All My Children

Children need to develop a range of skills in order to utilise play experiences to the full. These can be considered in six areas and generally, there needs to be a fairly balanced development in each one. The six areas are:

Social — where the child shows an interest in other people and begins to develop empathy

Communication — where the child wants to communicate through verbal and non-verbal communication

Fine motor skills — where the child develops fine motor co-ordination and dexterity

Gross motor skills — which are related to mobility and body posture Imagination and thinking skills — needed for pretend play

Attention — where the child develops concentration and focused attention

It can be very useful to use the following tables as a checklist to consider children’s strengths and the areas in which they may need support at different ages and stages. Continue Reading »

These factors, although given in summary form, are also found elsewhere, for example, the Philippines. Bearing in mind the comments of Vanistendael that the phenomenon of street children is not due to any single factor, but to a combination of elements and influences, let us look at some of the other factors in our South African situation which contribute to the phenomenon of street children. The list is not exhaustive in any way: Continue Reading »

The Cotonou Seminar pointed out that ‘among the reasons most often heard from street children, that of the family was the most common to explain their departure from home‘. The immediate causes given by the Philippines on why there are street children all have to do with the family. Vanistendael also said the same: ‘the immediate cause is nearly always a dysfunctioning in the family‘. ‘The reasons why children take to the streets are complex and manifold. Broadly speaking, a distinction can be drawn between the push and pull factors. Continue Reading »

There are a number of venereal diseases in America and Western Europe. Those which most people know about are called syphilis and gonorrhoea. Another of these diseases which has become increasingly common in Britain is known by the rather long name of non-specific urethritis. There are a few other rare venereal diseases and other minor conditions which can be caught by contact between the sexual organs, but which do not have effects on health nearly as serious as those resulting from syphilis and gonorrhoea.

In the old days a lot of people used to think that you caught V.D. just by having sexual intercourse with somebody to whom you were not married. Some people had superstitious ideas that marriage conferred immunity from venereal disease. Until the last few years it was in fact the case that venereal disease was unusual and caught mainly from prostitutes. But now, owing to the changes in sexual practices which have taken place recently, gonorrhoea at least is the second most common infectious disease in Britain, and a person is unlikely in fact to catch it from a prostitute, prostitutes being particularly well aware of how to avoid gonorrhoea. Continue Reading »

Gaining their Confidence

It’s the nature of young people to be critical of their parents at times and to feel that most of the misunderstandings between them are the fault of the parents. (A critical attitude helps young people to leave home eventually.) They have always complained, with more or less justice, that parents are out of touch with modern ways, that they are possessive and bossy, that they lack confidence in their children’s ability to cope with social and sexual crises; that they harp unnecessarily on certain issues, that they lack a sense of humour, at least in regard to parent–child relationships. Continue Reading »

The task of discovering personal gifts, interests, and passions

One of the most important and life-enhancing aspects of adolescence is the process of looking at a variety of activities and interests. If her childhood interests in Scouts and piano lessons don’t continue into the teen years, don’t count your time spent in those activities as wasted. She may want to explore drama or gymnastics for a while, and they may become her new passions—or she may discover that the piano really is her true love after all. Your encouragement for her to find and develop her strengths and perhaps to overcome what she (and you) might have considered her weaknesses will pay off in many ways. Not only might she find a niche of true excellence and accomplishment, but all of these activities— even the ones that don’t pan out as permanent interests—will broaden her fund of knowledge and experience. Furthermore, your support during these efforts will repeatedly affirm her value. Continue Reading »

For centuries teenagers have routinely challenged and at times exasperated their parents. Public and private turmoil about what to do about the younger generation is not unique to our moment in history, nor are most of the fundamental concerns that a child will encounter during her eventful passage into adulthood. This will deal with many aspects of that important process, along with a number of parenting attitudes and strategies that can help an adolescent navigate through it in a positive and productive way.

When your child was a newborn, coping with short nights of sleep, dirty diapers, and crying spells may have hampered your ability to marvel at the incredible little person before you. Continue Reading »

Take an informal poll of one hundred adults about what years of their lives they would never want to repeat, and you will probably hear “junior high” most often. All too frequently, a relatively well-adjusted, good-natured twelve-year-old enters the seventh grade and two or three years later emerges emotionally (if not physically) battered and bruised. What turns these years into such a war zone? Continue Reading »

For many adolescents and their parents, senior high brings a breath of fresh air after the suffocating social environment of junior high. By now the most significant transitions and transformations of puberty are well under way or completed for nearly everyone. The apprehensive question “What’s happening to me?” is replaced by the more reflective “So that’s what was happening.” Physical attributes and attractiveness are still major concerns, but obvious differences in development among members of this age-group are far less common. Continue Reading »

The conclusion of the teen years and the beginning of the twenties often bring stability to a number of areas but also raise new issues. Physical appearance is rarely the ongoing concern that dominated early adolescence, and efforts to improve looks will not only be more common but generally more productive. Direct peer-group manipulation of opinions and actions will be less obvious, although attitudes about the issues of life are not likely to be set in concrete. Continue Reading »