This exploratory qualitative study examines how children in an urban Cambodian context perceive family influence on their moral development, academic support, and schooling experiences. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with four Grade 6 students enrolled in private primary schools in Phnom Penh, the study focuses on children lived interpretations rather than measurable academic outcomes. Thematic analysis identified three interrelated dimensions: value and behavioural socialization, home-based academic support, and family structure and learning dynamics. Findings indicate that moral guidance and emotional encouragement were consistently transmitted across households, while academic assistance, study environments, and parental participation in school activities varied considerably. Differences were closely associated with parental availability, economic constraints, and caregiving arrangements. In several cases, siblings assumed instructional roles when parents were unavailable, highlighting the significance of extended-family dynamics. The study suggests that family influence operates through layered moral, relational, and material mechanisms shaped by socioeconomic conditions. The findings provide context-sensitive insight into how children interpret family processes within a specific urban Cambodian setting and contribute qualitative evidence to discussions of family socialization and educational inequality.
Be et al. (2025) studied this question.