~Week 3~ EDUC 6358~

Dr. Weems~ Strategies for Working with Diverse Children ~

Blog Assignment: Observing Communication

Persona Dolls

The other day, I was at my local Target Store. A little boy (Hispanic, age: 3 or 4) ran by my car and I overhead his mother say: “Bring your “mother*******” *** here. She saw me and stopped talking. The little boy continued to run away from her. As I got out of my car, her tone of voice changed. Yet, she still continued to get the little boys attention. She said, “If you run into that street, I am going to whip you!” I lost contact with the little boy, I heard a noise, and then I heard crying.

Describe what you noticed and learned.

What I noticed was a young woman (Age: 20’s) cursing and hitting her young child. I assumed she hit him because he ran partially into the street and then I heard a noise like a slap and then crying. I have never witnessed a Latina mother so vocal and abusive. She was alone; perhaps she was frustrated that she had no help. At first, I thought the little boy was special needs. The little boy talked and had no signs of special needs. He was a typical three/four year old. I learned the resiliency of young children and that their choices are very limited.  

Make connections between what you observed and the effective communication strategies presented in this week’s learning resources. What could have been done to make the communication more affirming and effective?

This little boy will someday go to school and his context will come from abuse, physical abuse, poor communication and fear. I feel that I should have said something, done something, intervened if only to protect this innocent little boy. Will he grow to think that all mothers/woman are abusive? How could I do an intervention without getting into their family? Should I have walked up to the little boy and said, “she does not mean to hurt you, she loves you”, this would have not been true. I just had to pray for the little boy and his mother. Someday, this little boy will be in an environment where he can express his hurt and pain. 

Share your thoughts with regard to how the communication interactions you observed may have affected the child's feelings and/or any influences it may have had on the child's sense of self worth.

If I had intervened, the boy may have looked at me as the aggressor. He may be used to his mother communicating to him negatively or even hitting him. He may have wanted to protect his mother. Since I was a stranger, the little boy may have looked at me as a scapegoat to continue his behavior. I could have got cursed out by the mother or told to mind my own business. More abuse could have resulted when the little boy got home. If this behavior continues as the little boy gets older, it would be extremely harmful to others he came in contact with throughout his daily activities. 

Offer insights on how the adult-child communication you observed this week compares to the ways in which you communicate with the children. What have you learned about yourself this week with respect to how well you talk with and listen to young children? In what ways could you improve?

Talking about babies instead of to babies discounts them as individuals. Babies need to be part of the communication process. When you communicate with babies, it validates their self-worth (Kovach & Da Ros-Voseles, 2011). Teacher Lisa Kolbeck (2011) tells us that children need to feel respected, and they need to feel grounded in themselves and accepted for who they are, and heard.

I feel this little boy was violated, not respected and not given a voice. There probably will not be another opportunity to have a mother disrespect her child out in public in my presence. I will intervene, stay within my boundaries and voice my opinion on how a child is treated in public. I will talk to the child so that they are aware that they have a presence. I think my biggest improvement is to intervene no matter how I may feel about the situation when it comes to an innocent child. 

"African Child"

References

Kovach, B., & Da Ros-Voseles, D. (2011). Communicating with babies. YC: Young Children, 66(2), 48-50.

Laureate Educational Inc. (2011). "Communicating with Young Children" (DVD). Lisa Kolbeck. Baltimore, MD. Author.