The healthy development of a child

The healthy development of a child

Introduction

The healthy development of a child requires a lot of input from the psychological realm to the physical one. Many components ensure healthy growth of the child, free from any psychological problems that may manifest themselves later in the mature life of the individual. From a child’s birth, throughout their baby phase and other stages of growth, the parent will require a combination of information and skills to ensure that the child is effectively taught, to an all-round adult, free from any psychological problems acquired in the course of their and development.

There are a couple of theories throughout the development stages of a child that will come in handy in providing advice, skills and necessary information vital in assisting the child to achieve their developmental stages in a healthy manner

Potty Training

Potty training is one of the earliest forms of development crucial for a child’s growth, and due to the importance associated with potty training, many theories have come up, explaining and affording the best ways to potty train child.

Potty training has come a long way since the early eighties. Initially, potty training was a rough militant duration for the child until he or she learnt how to potty. Currently, potty training has become more relaxed, however, in recent times, the time taken to teach a child potty training is taking twice as long as it did fifty years ago.

Initially, infants were wrapped in a cloth type of diaper, mostly made of cotton, and secured by safety pins. If the child wet herself, the cloth would be dried, and in case of poop, it would be washed and dried to be reused. Back then, parents and guardians applied several methods of ensuring the child raised the alarm in case of a potty need, to reduce the extra work associated with potty training back then. Enemas, suppositories and physical force were common methods of ensuring the child got potty trained early enough. The twentieth century, however, saw a shift in potty training as the child, with the introduction of disposable diapers, and a shift of perspective from parent oriented potty training to baby-oriented potty training. Thanks to Dr Benjamin Spock, parents were encouraged to leave bowel training to the child. Through a combination of observation and patience, the parent would take the child to the potty after noticing the child wanted to go. The parent would have to wait for the child to come to a connection between going to the potty and asking for it. However, currently, the number of children that are potty trained by 18 months has fallen dramatically and has been adduced to the laxer methods of potty training.

Psychoanalytic theories, according to Freud, suggests that potty training is one of the most critical stages of a child’s life, and how potty training is handled will have a significant impact on the Childs life. According to Freud, the potty training process involves the ego, id and superego. The interaction of the parent and the child at this stage is vital, and how the parent reacts will influence the result in potty training for the child. If the parent is harsh, combative and punishing, the child will have negative effects to potty training, while if the parent is positive, the child learning will be faster and more effective.

Learning theories, on the other hand, suggests that no matter how much or long the parent tries to train the child in potty training, the acceptance and participation of the child is a necessity. To help the child quit the more comfortable, and norm of diaper use, the parent, must entice the child, and find ways of motivating them to use a potty. Different children mature differently, and therefore potty training will take longer or shorter depending on the child. Children must learn to aim at the toilet properly, sit and finish, and slowly learn to wipe themselves. All these skills will require positive affirmations from the parents and enough patience to ensure proper development.

Cognitive skills associated with potty training include the recognition by the child that he or she needs to go potty. The child should be able to recognise the need to potty early enough to have enough time to ask, call or go potty. Cognitive skills in potty training are essential, as the child gets to understand herself more and take more control over herself, increasing the child’s independence.

When it comes to system, theories in potty training relate to the correlation between the child, society and popular practise in potty training. The more modern ways of potty training can be attributed to the invention of diapers, which reduced the stress associated with wishing nappies, therefore increasing their acceptance to the ore lax ways of potty training.

Sexual interest

Sexual interests have undergone major evolutionary and biological changes. In the past, sexual interest was expected to be between a boy and a girl, or vice versa. Evolutionary changes have, however, changed the perspective from the sex of an individual to the person themselves, such that a person may have sexual interests in another person of the same gender or otherwise. Also, sexual interest was previously quite conservative, in that certain protocols were expected in expressing one’s sexual interest, with the involvement of other people within the society. However, in the modern world, sexual interest has become more open and expressive, and with the help of social media, faster, and more individualistic.

According to Freudian theories, psychosexual development is important, and every human being is born with an instinctual libido which develops in five stages. Al these stages are characterised by an erogenous zone, which is the source of libidinal drive. By any chance during the stages associated with libidinal drive go unsatisfied, lead to fixation, while vice versa will result in a healthy life.

When it comes to learning theories, the stage associated with sexual interest comes around the adolescent period of the individual. During the adolescent period, teens get to learn a lot about themselves, and often seek to express themselves through adult-like romantic relationships sexually, and understanding their sexual orientation and identity. Through a combination of parental planning, education and guidance, sexual interest can effectively handle allowing healthy child navigation in identifying their sexual interest

Cognitively speaking, sexual interest will require a lot of parental guidance to form the right kind of perspective for the individual involved. How the teen thinks of sex and sexual interest will influence their interactions, and provide for a healthy or unhealthy association with people they are sexually attracted to. How to carry oneself in pursuance of sexual interests, the mental emotional and physical notions of sex should be taught to the individual to help them handle sexual interactions, and rejection, to allow for healthy relations between the individual and his or her sexual interests.

Systems theory suggests that when it comes to sexual interest, several factors come into play to ensure a healthy sexual lifestyle and maturity. With the huge number of sexual content, sex as a subject should be well taught, with experimenting coming at the heel of an open and aware parent relationship.

Dressing oneself

The evolution of clothes has come from the need to cover one’s nakedness to protection, to make a statement, such that in the modern world, how you dress appeals to what your purpose is, your feelings and intentions. If you see a man in combat, you will most probably assume them to be military, while if you see a person in a fancy dress, then they might be going for dinner or occasion. For children to be allowed to dress themselves would come in handy in increasing their independence, as they begin to express themselves through their clothing.

Dressing oneself does a lot to the id, ego and superego, as one is responsible for his or her projection of whatever he or she chooses to express. Symbolism and other forms of non-verbal communication are a mark of the modern world, and how one dresses will serve how one feels and will in turn act as a positive reinforcement for the id ego and superego.

When it comes to learning theories and dressing oneself, the expression is increased as one increasingly dresses as individuals get to understand themselves more through wearing how they feel. One gets to learn his or herself through finding out how different dresses and fashion senses make him feel and how the world reacts to it. It allows people to express themselves better.

The internal consideration of what one wears allows for a person to internalise themselves, and take a look or create a mental picture of themselves which can be used as a launchpad for creating what you internally belief rather than get it from external influences.

Dressing oneself is important on a larger scale, as it determines the societal position, through how people dress, such that conservative countries have more conservative clothing styles as compared to more liberal states. People dressing in agreement with societal norms speaks to a larger consensus, showing the culture traditions and expression of a larger group of people.

Conclusion

Parents and guardians need to ensure they provide enough support, advice and companionship to developing children and teens, ensuring a positive and progressive maturity in growth and development.