Unit.201-1.2

Unit 201---1.2 Child development can vary in progression due to many factors. In general, if child development and learning is deprived of any developing aspects, this can certainly have its effects on other areas of development. This will be effective in areas such as communicational, physical, emotional and intellectual development in children. I have explained below, with examples how these developing aspects can effect one another. 1. Difference in physical appearance. If children are overweight, obese or whether they differ in any other physical appearance to their peers. They will feel under pressure to look the same. Children often gets teased or bullied by other kids, especially if they look different. Hence they become body conscience and usually feel embarrassed in regards to their looks. This will upset their emotional balance and make them very unhappy which leads to low self-esteem. Children with low self-esteem lack in confidence. They don’t like to participate in group activities which later leads to poor social and communicational development. When it comes to any form of physical activity such as swimming or P.E, children who have issues with their appearance panic. Immediately the reality of having to undress in front of other class fellows, horrifies them. On numerous occasions I have witnessed children making excuses to avoid lessons in swimming or P.E just because they don’t want to be teased again over their body image. If children who are overweight continue to miss out on essential bodily exercise, this will continue to effect their physical health. Hence effecting physical development. This will also effect emotional and social development. 2. Inability to speak / speech delay / language barrier Speech is an essential part of intellectual development as it enables children to communicate more effectively with others and to express their opinions and ideas. It is through connecting and communicating with others that children make sense of the world around them. language is a tool which enables children to learn, express and ask questions. Without this tool, other aspects of development are defiantly effected. The inability to speak, has its effects on children deeply. Children can’t express thoughts, opinions or simply ask for a glass of water. This leaves them with extreme feelings of frustration. Frustration can put a major strain on social and emotional development in children, which leads to them being unhappy, grumpy, stubborn and making confused decisions. Lack of verbal communication has its effects socially, thus children feel isolated and depressed. Some children may have communication & language difficulties. This could be either through a speech impediment, speech delay, late development of speech, or a foreign language as their first language. Any form of a language barrier may prevent children from interacting with peers and teachers. In many occasions and circumstances children with language barriers will not respond as well as expected by others. Therefore, other children may be reluctant to talk and will avoid future interaction. E.g. A child who hasn’t developed in speech or one who speaks of a foreign language, won’t be able to store new information, simply because it doesn’t understand it. Gradually he/she will struggle in school. This will effect intellectual, as well as social, communicational and emotional development. Same applies for speech delay. Children who stammer find it hard to communicate sufficiently with others, and become frustrated with the time it take for them to talk. Because of this, they may be bullied and teased. This will then lead to very little or no self confidence. Overtime, they will avoid talking to others for fear of being ridiculed, which can lead to isolation and depression, again this will effect emotional & social development. 3.Puberty The physical effects of puberty can impact various areas of development. A young person experiences rapid changes to his/her body during puberty. Often not willing to accept these changes, they may resort to drastic measures to keep appearances discrete. For example, early teenage girls suddenly start to slouch trying to hide their curving body. Some young girls stop eating, in order to control their menstruating cycle. They do this because they have not come to terms with the reality that their body is changing beyond their control. Denying one self of essential nutrients will drastically effect physical development. Hence, low self esteem and lack in confidence will effect social and emotional development. A young boy who is also going through puberty, will be very self conscience about his voice box breaking later or too earlier than his peers. He may feel he might be ridiculed over this and avoids verbal communication (fearing that the more he talks, the obvious it will be) This effects ones emotional and social development. Child development in general is holistic with each area being interconnected. Combined development allows children to build & improve skills to progress to the next stage. Progressing without any one aspect of development is always a struggle. All aspects of development influence each other in different circumstances. Thus creating a very complex and unique individual personality.