Becoming bilingual helps children maintain strong ties to their entire family, culture, and their community. All of these elements are an essential part of a child’s essential to children’s developing identity. Bilingual children can also forge new friendships and create strong relationships in their second language – an important personal skil in this increasingly diverse society. Finally, recent research has also found that children who grow up in bilingual families show greater self-control, which is a key indicator of academic success.