Final answer:
School-age children tend to select friends who are similar in race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, largely due to parental influence on their living and schooling environment. Proximity plays a crucial role in friendship formation, and the expansion of social media allows for broader yet ideologically similar peer connections.
Step-by-step explanation:
School-age children tend to select friends who are similar in race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. This pattern is observed because children have the most contact with peers in their immediate environment, which is often shaped by where they live and where they attend school—factors that are largely influenced by parental choices. During the school-age years, children develop an identity separate from their parents and begin to form friendships and engage in social activities, such as sports teams or scouts, where cooperation and mutual interests are important.
Moreover, peer groups function as a significant agent of socialization, providing children with experiences outside their family circle, and thus often reflecting the norms, behaviors, and attitudes prevalent in a child's immediate social context. Proximity is a key factor in the formation of these relationships, leading to friendships with those they regularly interact with at school or in their local community.
The advent of social media has expanded the scope of potential peer interactions; however, even with a global reach, young people still gravitate towards peers with similar interests and beliefs, possibly reinforcing existing ideologies and creating echo chambers. This is an important consideration when examining peer influence on aspects such as political socialization.