Respecting children is one of the pillars of quality care
Date :
Tuesday, August 25 2009
Source:
Autourina Mains
Even though your child may be a newborn, have you thought about the impact of quality care?
The term “quality child care” has become a household word. What is quality? Many factors play a role in providing quality child care and one of those factors is respecting children. I hire new work studies every semester. Many have never worked with children; however they have an interest in becoming a teacher, a nurse, or a child care provider.
At the very first work study training, we discuss the ways to treat all of our little ones with respect. One recommendation I give them is; before they address the little ones, they need to ask themselves “How would I say this to an adult?”
Treating the child respectfully is sometimes forgotten and underestimated, not realizing the affects it has on the child. At times, I have heard a work study addressing a child in a harsh voice or not as respectful as they should, so I invite the work study in my office for a little chat and say to them; “I heard you telling the child to knock it off now!! Would you like it if I spoke to you in that tone of voice, using those words?” That question immediately gets the work-study to think. At first they giggle but then they realize that they were disrespectful to the child.
Being respectful is the pillar of quality care because it helps the child:
- Feel valued
- Builds the child self-esteem
- Teaches them to care for others’ feelings and be sensitive to the needs of others
- Promotes positive discipline
- Fosters kindness
- Builds communication skills
- Helps them learn about feelings and how to put words to feelings
- Builds positive social skills
A child who is treated with respect will grow up to be a respectful adult. Learning to respect others is the fundamental skill needed to experience life-long success in personal and professional relationships.
How do we teach children the concept of respect? Let’s examine some simple strategies.
Simple strategies
Pre-birth - Respecting children begins before birth. When an expecting mother takes measures to ensure the wellbeing of her unborn child by living a healthy life style, eating well, and preparing for the child’s birth, she is showing respect for that child. Research has shown infants in the womb have the capacity to build memory. They can actually remember and recognize voices, music, and rhythm.
INFANCY - Infants’ main mode of communication is crying. When the adult responds to the child’s cry, the baby gets the message that they are respected, cared for and their voice is heard. A proactive measure would be to follow a schedule of child’s needs. It is common knowledge that infants need to be fed and changed every 2-4 hours and when the adult takes measures to ensure the child’s needs are met every 2-4 hours, the message sent is that of respect and care for that child. Not allowing the child to cry to get what he/she needs is not spoiling the child; it is respecting the child’s needs and meeting them in advance.
Talking to the infant and responding to his/her coos and gestures is not just building the child’s verbal and communication skills, it is also building the child’s social/emotional skills. Explaining to the infant what you are doing when you are changing the child builds that positive, mutual respect of what can be an uncomfortable task (for the child and the adult). I had a friend that as she changed her child’s diapers, she talked to the crying child very kindly saying “I am sorry this is uncomfortable. Please forgive me. We will be done very quickly”. Her effort to talk to the infant softly using kind words showed respect for that baby. Talking to the baby during meals, or any time the baby is awake is teaching him/her positive social skills.
Sometimes babies cry for no apparent reason. For the first 3 months, my oldest child cried every night at 7:00 pm. I had to walk her around the house for about an hour, show her the pictures on the walls, and talk to her to calm her down. Every night at 6:45 I prepared for our nightly even walk. Leaving the baby in the crib to cry is sending out the message that their voice is not important and is not heard.