Why? A video once said that we should see children with lab coats, safety glasses and calculators. Children are always experimenting, trying to understand the situations that they are going through. Psychologically, children experience more stresses throughout their growing-up years than many adults do. Many times, they don’t even understanding how they are feeling. Therefore it is the response of parents that can greatly influence the child’s reaction or response to any situation.
One thing that I learned in my Family Relations’ class is that one of the greatest needs of children is a feeling of the sense of belonging. When children do not feel like they belong, then they resort to undue attention seeking.
Brother Williams told us a story of a children’s (infant) hospital with two wards. The first ward was experiencing more deaths and a longer recovery process. The second ward was noted to be a significantly healthier ward. The administrator’s decided that they wanted to find out the source of the problem in the first ward. Was it infection? Was it the staff? They decided to switch up the staff from one ward to the other. They tried to provide a healthier atmosphere for the first ward through cleaner practices. Yet, even with the changes, the first ward was still experiencing more deaths and longer recoveries. Then, one night, they found a potential solution. The nightly cleaning lady, who was in charge of cleaning the second ward, loved to cradle the children and babies in between her cleaning visits. She would hold them, and sing to them. They decided to switch her to the other ward. When they switched her to the other ward, the babies/children responded better and recovered quicker!
When our children are experiencing sorrow or difficulties, it is important for us to offer contact freely. One girl in our class taught us that in the first nine months we need to always go to a crying baby, so they can learn to trust in us.
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