CHILD ABUSE

TOPIC 4

WHAT IS CHILD ABUSE?

• Child abuse is the act of violence directed at children which causes bodily and emotional harm (UNICEF Malaysia, 2010).

PHYSICAL ABUSE

CHILD NEGLECT

DIVORCE AND EMOTIONAL ABUSE

Husbands and wives who are volatile and belittle one another in front of the children are unwittingly instilling fear in them (see picture). This will impact negatively on children’s growth and development if the situation persists for months or even years.

RESILIENCE IN CHILDREN

TOPIC 5

WHAT IS RESILIENCE IN CHILDEN?

• Resilience is the ability to steer through serious life challenges and find ways to bounce back and to thrive. We are born with the capacity for resilience. But resilience is not something we have or don’t have. We work on it throughout our lives. And we need to start as early as possible. Parents are the most important people to help build their children’s resilience. Children learn a lot by watching their parents. When parents cope well with everyday stress, they are showing their children how to do the same.

BOUNCE BACK

RESEARCH ON RESILIENCE BY EMMY WERNER (1989)

She found that THREE elements predicted resilience.

• She admitted that was partly due to LUCK (Do you agree?)
• The Resilient Child had a SUPPORTIVE caregiver, parent, teacher, or other mentor like figure.
• The Resilient Child had INNER STRENGHT which is Psychological i.e. the way in which the children responded to the environment.

WHY IS RESILIENCE IMPORTANT?

RESILIENT CHILDREN:

• are happier in their relationships with other children,
• are more successful in school
• are less likely to get depressed
• are better able to handle serious events that happens in their life such as death of a parent
• will less likely use take drugs, smoke or engage in excessive drinking as teenagers and adults
• will have less mental issues when as teenagers and adults

BUILDING OR FOSTERING RESILIENCE IN CHILDREN

PROMOTING SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN IN THE CLASSROOM

TOPIC 6

OVEREMPHASIS ON ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT

• Schools and parents are more interested in ensuring that their children can read, can write, do mathematics, do science and maybe the social studies. Rarely, does one talk about the socioemotional development of children. Do you agree?

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DIFFERENT TERMS DESCRIBING SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

STEPS TAKEN BY TEACHERS IN PROMOTING THE SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN IN THE CLASSROOM

CREATE A POSITIVE ENVIRONMENT

• First is to create an environment that provides an opportunity for children to demonstrate their socioemotional competence. Example:
• Teacher encourage children to express their feelings
• Teachers comment or ask children about their feelings
• Teachers acknowledge children’s feelings
• Teachers talk about their own feels and models how they feel

INTENTIONALLY TEACH SOCIOEMOITIONAL SKILLS

• Second, is for teachers to intentionally teach socioemotional skills that will develop socioemotional competences.
• Teachers teach children how to resolve conflicts in the class.
• Teachers actively teach problem-solving steps
• Teachers make judgements about how children behave
• Teachers use games, role play and stories to teach socioemotional skills.

ENVIRONMENTS THAT ARE SUPPORTIVE OF CHILDREN’S SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING.

• Schedules and Routines
• Activities and Materials:
• Responsive and Nurturing Adults
• Relationships Building Among Children
• Preventing Challenging Behaviours in the Classroom
• Family Involvement