The Basic Necessities Of Childhood
“What are the basic necessities of childhood? What should children never do without? ” These are questions that any mom or dad who has just become a parent for the first time may want to ask. Keep reading to find out what necessities are considered to be the pillars of a healthy development in children.
T. Berry Brazelton and Stanley I. Greenspan are in no doubt at all about which necessities are the most basic in childhood. They maintain that if one covers the basic necessities of childhood, one will be provided with a basis for building intellectual, social and emotional abilities in children.
The basic necessities of childhood
1. Security
Children should grow up in a safe and healthy environment. The notion of safety includes all the different, basic necessities that ensure our survival: clothing, shelter, nutrition, health care, protection, and so on.
Nevertheless, security also involves the emotional part. Situations that seem simple or insignificant to us adults can feel upsetting to children. Furthermore, it is important that we help them understand the emotions they are developing.
2. The basic necessities of childhood according to loving relationships
It is important not just to educate children with discipline. Words and actions should promote self-confidence and respect. Likewise, the way family ties are established will also affect the emotional development of children.
Psychologists, such as Anna Freud or Erik Erikson, argue that children need education or upbringing that does more than just point out their inadequacies. In other words, their education and upbringing should build solid, loving relationships that make them feel secure.
Furthermore, Brazelton and Greenspan argue that loving dimensions, such as emotional interaction and warmth, help the central nervous system in babies and young children to develop. That is, the most important learning process in infancy is through contact and human interaction.
3. Stability and perseverance are basic necessities in childhood
Children need direct and consistent instruction. That is, the “good cop – bad cop” dynamic is not ideal. Parents should form a united front, so that you have a consensus about the message you send your children and the values that hold the family together.
Furthermore, children should grow up in a stable environment that they can call their home. The home environment should be calm, loving and understanding. Furthermore, the members of the household should work on building trusting relationships.
4. Leisure
All children should have some daily free time. This necessity is just as important as all the others. Leisure lets kids take a break from routines and experiment with something new. Likewise, leisure affects our moods and emotions in a positive way, and therefore has a direct relationship with children’s development.
In his book, called Valuable Leisure , Manuel Cuenca says that leisure expands and strengthens our social, physical and intellectual resources, especially in children.
5. Physical activity
First of all, it is becoming more and more common in recent times to encounter children who lead an extremely inactive lifestyle. It is not only the way children have fun that has changed, but also their way of relating to each other.
That is, they do not have to leave their home to get in touch with their friends, as they can send a message or video to them all the time without having to go out the door.
Second, the current lack of physical activity among children is alarming among health experts. For example, José Devís and Carmen Pieró, who are experts in physical education, believe that the absence of physical activity is a risk of developing cardiovascular disease in the future.
Parents, educators and school administrators should be concerned about fulfilling the basic necessity of being physically active in childhood.
Obviously, parents and educators are responsible for setting a lifestyle in children where they participate in sports and other physical activities, both for their physical and mental health.
6. The basic necessities of childhood: Education
Education plays a role in our way of being in and relating to the world. Certainly, education is a human necessity. Thanks to education, we learn how to behave in society and follow the norms that make us a part of society.
From a young age , children should receive a quality education that will help them understand how the world works and, above all, know how to be in this world. With certainty, education is the best tool to become part of society.
To summarize, there are several influences in children’s environment that are crucial factors for their development. Furthermore, there are endless things that children may need as they grow up. However, there is no doubt that all children should have their basic necessities covered.
