Parents' Views on Leadership.

TLDR: In this article, the authors investigate parental perceptions of, and attitudes toward, the development of leadership abilities in children and youths and assess the opportunities for youth leadership experiences in the home, school, and community, and through religious affiliation.

Abstract: T he tremendous importance of parents and family in the cognitive and affective development of children has long been r ecogn ized . Chi ldren’s capacities, interests and inclinations, ethical standards, and motivations to achieve are greatly influenced by the family. Differences in the quality of family life create a continuum of good and bad behavior models within the home (Shipman, 1982). An exemplary home environment has a very strong and positive influence on performance in school. increasing attention is being directed toward leadership development in youths. Now, more than ever, communities, states, and nations are in critical need of effective leaders to face the challenges and problems created by contemporary life (DeHaan, 1962; Karnes, Meriweather, & D’llio, 1987; Magoon, 1980). Today’s children and youths will soon be called upon to assume and perform leadership roles. Many of the qualities of leadership are cultivated in the home at an early age: problem-solving ability, communication skills, self-confidence, sense of responsibility, moral character, and others (Hillman & Smith, 1981). The development of such attributes will ultimately result in personal fulfillment in c o n j u n c t i o n wi th s o c i e t a l contributions. The purpose of the study presented below was to investigate parental perceptions of, and attitudes toward, the development of leadership abilities in children and youths. In addition, the study assessed the opportunities for youth leadership experiences in the home, school, and community, and through religious affiliation. The subjects of the study included 73 parents of elementary and secondary students from 15 different states. A 16 item survey instrument was developed by the authors and distributed to the subjects at conferences. Of the responses, there were 36 (53.8%) by females, 16 (23.9%) by males, 6 (9%) were completed jointly by both parents, and 9 (13.3%) with no denoted gender. Approximately 84% of the subjects reported having children identified as intellectually gifted, 9% did not have children identified as gifted, while 7% of the parents gave no response to this item. Similar responses were grouped together, a semantic-cluster approach, to categorize the responses to the items on the survey instrument. The results of the investigation follow. FIGURE 1