‘Self concept’ or ‘self identity’ is the manner in which a person thinks about himself. It is the awareness of oneself in terms of perceptions and the way in which he views himself. This idea about oneself primarily develops in the early on years of life. The first five years of a child’s life are the most crucial ones as they determine the future of the child’s identity in front of his own eyes.
In this course of development, the child tends to learn and pick a lot of things from the environment. His environment in the elementary years consists of his parents and intimate family members. Their behavior and attitude towards the child plays a very important role in forming of self concepts by the child.
The child absorbs the opinions and ideas of his family members and tends to formulate and shape his thinking accordingly. Parents are the makers of the child’s thought process about himself.
Self concepts are formed in the early years but do alter and change in the times to follow. Friends and peers make a profound impact on our thinking patterns and beliefs. In this phase of the child, parents play an important role in reiterating the child of values which not only helps the child in building his self concepts but makes them stronger.
The parent must help the child to develop positive self concepts and eliminate the negative ones. This would add the right amount of confidence in the child and help him to survive and bypass the path of life.
The development of the right kind of attitudes for oneself is very essential as they determine the life of an individual. Parents must extend a helping hand to their child at every juncture they surpass and help him enhance and augment his self concepts.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Money management and role of parents
In today’s world money has become the most crucial part of all of our lives. Without money, life seems to appear like a vacuum, existence in which becomes a Herculean task.
Children, from the time they start learning to walk, comprehend the meaning of money. They begin to associate everything with money. It begins with meager amounts. For e.g. “Mummy can I get 5 Rs. to buy a chocolate?” This is the initial stage, which tends to develop as a habit. Once the child forms a habit at such a small age, it lingers around with him throughout his life.
As the child grows the requirement of money increases by the day. The concept of ‘pocket money’ comes in as the child enters school. With the entrance of the child into college, and peer pressure attacking the child from all sides, the necessity of money increases. The ‘image’ of spending unwisely becomes important in order to be a part of the ‘cream crowd’ of the college. Hanging around at hucca joints, watching movies, buying the trendiest clothes, attending with friends becomes the everyday affair. This therefore amplifies the need for money.
The role of parents in this scenario becomes very critical. Parents need to be observant of their child’s behavior. They must control the usage of money by their children so that they do not turn into avaricious kids in future.
Outflow of surfeit money from the parent’s end, results in the child not realizing the value of money and spending injudiciously.
Parents must make a conscious effort to train the child to use money in wise and controlled manner. The value of earning money and its handling should be taught to the child from a tender age itself.
Children, from the time they start learning to walk, comprehend the meaning of money. They begin to associate everything with money. It begins with meager amounts. For e.g. “Mummy can I get 5 Rs. to buy a chocolate?” This is the initial stage, which tends to develop as a habit. Once the child forms a habit at such a small age, it lingers around with him throughout his life.
As the child grows the requirement of money increases by the day. The concept of ‘pocket money’ comes in as the child enters school. With the entrance of the child into college, and peer pressure attacking the child from all sides, the necessity of money increases. The ‘image’ of spending unwisely becomes important in order to be a part of the ‘cream crowd’ of the college. Hanging around at hucca joints, watching movies, buying the trendiest clothes, attending with friends becomes the everyday affair. This therefore amplifies the need for money.
The role of parents in this scenario becomes very critical. Parents need to be observant of their child’s behavior. They must control the usage of money by their children so that they do not turn into avaricious kids in future.
Outflow of surfeit money from the parent’s end, results in the child not realizing the value of money and spending injudiciously.
Parents must make a conscious effort to train the child to use money in wise and controlled manner. The value of earning money and its handling should be taught to the child from a tender age itself.
Monday, May 19, 2008
.The role of parents in ensuring Social Skills in children.
People constitute a very crucial part of man’s life. Life begins with people around and ends with the same entity. To live in an approving manner with ‘people’ is highly essential.
Social skills are the skills required to be possessed by a person in order to live a cordial and sociable life with the society. They form the most essential part of an individual’s persona. They not only help him to form amiable relations with the people around him but also augment his living. These skills are instilled into us right from the time of birth. Parents our first teachers, are responsible for imbibing these vital skills in us.
From teaching us the imperative and fundamental ‘Golden words’ to the mannerisms to be adopted in public, they are accountable for all.
The child’s mind is like an empty slate in which the parents inscribe various values, morals and important life skills. These skills are very crucial in the upbringing of the child. The parents play a very important role in instilling these values in them.
‘Parenting’ is a skill in itself which the parents have to deal with a lot of persistence. It is very indispensable for the parents to indulge in the right kind of ‘reward’ and ‘punishment’ activity in order to ensure the presence of the right skills in children.
Approval of the right kind of behavior and denial of the wrong behavior is a must. The child must learn to associate himself with the accurate modes of behavior.
Many a times the child tends to get into a state of confusion due to varied behaviors from parents and grandparents. This should be avoided in order to avoid conflicting ideologies in the minds of naive children.
Parents must ensure all these facets of parenting to facilitate the appropriate upbringing of their children.
Social skills are the skills required to be possessed by a person in order to live a cordial and sociable life with the society. They form the most essential part of an individual’s persona. They not only help him to form amiable relations with the people around him but also augment his living. These skills are instilled into us right from the time of birth. Parents our first teachers, are responsible for imbibing these vital skills in us.
From teaching us the imperative and fundamental ‘Golden words’ to the mannerisms to be adopted in public, they are accountable for all.
The child’s mind is like an empty slate in which the parents inscribe various values, morals and important life skills. These skills are very crucial in the upbringing of the child. The parents play a very important role in instilling these values in them.
‘Parenting’ is a skill in itself which the parents have to deal with a lot of persistence. It is very indispensable for the parents to indulge in the right kind of ‘reward’ and ‘punishment’ activity in order to ensure the presence of the right skills in children.
Approval of the right kind of behavior and denial of the wrong behavior is a must. The child must learn to associate himself with the accurate modes of behavior.
Many a times the child tends to get into a state of confusion due to varied behaviors from parents and grandparents. This should be avoided in order to avoid conflicting ideologies in the minds of naive children.
Parents must ensure all these facets of parenting to facilitate the appropriate upbringing of their children.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Understanding Adolescent behavior
Once a toddler, taking minuscule steps on the floor, learning to walk with the support of our creators…falling at several junctures…being in a confused state of mind at every succeeding minute…seeking approval of ourselves and our decisions on a regular basis from our peers and parents…sometimes getting into conflicts with the very people whom we seek help and get love from…Parents seem to be ‘road blocks’ on our way to a free and happy go lucky lifestyle. But have we ever seen the story from the other side?
The period of ‘stress and storm’, ‘ADOLESCENCE’ which the adolescent goes through, is the most difficult period for a parent to deal with.
At this stage of development the adolescent undergoes various physiological, emotional, cognitive and social changes. Conflict with parents is a major contributor to the turbulence of this period. The contrasting desires of both the entities contribute to the increasing variance. Parents definitely face difficulties relinquishing control, resulting in inconsistent communication and potentially escalating negative consequences for all involved. As this conflicting atmosphere becomes a daily affair, the time that the child spends at home also declines.
Communication plays the most important role in this phase for the child as well as the parents’ life. Most of the parent-adolescent clashes tend to be about mundane issues such as personal appearance, curfews, usage of telephone, completing chores, choice of friends and many more. Parents are constantly worried about loosing control over their innocent but growing child’s life and thus resort to regular monitoring of all their activities.
This behavior of the parents is interpreted as an interference, which makes life full of chaos, bedlam and stress. This occurs as a recurring cycle resulting in dysfunctional family relation.
Parents must adopt a balanced but friendly attitude towards their children, thereby helping the child to surpass this convoluted stage of life with ease and comfort. This will not only assure the child of the love and considerate attitude of parents towards him or her, but would also weave a relationship of friendliness and openness between the two.
The period of ‘stress and storm’, ‘ADOLESCENCE’ which the adolescent goes through, is the most difficult period for a parent to deal with.
At this stage of development the adolescent undergoes various physiological, emotional, cognitive and social changes. Conflict with parents is a major contributor to the turbulence of this period. The contrasting desires of both the entities contribute to the increasing variance. Parents definitely face difficulties relinquishing control, resulting in inconsistent communication and potentially escalating negative consequences for all involved. As this conflicting atmosphere becomes a daily affair, the time that the child spends at home also declines.
Communication plays the most important role in this phase for the child as well as the parents’ life. Most of the parent-adolescent clashes tend to be about mundane issues such as personal appearance, curfews, usage of telephone, completing chores, choice of friends and many more. Parents are constantly worried about loosing control over their innocent but growing child’s life and thus resort to regular monitoring of all their activities.
This behavior of the parents is interpreted as an interference, which makes life full of chaos, bedlam and stress. This occurs as a recurring cycle resulting in dysfunctional family relation.
Parents must adopt a balanced but friendly attitude towards their children, thereby helping the child to surpass this convoluted stage of life with ease and comfort. This will not only assure the child of the love and considerate attitude of parents towards him or her, but would also weave a relationship of friendliness and openness between the two.
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