Growth of Children

Today many children are suffering immensely due to many factors; like abuse at home, in the schools, streets, poverty, caste, class and labor and so on. This affects the child’s physiological and psychological aspects destroying child’s future. This Blog’s post will briefly deal on the psychological and physiological hindrances for the growth of children at risk and largely deal on counselling and educational processes.

What is psychology and physiology? (Growth of Children)

The mind and behavior are the Psychology science. Child psychology has become a very important branch of study in recent years. During the nineteenth century, the evolutionists and students of general psychology studied the child; to find in its early behavior a connecting link between human and the lower animals. It was believed that the various reflex actions of the newborn were survivals from the animal’s stages.

Some major hindrances for the growth of Children at risk

As the child develops new behavior patterns, an important problem that has to be studied is the process of maturation or developmental norms. Another aspect of child life that has been widely studied is effect of the outside environment upon the child. The whole problem of educating and training children depends upon this aspect of child study. The psychologist is interested in finding out the underlying principles and practical measures that can be used in training children. By education, we do not mean only the organized system of academic learning.

1. Children in Conflict: Child Soldiers (Growth of Children)

War influences every factor of a child’s improvement. Children tormented by armed struggle can be injured or killed, uprooted from their homes and communities, internally displaced or refugees, orphaned or separated from their parents and families, subjected to sexual abuse and exploitation, victims of trauma because of being uncovered to violence, disadvantaged of education and endeavor, susceptible to turning into child soldiers. It’s far fairly probably that they’ll be disadvantaged of simple wishes such as shelter, food and medical attention. Similarly, comfort for children tends to be the ultimate priority in war, resulting in inadequate or no protection for minors.

2. Children of Poverty

Poverty will have dramatic effect on development of youngsters in at the following ways. First, negative mother and father might not be capable of provide their wanted assets. In the extreme, they will lack nutritious meals, access to fitness care leading to infectious sicknesses and injuries, and a secure community to stay in. Additionally they lack educational toys, books, domestic computers, and different gaining knowledge of sources. As a result, they may lack in cognitive improvement and academic achievement. A second problem is that the stress associated with poverty can be hard on mother and father as nicely. This could result in marital discord, much less parenting, and poorer parent-child relationships. The ensuing emotional turmoil can damage a baby’s socio emotional improvement. In the extreme, it can lead to an expanded hazard for intellectual infection and antisocial behavior.

3. Child Abuse

There are four main categories of child abuse: physical abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse. The most fundamental attribute of child abuse is that it is harmful to the child and detrimental to his/her well-being.

4. Child Labor (Growth of Children)

Toddler hard work is a trouble international, but it mainly affects children in growing nations. The work often exerts undue bodily, social, or mental strain, hampers get admission to to schooling, and can be dangerous to social and psychological development. children regularly work underneath unsafe conditions within the manufacturing and agricultural sectors. For those children, crushing injuries, amputations, and fractures account for 10% of all work-related injuries. Working children are not most effective at risk of bodily injury, but are vulnerable to workplace toxins and chemical dangers as well.

Children works no longer simplest negatively affects a toddler’s health; however, it also negatively impacts his/her capability to collect education and carry out academically. Even as kids are forced via their households to work; they now not have the time to attend school. Despite the fact that there are a extensive variety of Children who passed school and work, the work can also negatively effect their research. Little one hard work is also complex because it creates a vicious cycle.

A take a look at completed in Egypt determined that many fathers couldn’t find out paintings or had been unemployed for fitness reasons that have been a end result of them having labored too long hours; in situations that negatively impacted their health as kids. As an instance, one man had labored in pottery factories considering adolescence and modified into blinded as a end result. Subsequently, one in every of his sons changed into then compelled at the age of eight to provide for the family and have interaction in Complete-time work.

Child counseling skills

Children came to therapy with different personalities and different problems, and at different stage, so for each individual child we, as counselor, will choose what we think will be the best way to work if we are to be of help to the child. With some children we may choose to be active and direct in our approach, whereas with others a gentle self-discovery style may be more useful. There are a number of basic child counseling skills which are generally useful.

1. Observation:

Observation is valuable in helping the counselor to make a decision as how to proceed. Making valuable observations are to watch what happens when we, as the counselor, intrude on the child’s space, or insist on interacting with the child, or act in a directive way. Some of the important things to observe when counseling children are as follows:

Firstly, General appearance

Secondly, Behaviour

Thirdly, Mood or affect

Fourthly, Speech and language

Fifty, Motor skills

Finlay, Relationship with counselor.

2. Active listening:

It is miles essential for the Children to understand that we’re paying attention and valuing the facts that we’re receiving. How will the child recognize that we’re paying interest? And how will the Children recognize that we are taking in; and valuing, the information that they may be giving us? We can do this by the way of active listening. There are four major components to lively listening.

It’s far critical for the kid to understand that we are paying interest and valuing the information that we’re receiving. How will the kid recognize that we’re paying interest? How will the child recognize that we’re taking in, and valuing, the facts that they’re giving us? We are able to try this by means of energetic listening. There are 4 fundamental additives to active listening.

Firstly, Matching body language

Secondly, The use of minimal responses

Thirdly, The use of reflection

Finlay, The use of summarizing.

3. Helping the child to tell their story and get in touch with strong emotions:

Children often find it difficult to talk freely with an adult about troubling issues, the counsellor attempts to not only join with the child and to invite the child to tell their story, but also to create an environment in which the child is enabled to continue telling their story even when to do so is difficult or painful. This environment can be created by the use of the following.

Firstly, Observation and active listening

Secondly, Questions

Thirdly, Statements

Finlay, Media

4. Dealing with resistance and transference (Growth of Children)

As a child’s awareness starts to rise, they may start to become aware of repressed material or of other emotionally painful material. When this happens, the child may become spontaneously blocked from further exploration. This is known as resistance. Consequently, as counsellor it is important for us to know how to deal with both resistance and transference. Resistance is said to occur when the child avoids talking about troubling issues. It may be conscious or may occur at a subconscious level. Resistance provides the child with a way of protecting themselves from experiencing emotional pain.

It can be useful to talk to the child openly about any identified resistance and to give them permission to withdraw. In dealing with transference it is important for the counsellor to resist the temptation to respond as a parent, and to raise the child’s awareness of the transference behavior.

5. Dealing with self-concept and self-destructive beliefs:

As children grow up, they naturally and adaptively absorb ideas and beliefs from the adults and children around them. These ideas and beliefs that the child acquires are strongly influenced by the culture the child lives in. The child begins to develop a view of themselves within a context of a family and a wider community. This is the normal way in which children develop their self-concept and learn what is acceptable, and what is not acceptable, with regard to personal and social behaviour.

A child’s beliefs, thoughts and attitudes contribute to their self-concept. Children often incorrectly believe that they are responsible when things go wrong involving others. It can helpful for a child to know that their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are similar to those of other children. Narrative therapy and metaphor can be useful in helping a child to develop a positive self-concept.

6. Skills for counseling children in groups

Counselling children in organization requires additional abilities to those required whilst jogging with youngsters for my part, as the counsellor has to facilitate the institution technique as well as attending to the needs of character youngsters. For that reason the counsellor has to do numerous matters concurrently even as the group is strolling. Therefore, it’s far genuinely most popular, and we suppose important, to have two leaders who paintings collectively in counselling institution. It’s helpful if a pre-organized programmed is deliberate for every session as this may promote the achievement of particular goals.

Each leader will have their personal management style; but that style influence via the counselling model to used. Whatever style use, the leader’s role is to take action to ensure the emotional and physical safety of organization individuals and maximize the ability for achieving exchange. The counselling abilities maximum generally used in counseling companies for children are: Observation, active listening, summarizing, giving feedback, using question, confrontation, giving instruction and processing skills.

Story books for educational purpose (Growth of Children)

An alternative to reading a story from a book is to encourage the child to create their own story: the child is certain to project ideas from their own life onto the character and themes in the story. When reading a story book, a child is provided with an opportunity to explore their own issues, thoughts, emotions and behaviors, either protectively or directivity. Sometimes, as counselors, we may need to teach children new behaviors which are more appropriate than the ones they have previously learnt.

Through books or stories children can learn about appropriate boundaries and to realize that it is appropriate and necessary to say ‘No’ when their boundaries are at risk. Books can used in an educational way with regard to a number of other issues and areas of knowledge, including abuse, self-esteem, violence, social skills, anger management, sex education, separation, divorce and death.

1. Games for educational purpose:

The use of game can be a good way to challenge and develop a child’s ego-strengths. In recreation a baby has to face issues such as losing, cheating, taking turns, lacking turns, sticking to regulations, failure, fairness, unfairness and being overlooked. The use of game allows the child to experience; experiment with and practice responses to tasks involving communication, social interaction; and the solving of problems. Games can sometimes help a child to become aware of troubling unconscious material. Games can be educational, providing the child with information related to the issues they may be facing.

2. Education and protective behavior:

Protective behaviors education involves giving children the message ‘look after yourself and give yourself safe from harm and potential danger’. If children are to respond appropriately to this message; then it is important that they able to do understand appropriate boundaries; protect themselves from physical harm like,

a. Domestic violence – children are also at risk of physical abuse in family where parents; or siblings have poor anger management strategies. So these children may need counselling to enable them to develop protective behavior plans that can be used in times of danger.

Pastoral care and counseling (Growth of Children)

Pastoral care is an inclusive ministry of mutual recovery and growth internal a congregation and its community via the life cycle. Moreover, Pastoral counselling is one measurement of pastoral care which makes use of a ramification of recuperation (therapeutic) methods to assist people cope with their troubles; and crises more increase absolutely and accordingly enjoys recuperation in their brokenness. A number of the pastoral technique can be:

Firstly, Sunday school:

Issues relating to physical growth, psycho social development, religious and spiritual needs could be addressed in the outreach programs of Sunday Schools.

Secondly, Relationship:

Pastors can be good confidants. This would help the children to uncover their needs and problems.

Thirdly, Secure environment:

Pastors can be parental figures and caregivers that extent unconditional love, respect, empathy, care, and support to the children.

Finlay, Offer quality education:

Receiving quality education is the right of every Child. The compulsory education which the Government of India has beautifully written in its Constitution is yet to be fulfilled. The church has a large role to combat this not only as compulsory education; but also quality education; where children are made to think critically from the tender age and bring about structural changes.

Some of the pastoral counseling approach are:

Firstly, Person- centered counseling:

Pastors’ should be able to experience and communicate their realness, caring, and non-judgmental understanding, significant changes in the child takes place and child feels accepted.

Secondly, Rational emotive behavior therapy:

Pastor can help to change child’s dysfunctional emotions and behavior and replace them with healthy ones.

Thirdly, Logo therapy:

Pastor can enable a child to find meaning and purpose in life and responsibility to act.

Finlay, Group therapy:

It develops a feeling of oneness and sense of belongingness and identity with the group.

Evaluation (Growth of Children)

The psychological and physiological hindrances for the growth of children are not easy. They are rooted in our structures. Simply bringing child to counseling and healing is not enough. Simply giving education is not enough; protecting from abuse; trafficking, conflict, etc are not enough. God does not want sacrifices of calves; or rams as prophet Micah says. God wants our change of heart.

Our change of heart to act justly where there is injustice, love kindness to love others; and to walk humbly recognizing that no amount of personal sacrifice can replace a heart committed to justice and love. Moving our structures is not easy. We need to change our ideologies; the stories of who we are and not; what we are imposed on; and we impose on others. This is our challenge and it will require our sweat, tears and blood.

Finlay, many children are at risk. Risks are of different types and levels. In the case of Lennox, he lost his childhood innocence at a very early age. Many children too who are at risk lose their innocent and they suffer negligence, shame, pressure, abuse, hunger, malnutrition, and so on. We have to be cautious of what is going around and help them out.