Wednesday 28 May 2014

Psychological, Emotional and Behavioural Development of Young Minds

 
 

 

 
Sometime ago, when I had to attend the PTM at my daughter’s school, she again threw a tantrum at the kind of dress that I was supposed to wear to the school. I had laid out an ethnic Indian dress and my daughter wanted me to wear a western dress on the pretext that I would look very old fashioned and she would not fit in with her friends. This behavior had now become a very common scene at our home. Every time I would decide to wear an ethnic dress to the school my daughter would simply start crying. On this one occasion I had decided not to give in to her demand and wore the dress of my choice. I tried explaining to her that the dress did not define my personality but I myself did….that she needs to respect my desire as well….that she needs to be proud of our national ethnic dress and not look down on the people wearing it….that it was absolutely not an acceptable behavior to throw a tantrum if things didn’t go her way…. Unconvinced with my explanations, skeptical of the impression she would make at the school and fearing that her friends would laugh at her, she rode in absolute silence in spite of all my efforts to cheer her up. Once at the school, to her pleasant surprise her best friend commented: “Aunty you look so lovely”. She looked at me with a sheepish smile and filled her stride with a little more confidence. Then after, she had completely forgotten about the dress. On the way back, I happened to ask her: ‘Was it that bad?’ and she replied ‘Ma, I am sorry, I shouldn’t have behaved the way I did and you really looked good’.

From day zero, our children are constantly forming impressions, opinions, creating an emotional outlook and a psychological profile strengthened by cognitive training, language learning, social skills and strong influences of physiology and the surrounding environment. The biological, psychological and emotional changes that occur in the children as they grow from being dependent to autonomous is what the experts refer to as child development, which is also responsible for the behavioural development in the children

Parents have a vital role in the emotional and psychological development of their children. Parents can help their children learn how to express their feelings through instructing, modeling, and guiding them in applying the skills of emotional management. A parent, helping children with their feelings can both help them feel better and reduce behavior problems. Children who are able to manage their emotions often experience positive feedback from others and are more successful in everyday life. Parents are important for their children’s emotional development not only because they are attachment figures but also because of their cognitive and emotional expertise to instruct their offspring on the use of emotion labels, appraisals, expressions, and strategies. As it is said the roots of all development primarily start at home- the parents must understand that by being attentive to their children, respecting the differences of opinions, nurturing their self-esteem and modeling the right behavior, they can make a world of difference, to their children.

 According to psychologist Jean Piaget, children are like "little scientists" and that they actively try to explore and make sense of the world around them. Keeping in line with this belief Piaget described the cognitive development of children to involve processes based upon actions and later into changes in mental operations. A company that supports this kind of cognitive development is SmartQ with their unique methodology of tickling the curiosity of the young minds.

Since the optimum development of children is a critical requirement for the future, ‘The Commuknitree’ brings Dr. Anureet Sethi to address the topic of ‘Psychological, Emotional and Behavioural Development of Young Minds and Role of Parents’ at the ‘Back-to-School Event’ for community empowerment.
 
By teaching our children to recognize their feelings and express them by regulating their emotions, we can create strong individuals, who can solve problems independently and make effective contributions to the society.

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