The purpose of this study was to investigate the socialization practices of child development among the Tiv society and to examine the perception of parents concerning the influence of (western) education on child rearing practices of the Tiv people. The study was aimed at exploring child socialization practices of the urban and rural parents to see if their were differences between the two groups and if the differences were due to the influence of western education. The urban population was considered to be relatively more educated than the rural. The major hypothesis for the study stated that "There is no significant difference in child socialization practices between rural families and urban families in Tiv society". A sample of one hundred parents each from the urban and rural centres was drawn for the purpose of collecting the data for the study. Twenty two questionnaire items were administered to them by the method of interview which was one of the research instruments used for the study. The variables which were selected for the study of the problem included adherence to traditional practices, discipline and character training, achievement learning, aggression control, sociability training, attitudes to western education and parent responsibility to child according to sex of parent and sex of child. The method of observation was also employed as another instrument of data collection. Eight children of primary school age were observed for two weeks by eight research assistants. Activities surrounding the child were observed and recorded. The data collected from the interview notes were subjected to a chi-square (X ) test of significance. The level of significance for the rejection of the null hypothesis was .05. The analysis of the observation data was used as a basis to supplement and reaffirm the findings of the statistical analysis of the interview data. The findings showed that education acquired through the formal system of schooling affected the attitudes of parents towards their children's socialization. For example, it was found that there were significant differences between the attitudes of the rural and urban parents concerning traditional practices of shaping the infant's head, habit of feeding, manipulating the limbs of children and weaning period.