OVER THEIR HEADS?

Will kids be affected by things they don’t understand? Or will these things just go “over their heads” and float away harmlessly?

Is it ok to watch CNN or an R-rated movie when your toddler or preschooler is in the room?

What harm can it do for school-age kids to watch teen-oriented shows?  After all, they don’t understand all the sexual innuendo and sexually-charged messages anyway, right?

Infants don't even notice what’s happening around them, do they?  How could watching a violent movie or tv show while nursing your infant be a problem? 

If adults talk about “adult things” or use “adult words” while kids are present, it’s ok as long as the kids don’t know what they are talking about, right?

If they don’t understand it, it’s not a problem, right?

Wrong.

Children of all ages absorb much more than adults realize, and many things they are exposed to at young ages can create stress and anxiety for them.  From birth, babies and children begin a process called “social referencing.”  Every second, they are looking at and listening to the people around them, to gradually form the basis for their view of the world.

In the early months of life, this social referencing is mostly in the form of sensory input, feelings, and impressions, because babies’ receptive language takes time to develop. They don’t know what your words mean when they are newborns, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t receiving clear messages from your tone of voice, your actions, and the general atmosphere around them.  

At a few weeks of age, babies begin to zero in on the facial expressions of the people that are important to them, and very quickly they put those expressions together in their minds with other emotional clues to read your feelings by looking at your face.  And when a baby or young child sees negative emotions on the face of his or her caregivers, the baby has no choice but to think that the distress is somehow related to them.  This is because of the normal developmental ego-centrism of this age.  If you’re upset or angry, the baby is likely to think it’s about them, because in infancy, babies experience EVERYTHING as being about them.

As children grow, this social referencing becomes more sophisticated.   They watch us to learn how to respond to problems, to pain, to joy, to the feelings of other people, and to life in general. This process continues for a very long time, and perhaps it even continues into adulthood.  My adult daughters have shown me that they are still very sensitive to me and their dad, and are very much affected by our emotions, or their perceptions of them.  And I have to admit that I’m still very in-tune with my 80-year-old mom, and often still catch myself observing her to see how I should respond to something, just as I did when I was a kid.

So what does all this have to do with TV shows, movies, newscasts, video games, music,  and other aspects of media exposure? If you look at it from the children’s viewpoint it’s pretty simple. 

When a baby hears gunshots, explosions, and cries of anger and aggression coming from the soundtrack of your Friday night Netflix choice, and then they see your face registering no surprise or concern, it can give the baby the message that hurting people is of no consequence.  Or if they see that you are distressed by these sounds and images, they can become anxious about your feelings, and often feel responsible for your distress.

When a child watches a movie intended for much older people, with complex emotional themes and complicated relationships, they are confronted with emotions that they are not yet equipped to deal with, so they may shut down and ignore those feelings. But the feelings don’t completely go away, so the child can be left with under-the-surface questions and anxieties which are not appropriate for their stage of development.  And worse, they usually do not even have the language or experience they need to be able to express their need for help.

When kids of any age are allowed to watch or to play violent video games, no matter what our words may say about “we do not hurt people,” our actions of playing and condoning the hurtful actions on the screen speak much louder than those words.  We expose kids to violence in many, many ways, and then we wonder why they push or hit a playmate at school.  The connection is obvious when you think about it, but many adults do not see it. Or don't WANT to see it.

The problem is that we adults want what we want when we want it.  We want to be able to watch movies, listen to the news, play games, or engage in other activities, and we want to believe  it’s ok if our kids are “too young to get it.”   But the thing is:  kids are NEVER too young to “get it,” and as parents we have to put some of our own needs on hold at times to accommodate a child’s needs.  Wait until they’re in bed to watch your movie or play your game. 

Be sensitive to the social referencing that is such an intense part of growing up.  And let your kids take their time growing into their understanding of the world.

Nothing goes “over their heads,” so that’s why WE, the adults, have to use ours. 

IT'S ALREADY A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I absolutely love January at preschool. I love it so much that right after New Year's,  I never mind leaving behind the decadence of a holiday break spent sitting on the couch with my dogs watching movies and eating sweets in my jammies. In fact, I really look forward to school starting again, even though it includes getting up early and being a grown-up again. 

Why is it that children have amazing developmental spurts every year at this time?  I have come to look forward to seeing amazing things in January at preschool, and I’m never disappointed.  It’s so much fun seeing children growing into themselves, being ready to learn new skills, showing signs of new confidence, and getting to know each other in ways that they simply weren’t ready for just a few weeks ago. When I am surrounded by all this sudden growth, it reminds me once again that all the hard work of getting-used-to-school was well worth it.

Here are just a few examples from my One's and Two's during the first week of 2011: 

-When someone smashed E’s sand castle, E just took a deep breath and said, “That’s ok.  I can just build another one.” 

-When Y raised his fist and started to hit someone who was “in his way,” he changed his mind, pulled back his arm, and walked the other direction. Then he got busy playing with his favorite truck and soon I saw him hand a toy to the child he considered hitting a few moments before.

-B, D, and M were working with scissors at the playdoh table.  Scissors are a new adventure for B and D, but more familiar to M.  After playing, poking, and exploring the possibilities for awhile, B and D started observing M’s scissor techniques, then trying to imitate them.  Before long, all three children were holding the scissors in the traditional way, and successfully snipping away at the playdoh. 

-When I was reading a book to the group, each child was “glued” to the story.  They sat very still, listened to every word, and wanted to talk about each aspect of the story in great detail, relating it to experiences in their own lives. I think we spent at least 10 to 15 minutes on this one little book. Then they wanted to read another book! Why does everyone always say that 2's "have no attention span?" 

-P and S, two young toddlers who didn’t even notice each other previously, played side-by-side for 20 minutes, watching the other child’s play and imitating it.  Several times, P tried to engage S’s attention by eye contact and funny movements, and S responded by imimating and smiling. 

-G has been stoically observing at school most of the time from September to December, rarely joining in to activities, and seldom smiling. This week she jumped in feet-first to many play activities and I observed her smiling many times, as well as interacting confidently with other children.

-T, who has been somewhat slow to develop language skills, is now one of those kids who is "glued to the story" when we're reading together.  He is even more excited about  discussing the story with me and his friends than the older and more verbal kids are!

And guess what:   it's not only the kids who show signs of growth! Adults are blossoming in January as well: 

-Several parents who told me they were overwhelmed by being a part of a parent participation preschool a few months ago are suddenly volunteering for extra little jobs and helping other parents whose turn it is to be overwhelmed!  I'm so glad they stuck it out and pushed through the difficulty of that learning curve, and in their new connectedness, I can see that they are glad as well. 

These little-yet-huge accomplishments and the many others I see ever day,  are the very reason why we hang in there during those times when our children are fussy, say they hate school, cry when we leave them, have embarrassingly bad social skills, or in general seem to be going backwards instead of forwards.

It takes a lot of persistence to be parents and teachers. Even though I'm not an overly patient person, all these years of working with the same age group has shown me that persistence always pays off.  When we don’t give up, and we keep offering our children appropriate and enriching experiences, we eventually reap the rewards of seeing our children grow and develop.

Now you know why I love January!