Section Article

Variations in Adolescents Perceptions of Their Parents Involvement
Author(s): Sankar Ganguly

Abstract
Perceived parental participation varies between age groups and genders and this research seeks to understand why. The study uses questionnaires and interviews with a sample of kids from 6 to 18 years old to find out how kids feel about their parents involvement in their school social lives and extracurricular activities. Perceived parental participation varies significantly by gender and by age according to the results. In general childrens perceptions of parental participation are stronger while they are younger (6-12 years old) than when they are older (13-18 years old) and they noticeably decline in support as they get older. There are also noticeable gender disparities parents are more involved in their daughters academic and emotional lives but in their sons extracurricular activities and sports according to the girls. These results have important implications for our knowledge of family dynamics and for the design of treatments to promote balanced parental participation since they imply that parents may adjust their involvement tactics according to their childs gender and developmental stage.