Treat Children with a Source of Information - Term Paper Example

 «Treat Children with a Source of Information» Literature has been the source of information for ages. In spite of development of other sources to store information, literature remains a strong source to allow generations to feel the past and imagine future while at the same time allows us to think of our present in detail. A part of the broad spectrum of literature is Children’s Literature. Children’s literature though is not considered a serious stuff, but it is this literature that develops a child’s brain to think of right and wrong. Not just is children’s literature a base for children in which later rests their morals and their thoughts but it is a powerful tool for children with severe and chronic diseases to overcome their weaknesses. Through this essay, we will see how children’s literature can act as a therapeutic aid for children with diseases, and how professionals can use them to ease a child’s pain. We try to enhance our understanding of children behavior through children’s literature and in turn understand the importance of children’s literature for a child. The word that describes childhood the best is innocence. Innocence does not mean ‘not able to understand’ but what it exactly means is ‘perceiving subjects in different light, with no predetermined notions and no strict laws’. This innocence and its significance are best understood through children’s literature, which in turn means an understanding of how a child sees things. Children stories like ‘Cindrella’, ‘Snow White’, ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and many more, are not just fancy books with good pictures to allow the child’s brain to develop and later on accept the realities of life. The stories are pure joy for they signify that good persists, that is why children are optimists who see things the way these children literatures show them. Children’s books and poetries are an important tool in understanding children, but a bigger purpose that they serve is of healing children. What I mean by that is that books are not just a tool for increasing a person’s vocabulary but they can also be used as a therapeutic aid for children that suffer from serious illnesses. Children’s literature can also be used by professionals to understand what a child thinks and how he sees different situations. They are a handy tool to understand the behavior of children during traumatic times. When a practitioner is aware of the needs of children and how they feel, he is sure to do better. “Children's books can be used as an effective tool for teaching able-bodied children about the unique needs of children with disabilities” (Pardeck). This signifies the importance of children’s books as an effective tool for children to understand how others feel. This also indicates that children’s books are a medium that communicate the message that they might not understand when said in person. Children’s literature is something that children can easily connect to, that is why in spite of growing up, girls fancy about their own prince charming. Though it may seem out of context, but what that indicates is simply the power of books to transcend the story into person’s beliefs. When a child reads ‘Chronicles of Narnia’, it is not just the fantasy world that grips him but he unconsciously starts believing in miracles, and the power of truth and good to overcome all obstacles. This utter joy of believing that good always prevails and that miracles happen is a powerful tool, for it has the power to heal a person’s soul of the burden of death or fear. Belief and faith are powerful because they make the person optimistic; this optimism is what helps the person to get on his feet better. If Lance Armstrong combated his disease and won then that was because he believed in himself. This belief is what children’s literature instill in children, which explains the importance of children’s literature as a tool for children suffering from illnesses. In his article, Heisig says about Bruno Bettelheim: The storyteller's favorite audience, though, is a certain cripple named Ewald, whose immobility has made him resemble things with which he fosters many intimacies, but whose familiarity with the art and grammar of silence has made him decidedly superior both to things and to changeable, talkative healthy people. It is Ewald's rare, quiet words and gentle, reverent feelings which the storyteller finds so appealing, in contrast to the crass incredulity of his other peers, who know so little about stories. On one particular day Ewald asks his friend, "Where did you get the story you told me last time?" Despondent, the storyteller has to recount how he found it in a book where the historians buried it some years ago after it had died a slow, painful death. When a person with disabilities reads such a book, he is able to connect and identify himself with the main character. In doing that, he recognizes that he might be different but that should not stop himfrom achieving what he can be best at. Such stories told in a compelling but simple way are an important lesson for children with disabilities. They help build the confidence and also bring joy to them, especially when they think its too hard for their elders to understand them. They can find solution to their problems in such books, this helps them in overcoming their disailities. Writing children’s books and poetries is no child’s play, it requires a deep understanding of children and the realities that they face. Which explains the popularity of Superman over Robin Hood. Despite Robin Hood being a legend, Superman and his peers occupy children’s heart these days and the reason is evident here: In fairy tales and legends, there are numerous stories of humans bound into the service of trolls, giants, witches and other demonic and supra-human entities. But in today's rational world, we are scarcely likely to recognize or give credence to such creatures. Consequently, when we are, in a very direct sense, taken over by such a being, we either tend to reduce it to mere psychology1 or deny that it's happening altogether. In my case, as well as that of all my co-workers, we chose the path of denial. It simply never would have occurred to us that we were, to put it bluntly, "being directed." For myself, I thought I was doing nothing more remarkable than making a living by inventing and writing the adventures of a meteorically rising star of popular fiction known as Superman (Schwatrz). This shows that writers keep the contemporary mood in mind in order to get closer to their young audience. The same goes for stories that depict children with disabilities. Writers do not just write a story about a disabled kid who overcame all the difficulties, but in that goes a lot of research about how parents, relatives, peers behave with disabled kids. Due to a detailed research and the understanding of the angst of such children, such books are able to connect with the children and in turn provide them an important guide to understand what others think and how to keep up their morals. Nancy Huse writes: My Book House as Bildung is an interpretation of my childhood reading as one explanation for the identity as feminist critic which shapes my reading, writing, and teaching. The term Bildung aligns my family, and me, with the work of Olive Beaupr� Miller and the women who taught her, including her discovery of the work of Mary Baker Eddy. Pervasive throughout the paper is the notion of "woman as knower" (Gallop 17) in the sense that women, even across class and color lines, speak -- when they speak -- from a common fund of experience, their socialization as daughters. This indicates the influence of children’s literature on a person. It is widely known that children follow the footsteps of their parents, which only means that a child is influenced by his parents which shows up in his later decisions. Similarly, what a child reads also determines his thought process. If literature is strong enough to affect a child’s thought process then it is just as strong a force in helping children’s with illnesses or disabilties. Children’s literature thus is known to affect children and their best use can be made by hospitals and care centres. It is not just for the comforting effect that they have but when a child reads about another child who had been in same plight that he is, it makes him stronger and he is able to approach life in a welcoming way rather than being afraid of it. Children who deal with autism or dyslexia are inspired when ther read about Albert Einstein or Issac Newton. Similarly, reading about Abrahm Lincoln and his continuous struggle against failures to ultimately win the fight, fills children (and adults equally) with a sense of being able to achieve what is impossible. Children’s literature are not just an important guide for children but they alos provide a better understanding of children and their behaviour for child specialist and people in professions where they have to deal with children. May be that is the reason for children striking an instant chord with their playgroup teachers. Teachers can also learn through these literatures just as much as a child does. Same goes for a surgeon, he should know that a child who undergoes surgery is going through a difficult and his smiling face or a gesture of kindness can do wonders in lifting the spirits of the child. Many would argue that a child hardly understands things the way adults do, and hence would try to debunk the necessity of children’s literature. However, the following argument by Helen Rushworth provides a good reason: There is growing recognition amongst child health care practitioners of children's rights to be informed about their condition and treatment, and to be actively involved in decisions pertaining to their care. In order to facilitate such understanding, there is a need to explore the ways in which such concepts can best be communicated, in particular to younger children whose conceptual ability may be regarded as limited. Consideration of the literature on how children's conceptualization of health and illness develops reveals diverse perspectives, with seminal work heavily influenced by the work of Piaget, and a belief that the understanding of younger children may be minimal. However, more contemporary theorists refute such beliefs, suggesting that children may have far more potential to understand complex illness concepts than they have previously been given credit for. The work of Carey and Vygotsky offers alternative developmental theories congruent with this perspective, which might more appropriately underpin current practice. A variety of clinical situations are then explored in the light of this debate, including preparation of children for hospitalization, their competence to consent, their views of pain and death, and approaches to child health promotion. Guidelines are offered to practitioners throughout, with the aim of enhancing children's understanding of their conditions, and their active participation in care, which in turn has the potential to optimize care delivery. Thus, even practitioners are aware that children have a deeper understanding of their illnesses or their incapabilities. In such situations, children’s literature are a good instrument to make them aware of other intricacies related to medical procedures, while at the same time they also tend to help the children to become stronger. Dealing with children is not always easy especially when they have a preconceived notion about something like all doctors are associated with injections, or a visit to dentist means lots of pain, or all medicines are bitter. Such notions are very common, especially when one friend shares his trip to doctor as a painful one with his friends. These notions are very difficult to alter, in such cases reading children’s literature can help the practitioners to use ‘tricks’ to swindle the child’s attention to something else or to be on their good sides. Children’s literature can prove very helpful to practitioners as well. Children’s literature are not just helful to children with disabilities and illnesses, but they are also helful when the child has to deal with menatl trauma. Most would think that it is the easiest for a child to overcome situations which hurt people emotionally, but in fact children are the first people to detect that something is wrong. However, since nobody pays attention to the sufferring of a child, he remains neglected which has an adverse effect, which shows its signs in later years. Many think children are not really affected when they lose loved ones…the severing of an attachment to someone special can impact a child. The possible harmful effects on development, attachment, separation, and loss have become major issues for young children and demand early childhood professionals to heighten awareness, discuss prevalent factors, and seek out child-friendly books and to help facilitate resolution with affected children and their families (Branch & Brinson). Even though children cannot express their grief the way adults do but they suffer the same pain as adults. It is not just the loss of a loved one but in cases such as floods or other catastrophes, children are a vulnerable group. They might not be able to express their pain through words but their eerie silence should be enough of an indicater for professionals to understand that the children are sufferring. When children are subject to changes in their schedules which can occur because of illness or an accident or due to loss of someone close to them, they are able to perceive the changes but not understand the reason for them. They might wonder about why and how things are going the way that they are, this continuous thinking and no understanding from adults creates a void in them, which they try to fill through their aggressive behavior. Children may also be confused because they do not understand what is happening to their loved ones…children may feel sad, hurt, and sometimes angry because the parent because the parent is not able to do as he or she did in the past (Branch & Brinson). Children are quite susceptible to such changes. Usually, these changes appear in the form of depression, constipation, aggressiveness. Children sometime tend to hurt themselves as they might blame themselves for whatever wrong is happening. At the same time, peers too tend to make their fun that depresses them still more. Extra sensitivity also marks the phase, child might get too sensitive, and hence a slight indication may trigger them. Bed-wetting is also a common symptom, anxiety levels are high, and the child remains jittery. It is quite clear that children are a vulnerable group. It becomes important realize that there are ways to get them out of difficult situations and the best way is children’s literature. A variety of developmentally appropriate activities help children work through commonly experienced emotions like anger, anxiety, betrayal, confusion, depression, frustration, loneliness and withdrawal. Namely, books model coping strategies for children learning to deal with powerful emotions. Books also provide information and help address questions. For example, young children’s emotional issues can be eased with helpful books like The Day I Saw My Father Cry by Bill Cosby. It deals with the passing of a loved one in a warm, nurturing manner that reassures children it is okay to express grief (Branch & Brinson). Children’s literature can help a lot of children going through painful times. It becomes important for camps during catastrophes to indulge children in some form of engaging activities. Books that depict similar conditions to the conditions that children are in help them look at life in a better way. This also helps them to forget about the past memories and to move on. Children who experience strong emotions are calmed down by such literatures. The fact that children can relate themselves to the characters and imagine themselves in the same situation keeps their hope alive. Children are like sponges, they absorb everything that they are taught, that they learn through experience or they hear and see. So, when somebody calls them ugly or fat because of a certain disease of theirs, they absorb it and remain humiliated by it throughout their life. Similarly, if they have to go through a surgery or similar difficult procedures, they realize that the atmosphere around them is tense. They can understand when the parents are fighting over money for their treatments. When they realize that others hate them just because they suffer from some kind of disease or that their parents cannot get along because of him, they suffer from low self-confidence. During such times, they need reassurance from their parents and near ones that it is not what they think it is. However, most of the times this does not happen, either because the parents get too busy with their own worries or they simply overlook child’s symptoms of agitation as a side effect of medications or simply exhaustion. At the same time, some peers too tend to remain unaware of child’s physical conditions simply because nobody told them about it. Teachers too may tend to become frustrated with a child’s incapability because he might not understand fully the reason for child’s abnormal behavior. This again leads to child becoming more aggressive and his low self-confidence keeps on growing, which in turn leads to bad behavior and fun by peers. All of this can be made right by children’s literature. It is not just the child with illness who is benefited but his peers also show a better understanding of the child’s complicated situation and act more responsibly. On the other hand, parents and teachers can also gain knowledge of how the child is suffering and what is the proper way of conduct in front of the child. Children’s literature can be a big tool in bringing the family closer and enhance the capability of parents and children to go through the difficult phase. We can conclude that children’s literature serves as an important tool for people to understand children and that it can be helpful for children suffering from mental trauma due to disease, incapability or due to loss of near ones. References Branch, Mary L. & Brinson, Sabrina A. “Gone But Not Forgotten: Children’s Experiences with Attachment, Separation, and Loss.” Reclaiming Children and Youth 16:3 (Fall 2007): 41. Goldman, L. E. “We Can Help Children Grieve: A Child Oriented Model for Memorializing.” Young Children 51:6 (1996): 69-73. Heisig, James W. “Bruno Bettelheim and the Fairy Tales.” The John Hopkins University Press 6 (1977): 93-114. Huse, Nancy. “My Book House as Bildung.” The John Hopkins University Press 13:3 (Fall 1988): 115-121. Lilly E. & Green C. Developing Partnerships With Families Through Children’s Literature. Upper Saddle, NJ: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall, 2004. Pardeck, Jean A. “An Exploration of the Uses of Children’s Books as an Approach for Enhancing Cultural Diversity.” Early Child Development and Care 147:1 (1998): 25-31. Rushworth, Helen. “Practitioner Review: Communicating with Hospitalised Children: Review and Application of Research Pertaining to Children's Understanding of Health and Illness.” Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 40 (1999): 683-691. Schwartz, Alvin. “The Real Secret of Superman's Identity.” The John Hopkins University Press 5 (1976): 117-129. Read More