living in adverse conditions (for example, physical or emotional neglect) in early childhood (birth to fifty-four months) will enter school at a disadvantage that leads to a greater possibility of school failure later in their lives. This is especially true for children who experience multiple risk factors over a long period of time (Sektnan, McClelland, Acock, & Morrison, 2010). Individuals in the family may also increase a child’s chances of developing challenging behaviors if these family members are dealing with family conflict, are navigating a family history of mental illness, are neglectful or abusive, are harsh and inconsistent with discipline, or are struggling with addiction (Hallahan et al., 2019).