CHILDHOOD (CHARACTERISTICS, DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS, ADJUSTMENTS AND HAZARDS)

PRESENTED BY, SHIMIL ABRAHAM

MSW 1ST YEAR

WHAT AND WHEN IS CHILDHOOD?

WHAT? Childhood is a period which most people consider to be fairly long and a time when the individual is relatively helpless and dependant on others… to children it seems endless as they wait impatiently for the magic time to be called as grown ups and no longer as children…WHEN?

Childhood begins when the relative dependency of babyhood is over , at approximately the age of two years and extends to the time when the child becomes sexually mature, at approximately thirteen years for the girls and fourteen years for the average boys..

DIVISION OF CHILDHOOD

Today it is widely recognised that childhood should be subdivided into separate periods to two: EARLY CHILDHOOD LATE CHILDHOOD Early childhood extends from two to six years and late childhood extends from six to till the child become sexually mature. Thus early childhood begins at he conclusion of babyhood and ends at about the time the child enters first grade in school…

CHARACTERISTICS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD

Just as certain characteristics of babyhood make it a distinctive period in the life span, so certain characteristics of it make it distinct from other periods.. These characteristics are reflected in the names parents, educators, and psychologists commonly apply to it to name some of them are:

Cntd…• Names used by parents: most parents call it a troublesome age and the

children’s behaviour pattern becomes more frequent and more troublesome than the physical care problems…

• Names used by educators: they consider the age as preschool age to distinguish it from the time when children are considered old enough, both physically and mentally to cope with the work they will be expected to do when they begin their schooling..

• Name used by psychologists: there are different names which psychologists use for this period one of the most commonly used name is pregang age the time when children are learning he foundations of social behaviour..

DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS OF EARLY

CHILDHOOOD Although some of the developmental tasks the young children are expected to master before they enter school are laid in babyhood, much remains to be learned in the relativity short four year span of early childhood… o By this time they would have learned to walk..o Have learned to take solid foodo Have a degree of psychological stabilityo Learned to control the elimination of wastes from the bodyo Learned to relate emotionally with parents, siblings and people…

HAZARDS IN EARLY CHILDHOOD

Early childhood is a period where in different types of hazards can happen

to a child to name some of them are:

physical hazards such as mortality, illness, accidents, unattractiveness, awkwardness, obesity..

Psychological hazards such as speech hazards, emotional feelings, social hazards, play hazards, moral hazards, family relationship hazards and so

on..

LATE CHILDHOOD

Late childhood extends fro age six and to the time of individual becomes sexually mature.. At both its beginning and end, late childhood is marked by conditions that profoundly affect a child’s personal and social adjustment.. The beginning of late childhood is marked by the child’s entrance into the first grade.. For most young children this is the pattern of their lives, even if they had one or two years of preshooling experience.. Entrance into this grade is a milestone in every child’s life, therefore it is responsible for many of the changes that take place in attitudes, values, and behaviour..

CHARACTERISTICS In the same as the early childhood parents educators and psychologists apply various names to late childhood and these names reflect the important characteristics of the period….Name used by parents: To many parents late childhood is the troublesome age.. The time when children re no more willing to do what they are told to do and when they are more influence by their peers than by parents and other family members..Name used by educators: Educators call late childhood the elementary school age. It is the time when the chid is expected to acquire the rudiments of knowledge that are considered essential to successful adjustment to adulthood….Name used by psychologists: To the psychologists, late childhood is the gang age.. The time when children’s major concern is acceptance by their age mates and membership in a gang..

DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS IN LATE

CHILDHOOD

To achieve a place in the social group, older children must accomplish the developmental tasks tat society expects them to master at this time. Failure to do so will result in immature patterns of behaviour… to name some developmental tasks which is present in the late childhood stage are:

(i) Learning physical skills necessary for ordinary games(ii) Building a wholesome attitude toward oneself as a growing organism(iii) Learning to get along with age-mates(iv) Beginning to develop appropriate masculine or feminine social roles.(v) Developing fundamental skills in reading, writing and calculating.(vi) Developing concepts necessary for everyday living(vii) Developing a conscience, a sense of morality, and a scale of values(viii) Developing attitudes toward social groups and institutions.(ix) Achieving personal independence.

HAZARDS IN LATECHILDHOOD

Some of the common hazards of the late childhood are carry overs from earlier years, though they often take new forms. Others are new, arising from changes in the child’s life pattern after entering school. The main hazards of late childhood also is mainly physical and psychological… Physical Hazards: as a result of new medical techniques for diagnosing, preventing

and treating illness, morality during late childhood occurs much less frequently than in the past.

Illness, obesity, sex inappropriate body build, accidents, physical disabilities, awkwardness, homeliness are some of physical hazards which can be found in late childhood stage…

Psychological hazards: these hazards affect mainly the children’s adjustments.. The most important among them are speech hazrds, emotional hazards, social hazards, play hazards, moral and family relationship hazards, hazards associated with interest and so on…

CONCLUSION Childhood both late and early are very much important in the development of a personality. The phrase what you are today shows how you were in the past can be applied in this context. Because if the child is not having a good, happy, healthy and cheerful childhood it can affect his future life… if the childhood is filled with issues regarding health and emotions it can also lead his future to be bad one.. This age is mainly the primary and pre-primary school years of a child. During these years many kinds of physical, psychological, mental, emotional, and social changes takes place in the life of a child. During this period the child is open to the society more and is able to interact with others..

Q?

Reference• B.HURLOCK ELIZABETH . “Developmental psychology A life span

approach”. McGraw Hill Education (India) Private Ltd.• S. R Sharma.” Psychology and child development”. Pointer publishers.

1996.

Thank you

•THANK YOU….