This is a huge subject and I will only touch upon what could grab someone’s interest, rather than profess a long, dissertation on this interesting notion. Can a parent or teacher, prepare a child for life? Yes, of course they can, together with the forces of nature and nurture. However what can influence a child today, I believe, can be completely beyond our wildest imagination.
In the latter years of me working with young children, the world has changed while much of my thinking around children has not. I would say, about ten years ago, there appeared to be some sense of predictability in the world, today, there is none. What is predictable, is that there is no predictability. There used to be a sense of the known; a sense of something tangible however now, we are faced with so much change and it takes place at the matter of a millisecond.
While technology is something that will possible play a huge role in a young child’s life, I still believe in the old-fashioned engaging face to face; seeing through your eyes rather than a screen; experiencing through your senses and making true sense of the world and people around us.
Parents have a huge responsibility and their lives too are taken up with endless experiences and newness. Making time for children; giving them a part of you each and every day, even if it is for about 15 minutes, can make a huge difference to a child. He/she needs only to know that you are there. That if he/she needs you and calls your name, you will acknowledge him/her. Being there for a child is something that should not even need to be debated. It is an absolute; and yet, research shows that children of affluent families, are some of the most neglected children in the world. This is so confronting. Children just want to be loved; and so do adults.
With thanks to Steve Biddulph, psychologist, author and parenting expert.
