Family as a Significant Indicator of Life Quality
from the Secondary School Learner's Perspective
Irena Loudová, University of Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
Jana Marie Havigerová, University of Hradec Králové, Czech Republic
Abstract: Pupil's school life takes place not only in school, but for the most part also in the home environment. The family
is also an educational topic. What do we know about the pupil perspective on the family? The paper analyses the current
views of secondary school students aged 12-15 on the issue of quality and healthy life. In focus group, the students were
given the opportunity to think about the quality of life in three intensities of quality. They discussed what an excellent life,
a normal life and a bad life are like. In the following analysis, we will show what these individual levels of quality
include, how they can be expressed and what relations are between them.
Keywords: Family, Interpersonal Relationship, Indicators of Life Quality, Focus Group, Early Adolescence
Introduction
C
ontemporary society is described as a society of entertainment on one hand and a society
focused on performance on the other. In such a society, success, career and luxury are
considered to promise personal happiness. This exerts pressure on the young people and
it influences their view of the sense of life and values which are important for quality life. We
asked ourselves a question about the place of family in the scale of values of contemporary
students. We were interested in the perspective of pupils aged 12-15 on interpersonal
relationships and their perception of the need for the sense of belonging together with the people
close to them. We focused on the question whether parental education fulfils its roles according
to the pupils’ opinion. We also examined the role of contemporary schools in the care for the
pupil’s personality.
“Adolescents largely regard their parents as important figures, whose influence over
them is greater than other influences. In other words, their importance as reference
figures for the self-assessment remains very high and does not change much during
adolescence. It is the circumstances under which the adolescents realize the importance
of their parents which changes. Despite the rising influence of peers, parents retain the
decisive authority when it comes to important decisions or crisis situations.” (Macek,
1999, p. 69-70).
Method
The contribution presents partial results of a larger research project. It processes the data
obtained through interviews in a focus group (Morgan, 2001), the intention being to gain unique
information on the attitudes and thinking of the participants.
Research questions
We intend to answer the following research questions in this research:
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What is the importance that the pupils assign to the individual indicators of the
quality of life?
Which functions of the family play a part in their thinking?
Procedure
Selection of the informants
We chose students from 5 schools according to the following criteria: communicativeness, equal
representation of both sexes, equal grades (good or bad), variety of social status of the parents.
Work with pictures proved to be useful since it motivated the students to take part in the
research. Interviews over pictures naturally led the participants to provide a greater amount of
detailed information and it permitted to identify problematic topics. The pitfalls of the chosen
procedure were the pre-defined structure of the interview and the limitations connected with the
choice of the images (or photographs) defining the topics to be discussed. We made 15
recordings of interviews (5 informants participating at each of them). The students were aged 1215.
Description of the results
The recordings were transcribed word-for-word and subject to analysis based on a modified
version of the grounded theory paradigm model (Strauss, Corbin 1999). The moderator proposed
to reflect on the quality of life, differentiating between three levels of its intensity. First of all, the
participants discussed the individual indicators of the quality of life represented by 20 pictures
and subsequently they expressed their idea of an excellent, normal and bad life. The following
analysis shows what these ideas include, how they can be expressed and what the relations
between them are.
Representative statements
“I think that quality life is my family and friends.” (Jaroslav, 14 years)
“I would say that quality life means having a family, friends, a job.” (Dana, 14 years)
“Children are the best thing that can ever be in life.” (Kristýna, 15 years)
“I chose this picture because there is a happy family.”(Lucie, 14 years)
The informants’ statements suggest that family and friends are the categories connected with
quality life mentioned with the highest frequency and “BEING TOGETHER” becomes the most
important category. If we are “not together” we do not lead a quality life. Friends clearly are an
indicator of the quality of life: “our world is not happy without friends; even a loner needs
a person to talk to time to time. With friends, we can do anything; if we have problems, it is good
to talk about them with someone, it brings relief and the person can help us; I can also give
advice to someone.” So, friendship helps us to cope with the “misery of the world” and it gives
us the opportunity to give and to take, to provide support and lean on somebody. (comp. Lašek,
2005, p. 75).
Discussion
Functions of the family from the students’ perspective
The statements of the participant students express above all the need for strong social
support provided by their family and peers. Family is described as a place which creates the
child’s background, the statements contain expressions stressing positive emotions which should
be present in the family: “I can see a happy family; the husband and wife are happy, they love
each other; it is good that children are born, they are happiness in life; they are going to have
a baby, they are happy in this life; children are the best thing that can ever be in life, they are fun
from the beginning and children simply must be a part of life”. Apart from being a place of
happiness, where people “love each other”, the family is a place of various activities, the family
“are not afraid to go somewhere, for a trip”. If a person leads a quality life, s/he has a family that
“is great and which s/he can enjoy”. So, the role of the family is to ensure “happiness in life and
support its members”, who should “love each other”. Family also provides “enough freedom and
helps with studying”. If someone leads a problematic life, it “may be that he has bad parents,
who batter him, drink alcohol, shout at him and tell him off and help him with nothing”. In a
completely bad life, home and parents are absent “I think that he maybe does not have parents or
is in a children’s home”. The statements and opinions of the informants correspond with
professional literature – we give an example from Kraus (1999, p. 122), who writes that “Family
environment is an ideal place for the stimulation of the child’s desirable development,
a background making the children experience lasting feelings of solidarity, friendship, love and
safety, in one word, it is a home.”
The students described the fundamental functions of family (Střelec, 2005, Kraus, 2008).
The following overview connects their illustrative statements with the individual family
functions.
Biological and reproduction function of the family
Family as well as society need a firm reproduction base. Despite the contemporary issues of
decreasing birth rate in the Czech Republic, later maternity of Czech women etc. the students
realize that the need to have children is a fundamental and natural condition of a happy life.
“They are going to have a baby, they are happy in this life…” (Lea, 14years)
“Children are the best thing that can ever be in life.” (Kristýna, 15years)
“It is good that children are born, they are happiness in life.” (Jaroslav, 14years)
Socio-economic function of the family
The students are aware of the need for economic security, the matters of housing, clothing,
nutrition (including phenomena such as unemployment, weakening of social certainties),
however, they pay critical attention to their parents making money at the expense of the time
which they could spent with their children. They do not want to sacrifice their parents’ free time
to “wealth”.
“I don’t care for the money so much, rather it is important to have some to buy food and
clothes. I could get along without expensive clothes and some special food.” (Michal, 13
years)
“They live in a rush, they don’t have time for each other, they are at work all the time.”
(Eva, 14 years)
The protective, sustaining and caring function
The students’ statements express the need for mutual care in the family, parents’ care for
children as well as children’s care for parents. Mutual care and thinking about the future are parts
of quality life.
“The family tries to save money for the son or daughter so that they can study at a grammar
school or something like that.” (David, 13 years)
“For example, we have just bought a mobile phone for our grandma…so that she can call us
if she gets sick.” (Dana, 14 years)
Socialization and educational family function
The students’ statements suggest that the participants are aware of the role of the family for
their personal development, which consists in providing support, stimulation, defining
boundaries, fixing aims and requirements and preparation for adult “work” life; a partner attitude
allowing for discussions is generally seen as the ideal.
“I’ve got a great mother. We talk about everything, we solve problems together and we
talk…” (Klára, 13 years)
“A friend of mine has excellent grades at school. It is true that he has enough space to study
and they help him with studying if he happens to have problems.” (Martin, 15 years)
Relaxation and recreational function
The students’ answers also include meaningful spending of free time, which is often
mentioned in connection with spending free time together – it is important that the members of
a family spend time together.
“I think that people have a happy life if they enjoy being together and travelling.” (David, 13
years)
“…he goes on different trips with his parents…” (Martin, 15 years)
Emotional family function
Many of the students’ statements express the need for understanding, togetherness and the
feelings of love and safety. In spite of the general degradation of feelings in contemporary
society, the students do not renounce basic human needs and they stress that they are very
important.
“It is the parents’ support which is important, that if something bad happens to the child
or if he does something bad, he can tell the parents about it.” (Klára, 13 years)
“A good family is a family who supports a member who is in trouble.” (David, 13 years)
Conclusion
We intended to obtain information on the students’ view of a selected phenomenon from
the area of the quality of life. The results of our research showed that the chosen individuals
imagine a quality life as a life of good interpersonal relationships (good social support), satisfied
basic biological needs (food, sleep) and good economic situation. We see an important point in
the fact that the students claim some socio-pathological phenomena, mainly alcoholism, to be
signs of a bad life. There is still a space for the interventions of teachers, careers masters and
other persons participating at the education of the young generation.
Dealing with numerous phenomena, the educators encounter difficulties contending
with consumerism or snobbery. A significant problematic area is the recognition of unsuitable
elites supported by the society. It is difficult to find positive models worthy of being followed –
persons with good morals (or performance, diligence, endurance etc.) deserving social prestige.
The difficulty of exerting a positive influence on the contemporary students’ value system is
often described as being connected with their complicated family situation. The involved
teachers mention certain strategies of positive influence in the sphere of socio-pathological
phenomena and the encouragement of healthy lifestyle. We believe that despite the difficulties,
education at school can provide a certain order and orientation in the possibilities in the
students’ lives. One of the crucial conditions of its efficiency is the feeling of unity of the
individual persons involved in school life: student – form teacher – school management – other
teachers – parents. The sharing of a thing with someone strengthens relationships and supports
cooperation in the artificially created group and its existence. In such a group, a bond can only
exist if there is something common to all, something at which all participate, something to be
achieved or created together etc. Projects in which teachers, students as well as parents are
involved remove obstacles in communication and offer to opportunity to know one another,
which is important for the functioning of the whole group. Crucial conditions of efficient
cooperation include symmetrical communication and participation. Reaching a goal together is
impossible without mutual trust and understanding.
Common realization of events creates the opportunity to overcome stereotypes and
categorizations. Teachers care for the continuity, closeness and firm relationships with children
and parents. It seems to us that they have a greater interest in good mutual relationships and
make greater effort to create and maintain them. They often tend to solidarity and they put
a stress the child’s needs and harmonic interaction. They support desirable patterns of behaviour.
Teachers are often troubled by the rising demands of the educational tasks, the
requirements of education in confrontation with the general devastation of civilization and the
pressure of mass media and mass communication. They feel the strong influence of the
postmodern society of consumerism, the consequences of parental (non)education, the fall off of
social capital or the negative qualities of the children (envy, indifference, vulgarity,
maliciousness, heartlessness, irresponsibility etc.). The prevention and elimination of undesirable
social phenomena requires the care for the physical and mental health of youth, including the
typical topics of fight against alcoholism and smoking, usage of medicaments, the
encouragement of healthy alimentation, sport or the meaningful ways of spending free time.
Furthermore the culture of interpersonal reciprocity, proceeding from the closest dyadic
relationships to friendship, being neighbours, cooperation and collegiality receives more and
more attention. The teacher should learn to work with the schemes and models of his/her
students’ families and have a clear idea of the education in a given family.
Moreover, the teacher should work with the parents on the encouragement of active
lifestyle and take interest in the students’ hobbies. S/he should also prepare activities contributing
to the development of their attitudes. We are aware of the need to encourage the acquisition of
skills concerning teamwork, solidarity and the willingness to help others. Other important points
include the care for the students’ positive emotional state, adequate life mood, the formation of
an optimal self-image and the trust in oneself and the world. Last, but not least, comes the
training in various ways and mechanisms of prevention of problems with health. The school is an
important educational phenomenon and it should not be indifferent to various signs of negative
influences. It should provide an environment of good examples and stimuli and remember that in
order to reach a higher quality of life, it is necessary to improve the quality of education.
This is a challenge for all the people who participate at the formation of the young generation.
Acknowledgement
This paper was supported by the European Social Fund [grant number CZ.1.07/2.3.00/20.0209
Development and support of multidisciplinary scientific research team for the study of
contemporary family at UHK].
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