PARENTINGTIPS
KID COMMUNICATION “Children should be seen and not heard.” These are familiar words, but how do they hold up against current child developmental theories? Educational and child psychologist Dr STEPHANIE SATARIANO finds out, quoting research that shows newborns are not just passive beings; they even have opinions!
A
ll adults start off as children; all adults have emotions, needs, wants and desires. So do these suddenly develop at a certain age? Or are we born with them? There is a large body of research that has found that we are born with a core set of emotions and basic needs. From the moment we are born, we can feel a range of emotions and these
slowly develop and refine over the first few years of life. Furthermore, it is well established that babies are born with an instinctive desire to communicate. We are social beings, and from the moment we enter the world, there is a drive to communicate with those around us. A beautifully crafted study
shows that babies only a few minutes old imitate their parents’ facial expressions, including something as complicated as sticking out their tongue. This tells us that newborns are not just passive beings; they have intrinsic desires and abilities that indicate they have needs and even opinions. And if a newborn is born with such a capacity, what does that say for older children?
“IT IS WELL ESTABLISHED THAT BABIES ARE BORN WITH AN INSTINCTIVE DESIRE TO COMMUNICATE”
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