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Parenting
Is Your 8-10 Year Old Crazy?
by Gary Direnfeld
Eight-to-ten
year-olds obsessed with love notes, boyfriend and girlfriends, and the
like is very young but not unheard of.
In some cases it is like a dog chasing a car. It looks like fun, but the
dog doesn't know what to do with the car when they catch it. So too with
the kids.
The notes and friendships are in part a game and in part rehearsal for
adolescence. With kids of this age many are "rehearsing" and playing out
the behavior they see of teens and their teen idols. Television shows
like Canadian and American Idol do have young girls swooning over dreamy
contestants. One need only view the television audience to see the
effect on some of the very young viewers. Further, they see other role
models such as teen pop stars who blatantly use sex for self-promotion.
But the issue isn’t the role-playing or rehearsal per se. The issue is
how far they take the game or role-playing and does it lead to trouble.
Early sexual exposure and experimentation can lead to trouble. In one
community, 4 kids (ages 10 - 12) were involved in sexual activity. It
became known when one girl disclosed to a friend who in turn told her
mother. In this case the kids were acting out the various sex scenes
they saw on Internet porn sites. Although consensual, the behavior went
far beyond conventional sexual activity and was far beyond the normal
imagination of children at this age. It was very disturbing. It is
important to note, these were otherwise good kids from good homes. They
had never been in trouble before. They were role-modeling behavior from
an obscene source in the absence of supervision or other activities to
occupy their time.
Kids in our society are being exposed to sexual information and material
far beyond their maturity to manage or understand and some do mimic it.
If you want to put a little ice on youngsters’ sexualization, here are a
few tips:
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Talk with
them about relationships and what it means. Given their ages, this
is sometimes best done one-to-one. If done in a group, kids of this
age may degenerate into giggling and nervous laughter. Parents are
generally the best persons to have these conversations with their
kids. The parent should also be role-modeling appropriate
interactions with their intimate partner when in view of their kids.
-
Keep kids
in public view. Kids in public view are at less risk of getting into
trouble. In other words, keep an eye on them and have them
participate in many activities that can avoid trouble while having
fun. Know where they are and whom they are with.
-
Parents
MUST keep the home computer in the kitchen or some other open area
where they can wander by. It is difficult for kids to surf for porn
or any other dangerous websites when in plain view of mom or dad.
Don’t give in to whining if they object.
-
Many TVs
have "parental controls" built into the remote. Parents are
encouraged to block channels or specific programs that show explicit
sexual content. Even if the kids do not go there intentionally, they
can catch a glimpse when channel surfing. A glimpse is enough to
capture their attention and lead them astray.
Following these recommendations can decrease kids likelihood of young
sexual experimentation, delinquency, drug and alcohol use, and getting
pregnant when they become teenagers. The important thing is for parents,
educators and other adults in positions of trust and responsibility to
start when kids are very young. These recommendations should form a
normal part of their lives. Let their life be filled with the fun and
excitement of age-appropriate, healthy activities. It’s a prescription
for better, safer kids!
April 2, 2006
By Arrangement with
yoursocialworker.com
Top
| Parenting
The Week of April 2, 2006
In Indira's Footsteps: Will History Repeat Itself?
by Rajinder Puri
Wardrobe Malfunction - of Splits, Slips and More!
by Usha Kakkar
Weakness & Selfishness – Reluctant Parents of Virtue
by Gaurang Bhatt, MD
Freedom by Naira Yaqoob
How to Overcome Failure? by Sugandha
Indulkar
The First Line of Defense by Michael Levy
Helping Your Unpopular Child by Garima
Gupta
Is Your 8 - 10 Year Old Crazy? by Gary
Direnfeld
Why do we have Kids! by Meera Chowdhry
Child out of School is a Laborer by Malvika
Kaul
The Water Bridge A Short Story by NS Murty
And, The Bell Rang A Story by Raghvendra Singh
Saving our Life-Support System by William C.
Gladish
Will the Creation of One World Solve the Problems
of Today? by TA Ramesh
Neo Imperialism at its Best by Tahir Raj
Bhasin
Homeopathy: In a Realm of Its Own by
Rajgopal Nidamboor
The Homeopathic Treatment of Asthma by Dr.
Muneeb Faraaz
The Omega 3 Code by Neeta Lal
Risky Reconstruction & Breast Cancer by Elayne
Clift
Human Rights and Criminal Justice System by
Dr. Shanker Adawal
Panch-Kanya: The Five Virgins of Indian Epics
by Dr. Prema Nandakumar
Bheel Mahabharata: Kunti and the Birth of the Sun
God's Child by Satya Chaitanya
Sadaat Hasan Manto : A Profile compiled by
Aparna Chatterjee
Tamil Nadu, Here I Come! by Usha Kakkar
Mothers Without Strings by Tripat Kaur
Shaking Up the Diaspora by Crespo Sebunya
Looking Through Water by Darryl D'Monte
One Woman Army : A Profile of Zakia Arshad
Epic Adventure by Anjum Wasim Dar
Crowning Glory: An Interview with Manoj Bajpai
by MH Ahsan
Pakistan Calling: An Interview with Akbar Khan
by MH Ahsan
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