Author: Andre Coleman

Zafi is the eldest child and he has two younger siblings. He was an average student in primary school with no discipline problems. When he was 11 years old, his father passed away. After the death of his father, his mother holds two jobs to make ends meet. His mother relies on him to take care of his two younger siblings as she is always not at home. Currently in secondary two, his academic result is very poor. In class, he would keep to himself and would shy away from classroom activities. He would sometimes cheat in tests and exams. The reasons he gave for cheating are, not having the ability to do it and he does not want his classmates to think that he is stupid. His form teacher tried many times to meet his mother to discuss about his cheating behaviour and poor academic performance but she is always busy with her work. After school, Zafi would meet up with his neighbourhood friends. Most of them are drop outs. They constantly told him to quit school and to enjoy life just like them. Zafi enjoys spending time with them as he thought they understand him best. They would also smoke and drink alcohol. He would only return home very late at night or not at all.

Zafi’s father had passed away and his mother is too busy working to support the family. There is almost no interaction between Zafi and his mother and there is no other important adult to supervise him at home. In short, the parental involvement is almost non-existent. Using Bronfenbrenner Bioecological Theory and Baumrind Parenting Style Theory, I would relate how Zafi’s parental interactions and parenting style affects his context of development.

Bronfenbrenner Bioecological Theory

According to Bronfenbrenner, the lack of parental interaction is the most destructive force to a child’s development. [1] Urie Bronfenbrenner says that “there are two environmental conditions that are necessary for human development. The first is that one or more adults must love the child unconditionally; the second is that the adults must encourage the child and spend time doing joint activities with the child in and out of the home environment”. [2] Zafi’s mother loves him unconditionally but she is too busy to show it and she is also unable to spend time with any of her children. Therefore, the two important conditions are not met.

Bronfenbrenner also developed a Bioecological Theory to explain how the child’s environments can significantly influence his cognitive development and his growth. The theory consists of 4 systems nested around each other with the child being in the innermost. The 4 systems developed by Bronfenbrenner are: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem. [3] The microsystem is where a child has direct interactions with parents, teachers, peers and others. In Zafi’s case, he has very little interaction with his mother and he spends most of his time with his neighbourhood friends. Too little interactions with his mother causes a break down in his microsystem and the bad influence he is getting from his neighbourhood friends is not helping in his positive growth and development. The second level is the mesosystem. Mesosystem are linkages between microsystems such as between a child’s teacher and his parents, and relationships between students and peers. His teacher tried many times to create a linkage with his mother but failed due to her busy work schedule. This contributes to a break down in his mesosystem. The third level is the exosystem. Exosystem are external experiences in which a child does not have an active role but still influence the child’s developments. In this case, his mother’s busy work schedule is the exosystem. Her two jobs require her to work long hours and irregular shifts. This resulted in her having very little face time with her children. The last level is the macrosystem. Macrosystem consists of things that influence and sometimes support the child such as cultures, norms, and laws.

The break down in his microsystem will affect the other systems as it disabled him to explore other parts of his environment. Without the presence of proper supervision or love, Zafi will try looking for attention in inappropriate places. These behaviours will give rise to problems such as little self discipline and no self direction.

Neglectful Parenting

According to Diana Baumrind, parenting styles come in three main forms; authoritarian parenting, authoritative parenting, and indulgent parenting. Eleanor Maccoby and John Martin expanded BaumrindHYPERLINK “http://www.law-of-attraction-parenting.com/baumrind-parenting-style.html”‘HYPERLINK “http://www.law-of-attraction-parenting.com/baumrind-parenting-style.html”s research and added another parenting style, Neglectful or Uninvolved Parenting (Maccoby & Martin, 1983). [4] The degree of supervision and discipline shown by Zafi’s mother is minimal, and there is no consequence for unacceptable behaviour. She does not deliberately encourage Zafi to self regulate his behaviour and there is very little communication between them. These are the characteristics of neglectful parenting. Even though she fulfills her children basic needs such as food and clothing, sadly, she is detached from their life. She is also psychologically unavailable to her children. Neglectful parenting style rank lowest across all life domains. Children with neglectful parents tend to lack self-control, have low self-esteem and are less competent than their peers. They often engage in high-risk behaviours and are vulnerable to substance abuse. [5]

Interventions

Bronfenbrenner said that to ensure healthy child development, one or more adults must love the child unconditionally and they must spend time doing joint activities with the child in and out of the home environment. However, in Zafi’s case, this is not possible for his mother. What she could have done to increase the level of interaction with her son is by communicating with him more through the phone. During her short breaks at work, she could have called her son to ask about his day at school, find out whether he has eaten and to also provide psychological and emotional support in case his son is upset over a school event such as a failed test. This way, the child knows his mother cares for him and he can also feel his mother’s love and affection. She should also try to take at least a day off weekly to spend valuable face time with her children. If it is not possible, she should ask her parents for help in taking care of her children while she is at work. There must be at least one adult present at home so that the child would not feel neglected.

As for the teacher, he needs to be flexible to adjust to the parent’s inflexible work schedule. If meeting with the parent in person is not possible, he should at least keep in close contact with the parent through the phone and to update her about her son’s learning progress and behaviour. In doing so, he is successful in creating a linkage with the parent. Once there is a linkage, it will be much easier for both teacher and parent to work together to ensure the child’s healthy development. The teacher can also educate parents about the developmental needs of children. Research indicates that family involvement in schools increases student achievement (Henderson & Berla, 1994). [6] The benefits of parent and family involvement include higher test scores and grades, better attendance, more completion of homework and more positive attitudes and behavior.

Next, I would relate how Zafi’s parental interactions and parenting style affects his self and identity development.

Self-Esteem

Children look to parents and other important adults for evidence that they’re smart, capable, etc. This evidence may be in the form of encouragement, praise for accomplishments, awards, etc. If the evidence is not present, low self-esteem develops. [7] This explains why neglectful parenting results in children with low self-esteem. Low self-esteem can have a big negative impact on academic performance. Once a child does poorly in school, he will start to think poorly of himself and it may cause him to underachieve or make him give up completely. Children with low self-esteem tend to be lonely in school as they find it hard to make new friends. They would shy away from classroom activities as they do not want to appear incompetent. Resisting negative pressures would also seem difficult for these children. [8] Looking at Zafi’s case, it is obvious that he is suffering from low self-esteem. He is doing very poorly in school and at home he never gets the encouragement he needs to make him feel better. He is also not motivated to study as no matter how well he performs, his mother is not there to praise or acknowledge his accomplishments. In class, he is afraid to get involve in classroom activities and he constantly keeps to himself. He is also not able to resist negative pressures from his neighbourhood friends. As he spends more time with them, he developed a sense of belonging towards them and this sense makes him want to be like them.

Interventions

It is important that teachers look out for and help students who are suffering from low self-esteem as it can affect their academic performance and also their overall well-being. Teachers should be paying more attention to students like Zafi. They tend to have low self-esteem due to the lack of attention, love and affection. Students with low self-esteem will say things like, “I know that I will fail” or “I hate myself”. They tend to avoid getting involved in new activities and would have trouble making new friends and mixing around. Stresses faced at home such as parents arguing a lot and difficult lessons can have a negative impact on a child’s self esteem. Some of the things that teachers can do to improve students’ self-esteem are, to always accentuate the positive, avoid criticism, set realistic expectations for the students and give them the opportunity to tell the class things they like about themselves. Those with very low self-esteem will have problem with even saying two things they like about themselves therefore, the teacher have to provide prompts for these students.

Erikson’s Psychosocial Development Theory

Erik Erikson highlighted the importance of relationships with others in the formation of one’s own identity. He believed that personality develops through eight stages of life. He suggested that at each stage of life an individual is confronted by a crisis (Erikson, 1950). At this age, Zafi is going through stage 5 crisis of Erikson’s Psychosocial Development Theory which is Identity versus Role Confusion. In this stage, adolescents struggle to resolve the question of “Who am I?” They move from their parents to peers as a point of references. They strive to clarify their own personalities. They are often observed to imitate the attitudes and actions of others they admire. In Zafi’s case, his neighbourhood friends are his only point of reference. As he respects and admires them, he chose to imitate their attitudes and actions. He would smoke and drink alcohol with them till late at night.

Interventions

In Identity versus Role Confusion stage, adolescents will move to peers as a point of reference. As Zafi is not close to anyone else in school, he is left with no choice but to see his neighbourhood friends as references. What can be done by the teacher is to introduce buddy system to pair up low self-esteem student such as Zafi with a higher self-esteem one. The higher self-esteem student may be able to help Zafi with his studies and thus increasing his confidence and self-esteem. Zafi may look up to his buddy as his role model and thus imitate him instead of his neighbourhood peers.

The teacher should also provide plenty of opportunities for students to explore identity issues as they relate to understanding who they are as individuals. An activity such as making a collage about themselves or writing their autobiography is a good way for them to explore themselves. The teacher can also enhance students’ self esteem by encouraging the students to substitute negative self-statements with a positive one.

Lastly, I would relate how Zafi’s parenting style affects his moral development.

His mother neglectful parenting style resulted in him lacking self-control, having low self-esteem and feeling less competent compared to his peers. His low self-esteem caused him to have low self-confidence which led him to believe that he does not have the ability to pass his examinations. As he does not want his classmates to think that he is stupid, he decided to cheat in his tests and examinations.

Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development

The reason why Zafi cheated is based on self-interests. From his reasoning, his moral development is in Level 1: Preconventional Reasoning; Stage 1: Punishment-Obedience, of Kohlberg’s stages of moral development. His reasoning is characterised by a focus on the consequence experienced by him as a result of his actions.

Interventions

To minimize cheating, teachers should clearly spell out the consequences of cheating and to consistently follow through with these when cheating does occur. Teachers can also help students overcome the need to cheat by providing the student with extra help and reducing student anxiety. Student anxiety can be reduced by emphasizing that mistakes are okay and a part of learning.

The purpose of this writing is to demonstrate my knowledge and understanding of the term ‘normative development’. I will analyse Daniel’s (child I carried out my child study on) learning and development in relation to my knowledge and understanding of normative development by referring to the Early Years Framework Stage (EYFS) (Scottish Government, 2010). I will show evidence of my knowledge and understanding of two theorists, in which will relate in some way to Daniel’s learning and development. I will show how I supported and provided suitable learning opportunities for Daniel, by referring to all three visits. From this, I will evaluate and reflect on my ability to do this by using the Pre-Birth to Three Guidance (Learning and Teaching Scotland, 2010) and refer to my own experience and suggest some challenges for staff caring for babies in early childhood centres.

Dryden et al. (2005) utters that every child is a unique individual and will develop at different times and in different ways throughout their life.

Child development is holistic; a child cannot have cognitive development if they do not have language development. When a child develops, the development does not progress in one area and discontinues in another. (Doherty and Hughes, 2009)

‘Normative development’ means stages of development that the majority of children of that specific age are expected to achieve. (Meggit, 2006). I will use the (EYFS) (Scottish Government, 2008) to illustrate Daniel’s (twenty four months old) stage in learning and development.

The EYFS (Scottish Government, 2008) suggests that children aged between sixteen and twenty six months are expected to show signs of using one and two word utterances to express simple and more difficult messages. Daniel demonstrated this on all three visits, however was most evident on visit two when we went to the park. Daniel mainly used one word utterances, such as ‘up’, ‘o’ (go), ‘oggie’ (doggie), ‘you’. He endeavoured to use two word utterances on visit two and three when he said, ‘the water’ and ‘Nana you’. I took pictures of toys and characters from his favourite programmes and put together a book to help support Daniel’s language development.

Not only do children need to hear language being spoken to develop their language development but social interaction is needed also (Bruner, 1983 cited in Doherty and Hughes, 2008, p.311). A ‘Language Acquisition Support System’ (LASS) (Bruner, 1983 cited in Doherty and Hughes, 2009, p.311) is a group of approaches used by parents/carers to further promote the development of language. This approach is where the adult speaks to the child at a more advanced level than the child is capable of creating on their own (Doherty and Hughes, 2009). On visit two, Daniel uses his hands to splash in the puddles and says to myself ‘you’. I used the scaffolding approach and responded by asking, ‘Would you like me to use my hands to splash in the puddles with you?’ By using the scaffolding approach and asking Daniel if he would like me to join him, has helped me evaluate my practice by referring to one of the four key principles in the Pre-Birth to Three Guidance (Learning and Teaching Scotland, 2010) ‘Respect’. I respected Daniel’s wishes about what he wanted to do; he made an informed decision by allowing me to accompany him in splashing in the puddles. (Learning and Teaching Scotland, 2010).

‘Responsive care’ is another key principle and is defined as:

‘building close relationships with children, being observant of them and meaningfully involved with them.’ (Learning and Teaching Scotland, 2010, p.23)

I was tuned into Daniel’s wishes by observing him and reading his signals. By doing this, I noticed he was extremely engrossed with playing in the puddles. I went over and became involved in what he was doing by participating alongside him. Daniel then presented what most children of that age are expected to show between the ages of sixteen and twenty six months – signs of looking for ways to get attention from others by pulling them into social interaction. (Scottish Government, 2008) Daniel also demonstrated he could use his growing physical abilities to make social interaction (Scottish Government, 2008) by using his hands and feet to splash in the puddles to obtain my attention.

In accordance with the EYFS (2008) children aged between sixteen and twenty six months are expected to look to others for reactions which test what they know about themselves. (Scottish Government, 2008). This is clear on visit one when Daniel sat on his mother’s knee, holding onto her hand, whilst he watched the television. John Bowlby’s theory highlighted the significance of the attachment between children and their main guardian (Sayers, 2008). Daniel showed he had a strong attachment with his mother. Mary Ainsworth established the ‘strange situation’ (Dryden et al. 2005, p. 78) where the baby and mother are in a room playing, the mother then leaves the room, leaving the stranger in the room with the baby. The majority of the time, this experiment resulted in the child being apprehensive and uneasy at their mother’s disappearance. (Dryden et al. 2005). On visit one, Daniel showed signs of anxiousness when his mother left myself in the room with Daniel as she went to answer the door.

Daniel also displayed on visits two and three that he can:

‘Make choices that involve challenge, when adults ensure their safety’ (Scottish Government, 2008, p.31).

I used Lev Vyostsky’s idea of the ‘zone of proximal development’ (ZPD) (Pound, 2005, p.40) to support Daniel’s learning and development in this situation. The ZPD is the space between what a child can do by themselves and what they can do with the support of a person who is more skilful. (Pound, 2005).

On visit two, Daniel indicated he wanted to go on the climbing frame by saying ‘up’. I assisted Daniel with his permission and ensured his safety by going up the climbing frame behind him. Visit three, Daniel also demonstrated this stage of development when he began to climb up the chute backwards at the swimming baths. I ensured Daniel’s safety by modelling how to go up chute the correct way and by holding his hand to climb the steps.

I can relate my practice to the key principle ‘Relationships’ in the Pre-Birth to Three Guidance (Learning and Teaching Scotland, 2010) as I strongly believe a connection was made between Daniel and I when I helped him climb up the climbing frame on visit two. Also, on visit three when I modelled and helped him climb the steps on the chute by holding his hand. A further key principle I can relate my practice to is ‘Responsive care’ (Learning and Teaching Scotland, 2010) because I readily responded to what Daniel wanted to do, I believe Daniel began to trust myself and felt safe and secure when I assisted him. (Learning and Teaching Scotland, 2010)

As previously mentioned, Daniel and his mother have a strong attachment. Daniel showed anxiousness when he was left in the room with myself on visit one when his mother went to answer the door. This could be a possible challenge for early childhood practitioners working with this age group as Daniel may take a while settling into nursery as his attachment with his mother is very strong. It is clear Daniel is still uncertain when being left alone with strangers – myself on visit one. Other members of staff/adults may walk in and out of the room who Daniel do not know, which may result in him getting upset, which again could challenge practitioners.

Consulting with Daniel’s mother, she informed me that Daniel has never attended play group but interacts well with Dion (Daniel’s mother’s friends little girl). On visit one Dion came to visit Daniel and I observed how they interacted with one another. Before long, Daniel hit Dion because Dion wanted her wellington boot back. This may be a possible challenge for practitioners working with this age group as Daniel does not know at this stage how to play with other children because he has not had the experience. He also demonstrated aggressive behaviour towards Dion which may be a further challenge for practitioners.

The adult to child ratio for under threes is one adult to five children. Daniel is an only child and thrives to gain adult attention. Daniel’s needs are responded to immediately by his family as he is an only child, it is certain from visit one if Daniel does not get what he wants he will cry. This may be a challenge for practitioners as each are responsible for five children and may find it difficult to respond to every child’s needs.

It has been said that parents are their child’s main educator (Whalley, 2007) and is therefore extremely important to involve them in their child’s learning and development (Ward, 2009). Throughout the child study, I involved Daniel’s mother through initial meetings to discuss Daniel’s interests, general information, his learning and development and what my next steps were in taking this further. Throughout the child study I respected and valued the information Daniel’s mother gave me in regards to Daniel.

“For children to develop successfully and reach their full potential, a strong positive relationship between parents, teachers and professional caregivers is essential” (Hobart and Frankel, 2003, p.1)

A relationship was built between Daniel’s mother and I as we both connected and came to agreements on suitable learning opportunities for Daniel. Trust was also created as Daniel’s mother allowed me to interact and devise appropriate learning opportunities for Daniel’s age and stage of development. (Learning and Teaching Scotland, 2010)

In conclusion,

References

Doherty, J. Hughes, M. (2009) Child Development: Theory and Practice 0 -11 England: Pearson Education Limited

Dryden, L. et al. (2005) Essential Early Years Abington: Hodder Arnold.

Hobart, C. Frankel, R J. (2003). A Practical Guide to Working with Parents. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes Ltd.

Pound, L. (2005) How Children Learn London: Step Forward Publishing Limited

Learning and Teaching Scotland. (2010) Pre-Birth to Three: Positive Outcomes for Scotland’s Children and Families: National Guidance. Glasgow: Learning and Teaching Scotland

Scottish Government (2008) Practice Guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage. Nottingham: Scottish Government

Ward, U. (2009) Working with Parents in Early Years Settings Exeter: Learning Matters Ltd.

Whalley, M and the Pen Green Centre Team. (2007) Involving Parents in their Children’s Learning (2nd Edition) London: Paul Chapman Publishing

I have chosen to do my essay on the challenges of keeping children safe in the virtual world. I will include the following in my essay -: the historical context of this topic, the possible challenges of keeping children safe in the virtual world such as grooming, cyber bullying and many more. Ways we can keep children safe in the virtual world; for example educating children, how to report online abuse and relating to theorist ideas on this theme. I also will talk about the current policies that are in place, why this issue is relevant and why these policies have been introduced. Then I will talk about how this can be put into practice and how this will make a difference on how people work.

The first online child abuse images started in the mid 1990s. In 1998 the parliament passed the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA which addressed online privacy and safety risks for children under age 13. COPPA need Web site companies need to take steps to avoid collecting personal information from children. In August 2003 the Internet Advisor for the National Child Helpline, joined members on our Your Child’s Safety board to answer their questions about child safety online. In April 2006 the Government set up CEOP, the ChildHYPERLINK “http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&cr=countryUK|countryGB&rlz=1T4HPEB_en-GBGB319GB320&tbs=ctr:countryUK|countryGB,tl:1&q=child exploitation&sa=X&ei=IGsNTdrVJsyLhQeYy423Dg&ved=0CD4Q0AEwBA” Exploitation and OnlineHYPERLINK “http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&cr=countryUK|countryGB&rlz=1T4HPEB_en-GBGB319GB320&tbs=ctr:countryUK|countryGB,tl:1&q=online protection centre&sa=X&ei=IGsNTdrVJsyLhQeYy423Dg&ved=0CD8Q0AEwBA” Protection Centre, to tackle abuse and educate parents and children about personal safety online. In September 2007, the Prime Minister asked Dr Tanya Byron to lead an independent review into child safety online and in video games, this documentation is called ‘safer children in the digital world’ this was published in March 2008. In April 2008 the home office task force on child protection on the internet published a guidance note offering good practice recommendations for the providers of social networking sites. The aim of the guidance is to enhance the online safety of children and young people and was drawn up in consultation with websites, mobile phone operators, children’s charities and academics.Privacy Protection Act

I will define the word risk this is to do with a child put themselves in danger and wanting to take risk to explore the world. Encarta defines ‘risk as; chance of something going wrong: the danger that injury, damage, or loss will occur’. Smith, C., Stainton-Rogers, W., and Tucker, S (2007) pg 220 state that ‘Whereas other terms – such as ‘hazard’, ‘threat’, and ‘danger’ – always carry a negative meaning aˆ¦ risk taking is much more ambiguous: except that is, risk taking by the young’. From this quote you can see that risk is part of everyday life and children need to experience this to develop knowledge and understanding of the dangers of online activities. Poor areas of society are more at risk of getting abused because of the lack of knowledge online. Bryon, T (2007) pg 22 states that ‘Research highlights that children from more deprived backgrounds may be more at risk online because of a lack of confidence with new technology’. From this we can interpret that it is very important to teach children about this topic in schools, so that these disadvantaged children can get more understanding on the risks of web 2.0 such social networking sites. Children behaviour of risk taking online such as posting inappropriate images online, giving stranger’s personal information.

The internet is a world wide web where millions of people use this resource for education purposes, to stay in contact with friends via social networking sites and for fun such as play games online. ‘Some 99% of children aged 8-17 access the internet’ (Ofcom, 2008). You can assess the internet through mobile phones, computers and game consoles e.g. PSP, Nintendo wii, PS3 and the Xbox 360 all have WIFI on their systems which enable children to use the internet.

There are three aspects of risk online which are as follows; content this is to do with inappropriate images on the internet such as pornography. Contact this is to do with seeing a child in the real world, whom you met via chat rooms or social networking sites. Conduct this is to do with uploading images on the internet that are not suitable for the virtual world or it could be bullying other people on the internet.

Cyberbullying means online bullying. This type of bullying is hard to pick up than normal bullying because this type of bullying can be received anytime and anywhere via mobile phones or emails. Forms of Cyberbullying are grooming, abusing child online, briber the child and cybersex this is to do with the offender tries to persuade the child to talk about sex on the internetaˆ¦ This type of bullying can lead children to be emotionally abused. Emotional abuse is when children need unconditional love and care. They are sensitive and can be harmed by constant taunting, threats or made to feel guilty leading to loss of self confidence and self esteem. The physical indicators are poor speech and stammering or stuttering. The behavioural indicator are attention seeking, telling lies, withdrawal, constantly needing attention also little or no self esteem. ELABORATE

Ward and Siegert 2002 pathway model this is to do with sex offenders, offending on the internet to abuse children. In this model there are five pathways which are as follows intimacy deficits this is to do with the offender will abuse when lonely. Distorted sexual scripts this is to do with lack understanding from child about sexual abuse. Emotional dysregulation this is to do with not able to control feelings and behaviour. Multiple dysfunctional mechanisms ward & Sorbello 2003 pg 17 state that ‘reflect on history of sexual abuse or exposure to sexual material’. Anti-social cognitions this is to do with the offender having attitudes and beliefs of abusing. Ward & Sorbello, 2003 pg15 state that ‘one primary mechanism will exert a primary causal influence, the others only exerting a harmful effect due to the driving force of the primary deficit’ This is saying that only one will take effect first then the rest will integrate during the process of abusing.

Anonymity this is to do with children talking to people who they don’t know via the internet dangers of this could be sexual abuse – Adults such as paedophiles will use wrong age and pretend to be the same age as chose children they want to offend. CEOP (2007) suggest ‘within the virtual world when vulnerable children with a poor sense of self and low self esteem are ‘seduced’ and flattered by others who represent themselves falsely within the virtual world e.g. online predators pretending to be children’. This process can lead to grooming a child for sexual pleasure. Sexual abuse is when an adult or at times an older child uses a child for sexual gratification this means forcing a child ton carry out sexual acts including sexual touching, oral sex and intercourse. The effects of sexual abuse is are long lasting and highly damaging. It can cause problems in adult personal relationships children who are abused this ways can become abusers themselves. The physical indicators are bites, underwear showing signs of blood stains, swelling out of the vagina or anus etc. The behavioural indicators are depression, poor concentration; a child may reveal signs while using anatomically dolls, sexually explicit language and eating or sleeping problems.

This type of bullying can effect children’s confidence and lead to risks such as suicide threats and they may murder their selves for the repeated abuse online. Finkelhor’s four precondition model of paedophilia the four models are thinking about doing sex with a child they want to offend via online contact, making excuses this is linked to grooming the child, creating the opportunity by persuading the child to meet them in the real world and the final stage is doing sex with the child or sexually abuse the child when they meet them in reality.

Victims targeted are mostly girls because the sex offenders are usually male so they are more likely to abuse girls not boys. ‘There is a particular risk of ‘grooming’ practices through popular online services such as instant messaging and social networking sites with strangers using them to make contact with under-age girls, sometimes by adopting a fake persona’ (CEOP, 2007). But also CEOP are creating a leaflet targeting teenager boys to inform them that they may be in danger of this too not only girls.

Children try to hide what they are doing online from their parents, which concern the parent on what their child are doing and viewing online. Older children do two things at the same time such as doing homework and on social networking site. But when parents check on what their child are doing, they will pretend to be doing their homework. Bryon, T (2008) pg 46 states that ‘Multi-tasking is common, with young people using chat functions whilst doing their homework and able to quickly shield this from parental view’. The reasons behind this could be that the child wants their own personal space or independence without parents telling the risks. Some children may think that the parents will not understand the new technology.

The other side of the spectrum can be the benefits of the virtual world for children they are having the opportunities for learning, for play, for Communication, for skill development, for creativity and for having fun. ‘Benefits of the medium include: facilitating learning; communication; and civic participation’ (Bentivegna, 2002). This is important for the child because they will be able to communicate to people in the virtual world and they can do their homework on the internet for research and revision.

You can keep children safe in the virtual world by teaching the children of the dangers of the virtual world and how to stay safe this can be done through teachers and parents. But parents will need to gain knowledge on this topic. Research shows that parents don’t understand the risks very well. ADD QUOTES AND STATISTICS

Understanding what online abuse is, if you think this may be bullying you should report this via CEOP is a company that was set up by the government in 2006 or IWF. Which are organisations that can help children whom are getting bullied in the virtual world and inappropriate content online and stop chose offenders from re offending other children who are on the social networking sites. .

Providing support for the sex offender; organising schemes to try stop these people from abusing children online. An example of this could be circles of support accountability. This was created to help the offender whom experienced loneliness or who has low self esteem, so this may make them abuse children online for fun.

Use of parental controls: to control the content that your child can use such as blocking pornography pictures. Keep computers in a central location such as living room, where you can observe what your child is doing online. Having computer in the child’s room will create a greater risk for children being abused online. The offender will know that no one is around the child and he or she is alone, through the use of webcam.

Providing rules for children on how to stay safe online such as do not give out personal information online to a person you don’t know, this can be linked to the stranger danger scenario because if you saw a stranger you would not talk to them in reality.

Always ask your children what they have been doing on the internet, this way they can tell you if there were any unwanted content on the computer while they were surfing the internet such as abuse. ADD REFERENCES

This is a relevant issue because children and young people are very vulnerable in the virtual world. So it is our duty to protect children from harm this can be linked to the children’s act. Children Act 1989 is an act of parliament, which puts the benefit of children first, to care for children from harm and you, must work with parents at any time possible this act states that requirements of children are the most important…

Sexual Offences Act (2003) sets out a new legal framework to protect children from sexual abuse this covers internet pornography, grooming & exploitation. This Act will put restrictions on convicted sex offenders. This policy has been introduced to give more support to police on how to convict offenders and also it promotes internet safety. This is a good policy because it will keep children safe online because the offenders have restriction on contact with children, so they can’t abuse children on the internet.

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 this is a worldwide agreement that relates to all children and young people under the age of 18 years. The children should be protected from harmful influences such as abuse. This has been introduced because they wanted to keep vulnerable children safe from harm and protect the child from abuse which can have a negative impact such as low self confidence or self esteem. ELABORATE

Another policy is the communication act 2003 section 127 is to do with misusing public computer to send inappropriate messages. The act states that ‘Anyone who sends a message or other matter that is grossly offensive or is of an indecent, obscene or menacing character (other than in the course of providing a programme service) by means of a public electronic communications network, or who causes such a message or matter to be sent, is guilty of an offence’. This means that if an offender sends a child messages via the internet that are not appropriate for their age. If the offender is found guilty he/she can be given a prison sentence for no more than six months.

Debate around protecting children (the protective or preventive state)

On my brothers school website they have a side panel that says ‘e safety’; which gives advice on staying safe online. This can be used by both parents and children whom use the website to see how to keep their child safe online. The government are advising schools to include internet bullying on their bullying policies. REFERENCES

In conclusion it is very important to protect children from the risks of the virtual world because it is easier to abuse a child online than in reality. Another factor is that it is harder to pick out a child who is being abused online without the child reporting this incident to organisation such as CEOP, IWF and many more that can help stop the offender.

Critically evaluate the practice implications (in as far as this is possible) i.e. what difference will it make to the way you work?

This is a theoretical essay that needs to focus on wide relevant reading and research whatever the focus. You can refer to relevant practical applications e.g. in school but back this up with reading as well. If you are referring to a personal experience you may frame it e.g.

A recent placement experience in a local primary school setting demonstrated the importance of including this subject at a number of levels to ensure the protection of children as recommended by Bloggs ( 2208:9) who states ‘ written policies that have been negotiated with all interested stakeholders are fundamental to ensuring that these issues are given appropriate prominence in any education environment’. This was expressed in a number of ways and included…

Bibliography – USE JOURNALS

Byron, T (2007) safer children in a digital world: the report of the Bryon review. Department for children, schools and department for culture, media and sport, London

Grabber, C and et al (2009) E-safety and web 2.0 for children aged 11-16.

Goodman, A & Kennison, P (2008) children as victims. Exeter: Learning matters

Smith, C., Stainton-Rogers, W., and Tucker, S (2007: 220) ‘Risk’ in Robb, M (ed) Youth in Context: Frameworks, Settings and encounters. London: Sage Publications and the Open University Press.

T. Ward, D. R. Laws, & S. M. Hudson Eds. (2003) Sexual deviance: Issues and controversies. London: Sage.

Websites used

www.CEOP.police.uk assessed on 10th December 2010 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/21/notes/division/5/2/1/96 assessed on 12th December 2010

Television is one of the greatest inventions of all time. Through television we have witnessed history in real time. The technology of television has broadened our horizons by bringing faraway places into our homes, revealing the diversity of science and nature, and exposing us to sights and sounds that we can only dream about. Television has the power to inform, inspire, and unite. As adults, we are aware of the mesmerizing effects of television. Television has become a staple in our lives. In fact, most of us have televisions in every room of our house. The average family has the television on for 6.2 hour s each day. As adults, television can influence what we buy, where we go, and what we eat. With the television having such an impact on our lives, it is bound to have an effect on our children’s lives. Today’s children are exposed to violence, sex, and drugs through television. How much does television influence children? We are able to make informed decisions and understand the ramifications of our actions, but children are not. So, is television viewing harmful for children? This has been the question and debate for parents since the television was first introduced in the 1940’s. To make an informed decision, it is important for us to understand the positive and negative effects of television viewing for children.

With the recent explosion in satellite and digital TV, we now have access to a plethora of both good and bad quality content. Parents should seek out good quality TV and whenever possible, enjoy them together as a family. Some studies indicate that television viewing properly used in moderation can stimulate a child’s education and creativity. Television today offers children a wide variety of wonder, amusement, and education. The mysteries of the deep sea, the wonders of outer space and the animal varieties in the natural world can delight children and stimulate their imagination without exposing them to any danger. Kids may be entertained for hours with programs that engage their sense of seeing and hearing. Parents are able to go about their daily routines at home, knowing that their children are safe and occupied in one location. Programs designed to teach children such as “Sesame Street” and “Dora the Explorer”

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expose Children to vocabulary, math, science, history, art and diversity before they go to school. Because of its ability to create powerful touchstones, TV enables young people to share cultural experiences with others. T.V. can teach children important values and life lessons. News, events, and historical programming can help make young people more aware of other cultures and people. Television viewing is also beneficial for the family. Shared viewing gives family members of all ages an opportunity to spend time together.

Despite its advantages, too much television can be detrimental. Children under 6, including two-thirds of infants and toddlers, watch an average of 2 hours a day. Kids and teens 8 to 18 years spend nearly 4 hours a day in front of a TV screen, and almost 2 additional hours on the computer and playing video games. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that kids under 2 years old not watch any television and that those older than 2 watch no more than 1 to 2 hours per day. The first 2 years of life are considered a critical time for brain development. TV and other electronic media can get in the way of exploring, playing, and interacting with parents and others, which encourages learning and healthy physical and social development. As kids get older, too much screen time can interfere with activities such as being physically active, reading, doing homework, playing with friends, and spending time with family. Children who consistently spend more than 4 hours per day watching television are more likely to be overweight. Health experts have long linked excessive TV watching to obesity. While watching TV, kids are inactive and tend to snack. They’re also bombarded with ads that encourage them to eat unhealthy foods. The problem isn’t just how long children are watching TV but, what they are watching. The average American child will witness 200,000 violent acts on television by age 18. Kids may become desensitized to violence and more aggressive. TV violence is often perpetuated by the “good guys” as fun and an effective way to get what they want. Young kids are particularly frightened by scary and violent images. Behavior problems, nightmares, and difficulty sleeping may be a consequence of exposure to media violence. TV is full of programs and commercials that depict risky behaviors ,such as sex and substance abuse,risky and fun. For example, studies have shown that teens who watch lots of sexual content on TV are more likely to initiate intercourse or participate in other sexual activities earlier than peers who don’t watch sexually explicit shows. A recent study by the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth found that youth exposure to alcohol ads on TV increased by 30% from 2001-2006.

As mentioned earlier, parents should search for high quality TV programs for their kids. How do you choose good TV? David Kleeman, Director of the American Center for Children and media, says ask yourself the following questions:

Does this program actively engage my child, physically or intellectually?

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Television viewing doesn’t have to be passive. It can prompt questions, kindle curiosity, or teach activities to pursue when the set if off.

Do I respect this program?

Parents don’t have to like every show their children like. But parents should trust that a programs creator understand and respect how children grow and learn.

Does my child see others like himself or herself on television?

Young children believe that television reflects the real world. To not see people like themselves may diminish their self-worth.

How do the makers of this program regard my child?

Some program creators see young people as consumers to be sold to. Others see them as students to be educated, as future citizens to be engaged in the community, or simply as children. whose work is play.

Parents should monitor the child’s television viewing. They should limit the amount of time that the child watches TV. To avoid the negative aspects of television and commercials, parents can record shows without the commericals or buy children’s videos or DVD’S.

Is Television Viewing Harmful for Children? In my opinion, no. What could be harmful for children is what they watch and for how long. Children’s advocates are divided when it comes to solutions. Although many urge for more hours per week of educational programming, others assert that no TV is the best solution. Some say it’s better for parents to control the use of TV and to teach kids that it’s for occasional entertainment, not for constant escapism. Many parents and teachers have different views and this debate will carry on for centuries to come. There is powerful research and opinions on both sides of the debate. Ultimately the decision is up to the parent. Armed with information and knowledge the parent can make the correct decision for them, their children and their family. As a teacher, I can share with the parents my knowledge of TV viewing and its effects, both positive and negative. In the classroom, I can encourage play, reading, and social interaction. I can introduce children to our world through play, field trips, and books. I can provide the children with healthy snacks and encourage them to make healthy decisions regarding food, exercise, and television viewing. I can provide parents with information and resources that is offered by the school and the community. Children are influenced by those around them. They emulate what they see. As teachers and parents, we should be good role-models. How can we expect children to not smoke, drink, act violent ,eat poorly, or watch too much television if we are doing those things? Television cannot be blamed for problems with children. It is ultimately up to the parents to monitor their child, communicate with their child and instill in their child values and beliefs that help them make good decisions in their life.

The early years of life are important in influencing lifelong health and emotional development. According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, many issues in early childhood development are directly tied to emotional, physical, and intellectual health in adulthood. It is important to realize that certain issues such as nutrition, economics, social environment, and a child’s community during the first years of life will have a lifelong impact for a child.

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Economics

Economic issues play a part in the development throughout childhood, but particularly during the first few years of life. Children born to mothers who live in poverty or are poorly educated typically have lower birth weight, and more health issues during infancy and childhood. Parental income can be a predictor of adulthood health. In addition, lower-income families may have fewer resources for emotional and physical health, of parents and children. This can affect or retard the overall development of a young child.

Social Issues

Social issues also have a profound impact on early childhood development. The social conditions of the parents or caretakers can have a direct effect on the language, social, and emotional development of the child, often with permanent results. This impact can be seen as early as 18 months, and according to the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study –Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K), children in low-income homes most often lack the social skills needed to enter kindergarten. In addition, a secure and loving attachment to a parent or caretaker is essential for long-term emotional, physical, and intellectual growth and stimulation.

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Nutrition

Healthy nutrition has a direct impact on the health, physical, and emotional development of a child in the first years of life. Nutritional deficiencies can result in the retardation of physical growth and poor overall health and may have long-term effects on the intellectual and physical development of a child into adulthood. Nutrition has also been directly linked to the income level of the home.

Community

The environment in which a child lives has many direct effects on their development. Children in low-income communities are exposed to higher levels of toxins, pollution, poor water quality, higher noise levels, and lower overall safety. Lower-income communities also tend to have fewer resources for families, lower levels of access to health care, and fewer safe places for children to play. Children in poverty-level homes are also more likely to be exposed to lead-based paint, which can have permanent health effects.

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Factors Affecting Social Development

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By C. Seefeldt

Pearson Allyn Bacon Prentice Hall

Children’s development of social skills is affected by the nature of their family and early educational experiences (NRC, 2001). Whether in a nuclear, blended, or extended family; a communal arrangement; or a single-parent family, the child learns social patterns and skills within this context. Children find love and security and form attachments with people who protect and care for them.

In the family, children become socialized through interactions with parents, siblings, relatives, and neighbors; once in a school setting, they need new ways of acting, relating, and socializing. Children who have had a strong attachment to a nurturing figure and see themselves as separate from this nurturing figure are ready for a group situation. Children who have not fully developed strong attachments to another person may have a more difficult time adjusting to the complexity of the social system of the school.

Can Anyone Explain The Factors That Affect Human Personality?
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Answered by Anonymous Anonymous

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There are some factors that affecting human personality, which form or make human personality. Or we can say that personality is the outcome of results of these factors.

1: Physical Environment:

Physical environment affect human personality, consists of land, fertility of land, forests, hills etc. for example, a person of hilly areas has different physique and outlook as compared to person of urban area.

2: Social Environment:

Social environment also change and affect the human personality. In a society people learn from his parents, his family members, friends etc. He accepts all the attributes and qualities which are inculcated to him.

3: Cultural Environment:

Culture is submission of tangible and intangible attributes of a society or of a nation. The tangible things are clothes, buildings etc. and intangible things include wedding ceremonies, hospitality, norms, values, folk-ways, etc. change and affect the human personality because what is in his culture he will accept that thing.

4: Biological Environment:

Biological structure or environment of human include glands, nervous system, respiratory system etc. all these things affect ones personality. For example, if pituitary glands don’t work in normal way then the human growth will be affected and this will change his personality.

5: Role Playing:

Each and every individual act and react according to his due role and status assigned to him, which affect his personality.

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Answered by Anonymous Anonymous

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Your birthplace, your heritage, your upbringing, your appearance but most importantly your beliefsystem, lack thereof or open mindedness. If we cast aside our prejudice we can change who we are and we can also learn to project ourselves and appear to have a different or more outgoing personality. Confidence is also another factor. Are we confident to show who we are? You can change your personality with time but you will always have your memories to deep down set who you are.

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Answered by Anonymous Anonymous

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If I’m not wrong in my opinion then there are some basic factors which always have an impact on someone’s personality. Those factors are from religious and cultural aspects. They also come from the family life. And a man takes many things from the atmosphere he is living in. So there are lot of factors involved which have an effect on human personality.

But according to me the greatest of them all is the characteristics of someone. If a person has got a strong character then in this case, he would affect the people around him. I’m very much sure about it. Historical incidents tell us this thing in a very comprehensive way. For instance, all the world’s greatest leaders in history have got the strongest character in them. Even though they were against there culture or religious believes.

You can consider the examples of Muhammad (peace be upon him), Jesus (peace be upon him), Buddha and many other great leaders. Their characters affect their fellow beings and the people of their culture. So it is clear from this example that the greatest effect on a human personality is with the character of some other human beings.

Even in recent days we see many examples like that, people like to follow their favourite celebrity, their favourite sportsman, their favourite hero. Because they think that he/she has the character like they are watching.

I think it is very clear from this aspect. But there are some other factors as well, which affect human personality. For example, the culture in which a person lives, his friends, his family relationships, his relationship with parents. His teachers also play a major role. I think it is enough.

How does family affect a persons personal identity?

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Answer:

You learn from the actions around you, which shape your character or personality, due to the people you’re with or would like to be. Also, your brain develops at an early age to defer what they comprehend and remember from experience, social interaction, and mental memorization.

Your personal identity is shaped by both environment and heredity. During the centuries there has been more emphasis on one or the other. But today we assume that certain characteristics, e.g. intelligence and social adaptiveness are shaped both by the quality of your genes and by parental influence. It’s like a flower that will blossom most beautifully with the best natural characteristic and the right soil.

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How to Solve Problems With Leadership Skills

By Margaret Kay, eHow Contributor

How to Solve Problems With Leadership Skills thumbnailManagers can use leadeship skills to quell disputes in the workplace.

A strong leader encourages a group to fulfill its potential and guide it when it veers off track. As part of a team of unique individuals, the leader is likely to face logistical and social problems on a regular basis. Though inevitable, problems do not need to stop a group from completing its mission. A leader can use leadership skills to help keep problems from gaining momentum and to solve those problems so that everyone involved feels comfortable moving on.

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Instructions

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Encourage frequent communication and open dialogue. When a problem arises in a group setting, be it in the workplace, in the family or among friends, it is important for individuals to feel free to express their concerns before the issue spirals out of control. By leaving your door open and lending an ear to the concerns of fellow group members, you can help solve minor issues before they turn into larger problems.

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Meet with people individually to personalize your communication. Get to know your fellow group members on an individual level so you can better assess how to solve a problem in which they are involved. A boss can hold regular meetings with individual staff members to check-in with their progress and ask them for suggestions on how the workplace could function better.

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Break down problems into simple terms once you have heard all sides of the issue and begin to brainstorm a solution. Avoid stereotyping or assigning blanket judgments to the individuals involved. For example, don’t assume that an individual is just upset because she’s “an emotional woman,” or because he is just “lazy.” Ask yourself what each person involved in the problem wants and what each thinks she is not getting. Think of solutions that accommodate each individual’s wishes. Remind yourself of each individual’s strengths and design your solution to feature those strengths. If the problem is logistical, rather than social, brainstorm alternative ideas on how the task can be completed. Rather than clinging to the problem, think of a Plan B.

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Stay focused on the greater vision of the group. Don’t allow yourself or other group members to be concerned with trivial issues in what is a much larger mission. Remind group members of the project’s purpose and encourage individuals not to dwell on problems. Group members who have their minds set on the end goal will be less likely to create problems along the way, as it will slow the process down.

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Check up on the problem shortly after a solution has been applied. See if the problem has gone away, if it is improving or if it has gotten worse. Remember that being a leader can mean making difficult decisions. If an individual involved in the problem refuses to work toward a solution, take the necessary steps to remove the individual from the group.

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Benefits of Online Social Networking

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While there are risks inherent in online social networking, there are also many potential benefits. Social networking can provide opportunities for new relationships as well as strengthening existing relationships, whether your kids’ friends are close to home or across the world. It’s important to be vigilant when your kids are getting involved in online social networking, but it’s also good to encourage positive relationships through various avenues, including the Internet.

Real-Life Benefits of Online Social Networking

Kids can gain social confidence from interacting with other people online, which may help them feel more secure in new situations, such as going to college, joining a sports team, and meeting new friends.

Because social networking-like everything else online-is constantly evolving, kids can become more familiar with new and emerging technologies, as well as increase their media literacy through exposure to many different types of online media that are shared by their friends.

Many kids find support in online communities; this is especially true for kids who have unique interests or feel isolated. Encourage your child to find other kids who are interested in the same thing or may be dealing with similar issues.

Online communities can be very diverse and expose your child to many new viewpoints, ideas, and opinions that she may not be familiar with.

Kids tend to use social networking to augment-not replace-their real-world relationships, helping them learn to communicate in many different ways. Social networking is becoming an increasingly important method of communicating in schools and the workplace, so it’s good for your child to be prepared to communicate through sites like Facebook and LinkedIn.

Keeping in touch with family members that live far away can become much easier through the use of online social networking. By sharing updates, photos, videos, and messages, family members can stay connected even if the live across the country-or the world.

Social Networking in Schools

Social networking is becoming increasingly important in schools-Facebook, Moodle, SecondLife, Digg, and other sites are often used by teachers to communicate with students or for out-of-classroom discussions.

Youth can further explore topics that they’re interested in through online social networking. By making connections with other people who have the same interest, kids can learn and exchange knowledge with others they may not have had the opportunity to interact with.

Teachers often take advantage of students’ social networking abilities to create class blogs, discussion forums, videos, and more. By collaborating with other students and teachers through online social networking, children are able to build stronger school communities.

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Outdoor Play in Early Years – In whose best interest? This review examines the definition of play and outdoor play as well as the perspectives of the early years pioneers spanning over two centuries who has shaped our understanding of outdoor play such as Friedrich Froebel, Maria Montessori, Margaret McMillan, Susan Isaacs and Majorie Allen, better Known as Lady Allen of Hurtswood. It will also seek to address how outdoor play can be optimised in early years setting to improve children’s learning and development outcomes.

The scope of this review includes debates surrounding outdoor play, concerns and the advantages of using the outdoor environment. This review would also analysis previous researches on outdoor play and evidence which suggests that outdoor play improves children’s development and well-being.

Play is a difficult concept, and by its very nature cannot be pinned down or precisely defined. There is nothing tangible, predictable or certain about children’s play, and this makes thinking about play more difficult and sometimes uncomfortable for those who like things neat and orderly. Play sits uneasily in a culture of standards, measurable outcomes, testing targets and quality control.

While most of us know play when we see it, academics have had trouble defining it (Johnson, Christie, & Yawkey, 1999). “Play involves a free choice activity that is

non-literal, self-motivated, enjoyable and process oriented. Critical to this definition is the non-literal, non-realistic aspect. This means external aspects of time, use of materials, the environment, rules of the play activity, and roles of the participants are all made up by the children playing. They are based on the child’s sense of reality” (Wardle, 1987, p. 27). “Children do not play for a reward-praise, money, or food. They play because they like it.”(p. 28). Children who compete to make the best wooden ship are not playing. Children who are told they must use the block with an “A” on it to create a word are not playing, and children who are asked to label the colours of their paints, instead of using them to create a picture, are not playing.

Article 31 in the United Nation Convention on the rights of the Child stipulates that play is a fundamental right of all children (Human Rights Directorate, 1991 cited in Steampfli 2008) and that play is essential for children to develop intellectually, physically, emotionally, and socially. Through play children learn to express their thoughts and feelings, develop language and social skills and become aware of cultural diversity in their community.

Filer, (2008), describes creative outdoor play as play which gives children the opportunity to use their imaginations, helps promote original thinking, flexibility, adaptability, empathy and the ability to generate multiple solutions to a problem. She express play as the most important activity that children will take part in outside as it is a means through which they find stimulation, well-being and happiness in order to grow

physically, emotionally and intellectually. She express that the outdoor environment is

well suited to meeting children’s needs for all aspects of play and is the most relevant way of offering learning based upon first-hand experiences and individual interests.

Waite et al. (2006) cited in Waller, T (2007) journal article point out, outdoor learning is not a single entity but comprises many different sorts of activity with distinct purposes. Outdoor environments afford opportunities for a balance between adult-led structured activities and giving children access to interesting outdoor spaces.

Friedrich Froebel(1782-1852) emphasised the importance of the garden and the educational importance of learning out of doors more than a century ago. To Froebel, the garden was both literal and metaphorical. He used the word kindergarten, a garden for children, rather than the word school and saw the kindergarten as a place where the child could develop in harmony with nature. Educators would provide a rich environment for growth, and would tend, nurture and cultivate each child just as a good gardener would tend a young plant. Froebel believed in a divine unity and connectedness between all living things, and it was therefore important for children to be close to nature in the outdoor environment. Through gardening and play outdoors children learnt about nature and about the growth of plants and animals, but they also learnt to care for and take responsibility for nature, and gradually to recognise their own place in the natural world. Children’s freely chosen game games outdoors were a source of fascination to Froebel. He saw in such games evidence of children’s growing sense of justice, self- control,

comradeship and fairness. (Tovey, 2008). Forest Schools which are closely associated with the Danish early years programme is inspired by the ideas of Froebel, traditionally favoured play, movement and fresh air (Stigsgaard, 1978, cited in Maynard, 2007), while a sense of connection with nature and the environment has been linked to the Danish notion of an ‘ideal’ childhood (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 2001 cited in Maynard, 2007). The development of young children’s understanding about the natural environment is seen as being an important aim of all day-care facilities (OECD, 2000 cited in Maynard, 2007).

For Maria Montessori (1869 -1952), working in a poor inner city community in Rome, Italy it was not the garden, but the ‘house’ that was the enduring metaphor for her approach to early childhood. The environment, she argued, should allow children to be like the masters in their own houses, that is it should be child-sized, offer independent movement and be well organised with everything in its place. It was not nature, but science and her notion of ‘scientific pedagogy’, which was a guiding principle. Using Froebel’s metaphor of the gardener she argued that ‘behind the good cultivatoraˆ¦.stands the scientist’. This is a very different philosophy from Froebel’s garden where weeds were valued as much as the flowers. It was Montessori, who pioneered the idea of open access from indoors to outdoors and free choice and self direction, but choice was restricted. Unlike Froebel, Montessori did not believe the natural materials were educative and, therefore, she made no provision for play materials like sand and water. Rather she argued that structured materials, which had been ‘subject to the perfecting

hand of a higher intelligence’ (Montessori 1983 cited in Tovey 2008), were necessary to identify the ‘real’ or ‘true’ nature of the child.

Margaret McMillan (1860-1931) was a socialist politician. Her experience of running an open air camp for children in the slums of Deptford, South of London, where disease was rife, convinced her that time spent outdoors could dramatically improve children’s health and that the youngest children should be the focus of attention. She developed an open air nursery school for children, and literally designed and built a garden for children. The garden was central and the indoor spaces were merely shelters for use in very bad weather. Everything, she argued could take place outdoors, play, sleep, meals, stories and games. She argued that there was no need for artificial didactic apparatus to stimulate children’s senses in isolation when real first-hand experience offered richer and more meaningful opportunities. A nursery garden must have a free and rich place, a great rubbish heap, stones, and flints, bits of can, and old iron and pots. Here every healthy child will want to go, taking out things of his own choosing to build with. (McMillan 1919 cited in Tovey 2008).

Susan Isaacs (1885-1948) worked in a very different social context from McMillan. She opened the malting House School in Cambridge in 1924, a school for highly advantaged children of professional parents. It was an experimental school that had two aims: ‘to stimulate the active enquiry of the children themselves rather than to teach them’ and to

bring within their immediate experience every range of fact to which their interests

reached out’ (Issacs 1930 cited in Tovey 2008:46). Children were given considerable freedom for Isaacs argued that ‘play has the greatest value for the child when it is really free and his own’ (Isaacs 1929 cited in Tovey 2008:46). The garden included grass, fruit trees, a climbing frame, slides, movable ladders, trees for climbing, flower and vegetable garden with individual plots for each child and a range of animals. The garden provoked children’s curiosity and enquiry. It offered challenge and risk and children had considerable freedom to try things out, to question, to experiment and to follow wherever their curiosity led. However, this freedom also had constraints. Eg. Children were allowed to climb on the summer house roof, but only one child at a time was allowed. Like Froebel and Montessori before her she argued that freedom brought responsibility, but it also empowered the children to develop skills to be safe. Isaac view of childhood is one of passion. Young children had a passion for finding out about and striving to understand the world. Although she tried to observe children in free conditions she also recognised, unlike Montessori, that it was impossible to discover the ‘natural child’.

Marjorie Allen (Lady Allen of Hurtwood) 1897-1976 featured less in education literature but nevertheless deserves an important place as a pioneer of outdoor play areas for young children. She was active in campaigning for better provision for young children and became president of the nursery school association, and a founder member of the worldwide organisation Mondiale Pour L’Education Prescolaire (OMEP). She designed play areas for many nursery schools including gardens with sand pits and paddling pools

on roof tops of blocks of flats in Camden, London. She is associated most for bringing the idea of adventure or junk playgrounds to Britain. She argued that children seek access to a place where they can dig in the earth, build huts and dens with timber, use real tools, experiment with fire and water, take really great risks and learn to overcome themaˆ¦.(Allen cited in Rich et al 2005:46)

She was damning in her criticisms of conventional playgrounds that are static, dull, unchallenging, and which do not account for young children’s drive to explore, imagine, create and to seek companionship. The tendency for ‘ordering a complete playground from a catalogue is greatly to be deployed: this lack of enterprise spells dullness and monotony and only the manufacturers benefit (Allen 1968 cited in Tovey 2008:50). Lady Allen’s vision for challenging outdoor play environments, her belief that children with disabilities were entitled to equally rich and exciting environments, and her knowledge, from careful observation, of the impact of design on children’s play is still influential today particularly in the playwork field.

These developmental emphasis on play and playgrounds for nursery school playgrounds and kindergartens was later reinforced by the work of early 20th century child research centres and figures such as Piaget (1951), Vygotsky (1978) Bruner, et al (1976), and Huizinga (1950). The developmental emphasis continues in the early 21st century. Until recently, preschools were relatively unaffected by contemporary high stakes testing and continued to focus on play as a primary vehicle for learning and development.(Frost 2006).

A research study by Clements (2004) reveals that children today spend considerably less time playing outdoors than their mothers did as children. The study reveals several fundamental reasons for this decline, including dependence on television, digital media, and concerns about crime and safety. The study also conveys findings related to the frequent use of electronic diversions. Maynard (2007) also linked the growing interest in Forest School to a concern that children’s outdoor play is in decline. Parents, it is suggested, are reluctant to let their children play outside as they once did for fear of strangers, traffic or violence and as a result, it is also suggested, children’s play revolves around organized recreational activities or is home-centred and focused on computers, video games and television. This, it is maintained is having a negative impact on children’s social and emotional competence while also contributing to an epidemic of child obesity.

Maynard & Waters (2007), in their journal also identified recent years reports about the use and abuse of the outdoor environment have rarely been out of the media. These reports, often backed by the ‘latest research findings’, have focused on concerns about environmental damage as well as issues such as ‘stranger danger’, children’s lack of physical activity, the rising levels of childhood obesity, as well as a more general lack of connectedness with nature. A view which agrees with Froebel who sees garden as a spiritual place where children could grow and develop in harmony with nature, and begin to sense their own place in the natural world. It was a place for creative and imaginative play.

There is growing public policy interest in children’s play. Politicians and opinion formers are interested in exploring how good play opportunities can help improve quality of life and safety in neighbourhoods, tackle obesity and promote children’s well being, support children development and build community cohesion. Alongside, there is a growing view that good play experiences are not only an essential part of every childhood, but also a key public responsibility and an expression of our social obligations towards children. (Filer, 2008:14).

Dr Aric Sigman, of British Psychological Society, recommends that children under three should be banned from watching TV, and older children, aged 3-5, should be restricted to viewing one hour a day of good quality programmes. Children spend more time looking at the screens than they do outside doing real things, which is detrimental to their health and well being, particularly in the long term. He recommends that children should be outside experiencing real life and real things (Sigman, 2005 cited in Filer 2008).

One way in which government has attempted to address these concerns has been to raise awareness of, for example Healthy Schools programme, Food in Schoool programme, School Fruit and Vegetable scheme, Physical Education, School Sport and Club Links programme (DSCF, 2008)

The introduction of Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (EYFS) in September 2008 in England for children from birth to five (DSCF, 2008) emphasise the need for the provision of regular outdoor experience.

However, Waller (2007), in his article identified that a clear pedagogy for the use of the outdoors as a site for learning has not been established and, as (Fjortoft, 2001 cited in Waller 2007) and (Waite et al.2006 cited in Waller 2007) point out, there has been relatively little research on what actually happens in outdoor environments.

The EYFS now recognises that the environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children’s development and learning under theme 3: enabling environments which is line with the Macmillan’s theory which allowed children free access to play areas and gardens and was not predicated upon a fixed time schedule. The importance of outdoor learning is also emphasised in the effective practice: outdoor learning as below:

‘Past generations of children benefited from extended amounts of unsupervised time outdoors, and as adults they look back fondly at these early experiences. Indeed it is widely recognised that such experiences make a positive impact and as adults we are aware that it shaped many aspects of our own development and healthaˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦.

Despite this cultural shift away from outdoor play and learning, it remains essential to children’s health, development and well-being. Consequently, it is vital that early years settings maximise children’s opportunities to be outdoors: for some it may be their only opportunity to play freely and safely outsideaˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦aˆ¦.

Outdoor learning encompasses all that children do, see, hear or feel in their outdoor space. This includes the experiences that practitioners create and plan for, the spontaneous activities that children initiate, and the naturally occurring cyclical opportunities linked to the seasons, weather and nature’. (DCSF, 2007)

It is evidenced that a lot of recent and old research into outdoor play are in agreement that it is beneficial for children to be outside experiencing real life, real things, in order to grow and develop holistically. Most of the researches also concluded outdoor is a place where the child could develop in harmony with nature, a place to begin to sense their own place in the natural world and a place for creative and imaginative play. Good play experiences are seen as an essential part of every childhood which would lead to improve quality of life, tackle obesity and promote children’s well being. However, Majorie Allen criticized the conventional playgrounds seen at majority of the nursery and pre school these days as static, dull, unchallenging, and which do not account for young children’s drive to explore, imagine, create and to seek companionship. Finally, according to the literatures, one of the main advantages of using the outdoor environment is that it provides children with the space to move freely. (Fjortoft 2001, 2004 cited in T.Maynard et al 2007) report on research from Scandinavia, which demonstrates that children who play in flexible, natural landscapes appear to be healthier, have improved motor fitness, balance and co-ordination, and demonstrate more creativity in their play. It can be concluded based on the literature review above that experiences of the outdoor play and learning suggests that early years practitioners should recognise the significant potentials of outdoor learning highlighted above, in addition to developing outside play opportunities within their gardens; they should also consider giving children regular opportunities to experience wild natural environments.

CONTENT
Page No

ABSTRACT 1

INTRODUCTION 2-3

LITERATURE REVIEW 4-14

METHODOLOGY/RESEARCH DESIGN 15-16

ANALYSIS/FINDINGS 17-20

CONCLUSION 21-22

REFERENCES 23-25

APPENDICES

NARRATIVE OBSERVATION A-C

TRACKING OBSERVATION D-E

SANDRINGHAM SCHOOL PICTURES F-J

BLOOMING GARDEN PICTURES K-M

ABSTRACT: I have worked in different setting during my course and I have noticed that outdoor play is not particularly well planned by the practitioners. It seems to be seen as an opportunity for the staff have a break and for the children to let off steam. Play is children’s natural way of doing stuff to build for children to build self-esteem and social skills and the philosophy behind the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum supported this very much. The aim of my study is to look at how children participate in outdoor play in Sandringham school environment compared with regular setting with limited outdoor space with fixed and movable apparatus such as climbing frames, slides and bikes etc as well as to encourage practitioners to reflect on their practices. My research draws on observation (both narrative and tracking method) of one nursery located in London borough of Newham- Sandringham School’s nursery in London and a regular nursery with fixed garden apparatus in Redbridge borough, Uphall School. My observation was used to find out how children attending both school nurseries react during outdoor session and how practitioners assist the children in extending and stimulating their learning and development.

The play experiences of children at my own school Sandringham School nursery in comparison with the children at Uphall School’s nursery clearly indicate that children at Uphall school nursery spend less time playing outdoors than those at Sandringham school’s nursery. The study reveals that children at my school at Sandringham school’s nursery are engaged in depth active learning with their peers and practitioners, objects,

allowing the children to use their imagination more creatively. For example, during my observation, a child uses a tree branch to sweep an area under a large tree, which she described as Goldilocks’ grandma’s house.

INTRODUCTION

In searching for my research topic, I have drawn on my experiences and interest during my placements. It struck me fairly quickly from observations in my various placement that outdoor play space in most of the settings is still just about physical development and not given the equal status to indoor play it deserves in terms of the planned experiences that are provided for young children. Majority of the settings outside play area are small with static, dull, and unchallenging equipments, and do not allow young children’s drive to explore, imagine, create and to seek companionship. Practitioners should promote and enhance the development of playground that offer a rich, multi sensory environment that is meaningful, imaginative and stimulating for all young children, providing them with ‘real’ experiences that help embed their early learning and holistic development and not just their physical development. Parents and practitioners agree from conversation with them that outdoor play is a natural and critical part of child’s well being, health and development and the importance of outdoor play is also reflected in recent government policies such as the Every Child Matters agenda (2003) and Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS, 2008) curriculum embraces outdoor learning as it enables the children to follow their interest, make choices, forge links between their learning and develop ideas over time.

This study will evaluate the effectiveness of opportunities provided for children under five to learn in the outdoors, in a garden, or other open air space e.g. in Sandringham school nursery environment and a regular day nursery setting. The research aimed to investigate the impact that the type of outdoor play experiences in the two settings has on all areas of learning and development for children under five.

In this study I will use (Filer, 2008) definition of outdoor play ‘a creative outdoor play as play which gives children the opportunity to use their imaginations, helps promote original thinking, flexibility, adaptability, empathy and the ability to generate multiple solutions to a problem’. She expresses play as the most important activity that children will take part in outside as it is a means through which they find stimulation, well-being and happiness in order to grow physically, emotionally and intellectually. Outdoor play also offers play spaces that enable children to create play spaces themselves and to exercise greater choice over materials, location and playmates.

‘Being outdoorsaˆ¦..offers opportunities for doing things in different ways and on different scales than when indoors. It gives children first-hand contact with weather, seasons and the natural world and offers children freedom to explore, use their senses, and be physically active and exuberant’. (EYFS card 3.3 cited in Hitchin, 2007)

METHODOLOGY

The research takes place in two different borough school’s nursery in their early year’s settings in England over a period of 4 months.

Setting 1: This is my own school’s nursery based separate building for the infants school building, this is located in a most multicultural state in town in Forestage, London area of the UK. Children aged 3 years to 5 years old attending the nursery on a half day and the next lot come for the afternoon session. The garden is a large part of it concrete and the other part was gated and covered with tree barks, with plastic climbing frame and slide, large tree on the other end of the gated part end bench under the tree and a large plastic turtle shape sand and water tray. On the paved area, there is a large wind chime resting on the fence and the other areas are left free for obstacle activity, easel, construction blocks, bicycles etc.

Setting 2: This is a school based in borough of Redbridge,

In order to establish children’s involvement levels in the two settings, I considered issuing questionnaires to both parents and practitioners. On discussing this with my School mentor, it transpires that the result will only give parent’s/ practitioners view on outdoor play and not necessarily give an answer to children’s level of learning and development physically, emotionally, imaginatively, and creatively through outdoor play.

In conjunction with the setting staffs, I have collected data using participant observations in the form of tracking observation method which was handed out to the practitioners to follow selected children during outdoor play at each of the setting to find out the children’s interest while outdoor as well as direct observation method conducted by

myself in the form of narrative observation to assess children’s involvement levels in two different outdoor environments. Observation is an important, if underrated, form of assessment. It may seem subjective, but it has a great deal of potential. Assessments can be made when the children are actively engaged in outdoor play and therefore the process on interaction with other children and adult can be observed. According to Creswell (2002) observations in a setting requires good listening skills and careful attention to visual detail. It also required management of issues such as the potential deception by people being observed and the initial awkwardness of being an ‘outsider’ without initial personal support in a setting (Hammersley & Atkinson, 1995).

ANALYSIS/FINDINGS

The results indicates that there is quality adult-child verbal interactions at the sandhringham school than the other setting which was my main concern and according to EPPE (2004) and REPEY (2002) research findings which identified that more ‘sustained shared thinking’ was observed in settings where children made the most progress. ‘Sustained shared thinking’ occurs when two or more individuals ‘work together’ in an intellectual way to solve a problem, clarify a concept, evaluate an activity, extend a narrative etc. For example, a child sat under a large tree with few other children with an adult and she told the adult this is a forest, where the wolf is hiding and waiting me, I’ll be the goldilocks and you can be the bad wolf and the adult engaged the child in open-ended questioning which is associated with better cognitive achievement according to the EPPE research findings. The forest was later turned into grandma’s house they used drapes and plastic cover and securely pinned and another child sweeping off the dry leaves ‘I am sweeping my grandma’s room, because she is unwell and I need to help keep it clean’.

Where as at my other setting, the adults intervened mainly to ensure the safety of the children by encouraging a child to participate in an activity. For example, during an obstacle activity, the adult encouraged the child to walk on the blocks and offered a hand to boost the child’s confidence. An interesting observation is that there are a lot of initiated activities at the Sandringham school with interventions by practitioners when invited by the child to extend the child/ren’s thinking. Opportunities are provided for adult initiated group activities which according to EPPE (2004) research findings are most effective vehicles for learning. For example, a game of silence ball? – hide and seek game where the children have to listen to where the voices responding to their call is coming from to help them locate the people hiding. This game promotes listening skills.

However, majority of the activities at the other setting is usually free play with mainly fixed climbing frames and slides, large wind chime, and selection of choices made available by the adult such as sand and water tray, lego blocks on a carpet or tray, writing materials, dressing up clothes, balls and books which is alternated on a daily basis. There is mostly child to child verbal interaction.

The children in Sandringham school are engaged in more creative and imaginative play such as finding treasures, digging, treasure hunting lifting logs to look for worms which was in line with Friedrich Froebel (1782-1852) who described garden then as a spiritual place where children could grow and develop in harmony with nature, and begin to sense their own place in the natural world. It was a place for creative and imaginative play for investigation and discovery for songs, music and ring games. Froebel was perhaps unique in amongst the pioneers in linking garden design to his philosophy of children’s learning and in recognising the holistic nature of young children’s learning. He saw in such games evidence of children’s growing sense of justice, self- control, comradeship and fairness which I also noticed during my observation at the sandringham, school setting.

For example, each child is given opportunity to lead with an adult when doing the head count before entering and leaving the forest school. A child was upset because she wanted to lead on this occasion and the adult explained to her that she has had a turn last week and that everyone has to have a go before it could be her turn again and this helps the children to develop sense of fairness and justice.

The staff leading at the sandringham school seemed to have good knowledge and understanding of the curriculum as well as knowledge of child development and they have gained additional training on forest school approach, which I assume has helped the adult in facilitating children’s learning. For example, the children learn to use natural materials such as sticks to make a shelter, two other children uses large paint brushes with water to paint the wooden fence. Another girl went to paint a tree, which a boy was climbing on and he said ‘no Amisha, it’s going to be slippery’. Other activities observed at Sandringham school arethey are climbing, move over obstacles, carrying logs from one area to the other, eating outdoors, getting dirty while digging or hiding, opportunity to wander freely without constant adult supervision in a large space with lots of nature to see and explore at their own pace. All these will support the children’s emotional, social development, environmental awareness and spiritual wellbeing. It also encourages active learning, improve creativity and critical thinking.

From my observation of children at the other setting with garden equipment from a sale, the older children mostly run around the small garden or climb on the plastic frame and slide which I agree with Allen, M (1897-1976) spells dullness and monotony and only the manufacturer’s benefit. Marjorie Allen 1897-1976 also criticized the conventional playgrounds seen at majority of the nursery and pre-school these days as static, dull, unchallenging, and do not account for young children’s drive to explore,

imagine, create and to seek companionship.

However it is interesting to note during each observation at the other school that the tree bark that covers the garden floor offered scope for children with learning difficulty.

For example, the children use the tree bark to represent food served by one child to the other children and as they received each said ‘thank you’. While at the sandrigham school, a space under the tree was transformed into a Grandma’s house, Vygosky (1978) cited in Tovey 2007 argued that such play leads to higher level thinking because children are using objects symbolically. The act of transformatio

Have you ever made some questions like What are the differences between a boy and a girl. or Why you have special feelings when seeing a very hot girl, boy. For sure, not all of you ask yourself something like that? And I still remember how shy my primary teacher was when I asked her how I had been born. These above questions seem so simple but not everyone can answer it because of the shortage of sexual knowledge. In fact, sex education in Vietnam has not been a key point in social education. That is also the reason why the rate of adults who have trouble with sex and love are increasing. “Sex” is a sensitive issue in Vietnam nowadays. Most of Vietnamese people are too shy to mention to sex; however, there is a deviation in sexual awareness among Vietnamese young. As the results, sex education should be approved to teach at Vietnam High schools in attempt to curb problems such as teenager pregnancy or abortion.

II/ Body:

According to Avert Organization, “Sex education, which is sometimes called sexuality education or sex and relationships education, is the process of acquiring information and forming attitudes and beliefs about sex, sexual identity, relationships and intimacy. Sex education is also about developing young people’s skills so that they make informed choices about their behavior, and feel confident and competent about acting on these choices.”. It is also said that sex education is a book-guide closing to human’s sexual activities like reproduction, emotion, birth control aˆ¦ Providing this one is the way we dedicate to teenagers the right information about matters which have an enormous impact on their.

From modernly Western to mysteriously Oriental, sex education had been mentioned in many forms: direct or indirect, official or in-official, all of it demonstrated that our ancestor initiated sex education like an essential “subject” not only for teenagers but also for adults as well. Because of the fact that Western countries preceded one step on this issue, they have had an open point of view for this one. On contrast, both Asia area and Vietnam, sex education is something new and strange as the cultural conception. From this result, it is definitely that this topic is rarely appeared on mass media or newspaper, even more being ignored. This viewpoint was backward, and not had the good fit for present with so many changes. On my opinion, sex education will be the key to handle some issues on young people.

In generally, sex education provides the embrace knowledge on safe sex or birth control. “Implementing Sex Education” pointed that sometimes, people mistakenly believe sex education refers only to sexual behavior (e.g., sexual intercourse) and not the full array of topics that comprise sexuality. These include information and concerns about abstinence, body image, contraception, gender, human growth and development, human reproduction, pregnancy, relationships, safer sex (prevention of sexually transmitted infections), sexual attitudes and values, sexual anatomy and physiology, sexual behavior, sexual health, sexual orientation, and sexual pleasure (Anonymous1,n.d). It is necessary to understand about our sexuality, accomplish sexual health, and identify accurately like a part of our person. However, this receiving knowledge process will take a long time from being born to grow up. Parents and primary teachers take responsible as the first educators to provide the youth a progress and developmentally appropriate sexuality education. Ideally, sex education in school is an integrated education process that builds upon itself year after year, is initiated in kindergarten, and is provided through grade 12. For example, a 2004 study carried out by National Public Radio demonstrated that more than 90 percent of parents give sex education at schools. It also proved that the significantly of parents detected that sex education subject in their children’s school were either very helpful or somewhat adapt to their child in cope with sex (Anonymous1,n.d). As many reasons this concept has not been focused because people thought children better need to concentrate on study than this issue, and the impact of one is not relevant to their life. This backward thought drive to the popular fact: almost children do not see exactly about their body or their physiology and sometimes they can act by rationally natural. Danger to life, even more get to seriously wound appears at lots of case. Therefore helping children on sexuality play an important role on sex education.

Well-educated from guardians make children more confident and control their attitude better. Sex education prevents the high rate of HIV, STDs inflection by intercourse neither. According to the statistics from PPFA (2012), teens are more sexually active now than before “twenty-five percent of all girls and thirty-three percent of all boys have had sex by the age of fifteen. This is a very young age, and by age seventeen the statistics have grown to seventy-five percent of all girls and eighty-six percent of all boys” (Anonymous, 2012). The same unbelievable information was researched by Institution of Population and Family pointed that the abortion rate at young women (from the age of 15 to 19) approximately 30 percent on overall, ranked 5th on the world (Gia?­t minh va»›i ta»‰ la»‡ na??o, pha thai ca»a ha»?c sinh, sinh vien, 2012). Potentially, schools provide a key opportunity to reach large numbers of young people with sex, relationships and HIV education in ways that are replicable and sustainable in resource-poor settings. In many countries, young people will become sexually active while they are still attending school, making the setting even more important as an opportunity for the delivery of sex, relationships and HIV education. There are currently nearly 12 million young people in the world living with HIV. More than half of these young people are female. There are an estimated 2.3 million children (below the age of 15) living with HIV worldwide. With access to treatment, HIV-positive children can expect to develop into healthy adults who, at some point, will start having sexual relationships. “For an HIV-positive young person who has never bene¬?ted from education programs about sex, relationships and HIV, these kinds of programs – which assume all students are HIV-negative – will not suf¬?ce. Furthermore, the implicit and pervasive assumption that all students are HIV-negative can render invisible those who are living with HIV or AIDS. It may also inadvertently increase stigma through the creation of an ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality” (UNESCO, 2007). Finally, approved sex education at high school is the way we protect our future generation.

Some opposition view argued that teaching sex education is somehow we bring grist to children’s hands. However, psychologist Hong Ngoc Do said that the misunderstanding of our education system is passive-psychological and to entrust for school and scare of being naughty. We get better of giving instruction to have right path than let them mislead (Hoai Nam, 2012).

III/ Conclusion:

It was hard to decide on what argument I am going to write about for this essay. There are many interesting arguments I have searched. After thinking about it, sex education might be a good topic. Teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases is very rampant in Vietnam.

IV/ References:

1/ Anonyous(n.d). Implementing Sex Education. Retrived from:

2/ Anonymous. (2012). Sex Education: A Necessity in Public Schools Today. Retrieved from: http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=10246.

3/ Hausauer, J. (n.d).The Sex Talk: What Parents are Saying To Their Children about Sex. Retrieved from: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:D1RfxKYxhTcJ:web.mnstate.edu/vigilant/The%2520Sex%2520Talk.doc+&hl=vi&gl=vn&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiQMHNqpQSFolTNzqh3V7Uvg-8jiZdO171eoQoIP842Nrcu2q-A5sLDsuO2T2T4z7f3rUNI56X-E5zsHsIqbr9sCNvEvqUukbiaRbsDm14r0ivRtZKxH-MbnMOvrfRee-58A2XO&sig=AHIEtbTzkz81PA7u9MU-GlkLoM_Yn3OSKA.

4/ Nam, H. (June,2012). Dan Tri. A??°a»?c giao da»?c gia»› itinh sa»›m, tra?» sa?? bia??t ta»± ba??o va»‡ minh. Retrieved from: http://dantri.com.vn/c25/s25-603793/duoc-giao-duc-gioi-tinh-som-tre-se-biet-tu-bao-ve-minh.htm.

5/ Anomyous. (n.d). Sex Education that Works. Retrieved From: http://www.avert.org/sex-education.htm

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/resources/implementing-sex-education-23516.htm

Baby dumping is the act of those irresponsible human who dump their babies who are younger than 12 months in the public toilet,garbage bin or even the jungle.It has become a serious social problem in our country because the number of baby dumping cases in our country keep increasing year by year.Majority of the people who involved in baby dumping cases are teenagers.This happens when teenagers have unprotected sex before marriage without any planning,unreported rape cases,sex before marriage and also prostitution.After they they have unprotected sex,they feel very pressure when they think that the baby might become a burden to them where they are not ready to take care of the baby.They are unable to make a correct decision.Immature mind of the teenagers will make them to think that the best solution is to throw the baby away because they might get rejection from their parents. Some of the boys might deny their actions because they are worried that people will look down on them.There are too many factors that can lead to baby dumping cases.Literally,baby dumping shows a bad image to the society and it will affect our country’s growth where people other countries will look down on our country.Investors will never dare to invest in a country with a lot of social problems like this.It can also affect the reputation of our country.Teenagers can easily make mistake without the proper guidance from the correct person.The government,parents and schools should work together to prevent teenagers to dump their babies.

2.0 Presentation and analysis of findings
2.1 How baby dumping affect the country’s growth
2.1.1 The negative views from other countries

This issue can cause a bad image of society and country. People from other countries will never think of migrating to our country which has so many social issues. Our country will get negative views from the society and foreign countries. The action shows how cruel is our country’s citizen.

2.1.2 The number of investors who invest in our country decreases.

Baby dumping cases actually affect the economic growth and our country’s economy might be stagnated when less investor invest in our country when we have a bad image. This will also affect the foreign investment in our country. People in the country will also be affected when there is problem with the economic growth of the country. The unemployment rate increases hence the crime rate will also increase accordingly.

2.1.3 The Government is spending more money

The Government need to accommodate the baby’s expenses and this will be a burden to the government in term of money where they will also need to spend money to solve these cases. They will also need to find out the parents of those abandoned babies. When the government is spending more money on this issue, some other people who needs financial help might not get the full financial aid.

2.1.4 The increase of the number of crime rate.

The number of crime rate increases due to the increase of baby dumping cases which is also a criminal where that is actually an action of the people who tries to kill or killed their babies. Those who found guilty to the case of baby dumping can be jailed for 7 years.

2.1.5 Affection to the society normal growth

The action of dumping a baby will be mimicked by people all in the country when they had unwanted pregnancy and they don’t have any idea what to do to the baby after giving birth .The society will become unhealthy due to this issue which keep increasing year by year.

2.1.6 Influencing the nation of the country

The number of population in the country will become smaller and smaller. The country will face difficulties in developing and moving forward for improvements due to the lack of workers in various industries and our country will have to hire foreign workers which will threaten the people in our country.

2.2 Steps to prevent baby dumping cases
2.2.1 Parents should pay more attention on their children

Parents have to monitor their children’s activities and behavior. They should guide them with some sex education and also teach them to differentiate between correct and wrong things to do in any situations. Besides that, they should spend more time communicating with their children to give a better understanding of what their children are actually doing.

2.2.2 Restrict the number of pornography websites in our country

Pornography is one of the ways which lead to baby dumping. Teenagers could access to pornography in just a few clicks on the internet. The parties who are involved should ban some of the pornographic websites, so that teenagers will not be able to access to pornography.

2.2.3 Moral behavior by the parents

Parents play an important role to educate their children about sexual behavior, the way to stay out of sexual relationships and how dangerous is unprotected sex. All these must be explained to the children and they will be able to do things rationally. Parents should teach them the way to prevent pregnancy and what will happen when the children have free sex.

2.2.4. Sex education in school

The school should provide proper sex education to the students so that they will know how important is his or her body and relationships. The students have to know more about sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV and AIDS and how it affects human’s body. The school counselor should always be ready to guide the students and lead them to the correct way.

2.2.5 Teenagers should learn self control techniques

Teenagers nowadays normally will not able to think rationally because they are not mature enough to make decision. They should learn all the techniques of self-control to prevent them from having unprotected sex or sex before marriage that will cause unwanted pregnancy. They have to control themselves because they have the right to say ‘NO’ if someone offered sex. They should attend youth camps and campaigns so they will able think rationally.

2.2.6 The government should organize campaigns and talks

The government should organize more campaigns and talks and encourage more students to join to educate them with the knowledge of sex education and the effect of baby dumping to themselves, the community and the country to create awareness among the teenagers about baby dumping and free sex.

2.2.7 Create awareness through mass media

Mass media is also a very important way to prevent baby dumping. This is the best way to educate and communicate with the teenagers. The mass media department can organize some programs for teenager on television or radio about the importance of protecting themselves from getting involved in sex by providing them useful information and knowledge. Moreover, they can invite psychologist and sex therapists for some special programs on sex education to have more personal discussion and allow the public to call on-air for a ‘call session’ if they have any hesitation about sex.

2.2.8 New rule should be formed

The government should form a new rule to restrict the teenagers below 18 years old to check-in hotel or motel without parents or guardian so that the free sex can be reduced among the teenagers so that they will not able to check in to a hotel to do something that will destroy their future. This can also prevent cases like violation to happen.

2.3 Conclusion

In conclusion, the awareness of unprotected sex and sex education showed the significant link with our country’s baby dumping issues. Teenagers should have a good understanding on unprotected sex so they can prevent sex before marriage and unwanted pregnancy. Parents, government and schools should work together to educate the children about the sex education so they will not easily get involved in the unprotected sex at the young age. Teenagers should know how to protect themselves. Actions should be taken by all the parties to prevent teenagers from making a wrong decision. If no one is working on it this will literally leads to a bad reputation of our country. Government should organize more programs that not only open to teenagers but open to the public. After running all the steps of prevention, hopefully the reduction of baby dumping cases goes effectively.

6. Recommendation

In order to cope with this baby dumping cases, government should come out with several policies and

programs. First of all, the government may incorporate sex education in school curriculum as part of a

holistic approach to tackle baby dumping cases. This approach is needed in order to provide awareness and

better understanding of reproductive system and health at school level. Besides that, the government also can

restructure or add the syllabus in certain subject such as “Pendidikan Islam” or “Pendidikan Moral” in order

to create awareness and highlighted the consequences of social problems like free sex and baby dumping.

The government also should promote Islam as a way of life especially to the Muslim youth as we can see

nowadays; most of the people who involved in baby dumping were Muslims. Islamic scholars and Ulama’

must take this responsibility to explain to the community about Islam. However, it is important for the

religious persons to use suitable method according to target group in performing this task. The government

also can bring the Ulama’ or others religious person from other religion to give talk to the teenagers based

on their belief especially when there is a program for teenagers as well as when there is a national campaign

to curb with this kind of social problem.

Drastic step by the government in categorizing baby dumping as a criminal amounting to murder if it

meets with all the legal specifications is also can be introduced. The government can give another chance to

the guilty parents if their baby is found alive but if the baby is found dead, the guilty parents need to be

penalized under this criminal act.

3.0 Introduction to Information Technology

Information Technology (IT) can be defined as the technology that is used to store,acquire,organize,communication and data processing.Generally,IT (Information Technology) has brought a huge improvements to the human in their daily lives.IT makes life easier where IT helps human by doing things for them faster,precise and efficient.IT contributes a lot to education, health industry, money, careers,leisure and government departments.Everyday there are new inventions and innovations such as computers,laptops,digital cameras,music players,.IT helps in the economic growth and developments of all the countries in the world.Examples of information technology include smartphones,televisions,printers,radios,music players and other electronic gadgets.Information Technology contributes a lot in education.It helps student to do things effectively and reduce the random errors that can be caused by the students.It helps college students in doing research,projects and also their assignments.Information Technology also helps human in exchanging informations with each other.Information Technology has become one of the most important things in the world.Hunans nearly can’t live without the help of InformationTechnology.

How IT(Information Technology) influence me as a college student

Communicate with lecturers through social networking

I can easily start a conversation with my lecturer in just a few clicks.Group chats and discussions where we can share our thoughts with all the lecturers and giving ideas in the progress of learning new topics.It also helps me to get closer with all the lecturers,when I have any problem or question I can easily get to them and discuss with them.This helps me to improve in the progress of my course.We can even make video conference to discuss about our assignments so the lecturers can give us a better understanding of some topics.

Information technology as an additional knowledge

Information technology became an additional knowledge to us where we can actually make use of them after we graduate from the college in the future. There are too many things in information technology for us to learn and all those are lifelong knowledge that can be used in the world of career and create more employment opportunities.

Gained ability to follow instructions

Through computer, I gained the ability to follow instructions and problem solving skills.I will learn how to instruct others and also to accept opinions by others and this will help me when I work in a large organization later.This is a very goodway for me to learn and behave myself.

Access to online libraries

Ebrary(electronic library) is an online digital library which contains ebooks.It offers variety of books from different language which I can easily get access to it and eventually I can read books anytime and anywhere without going all the way to the library.It saves time and also will help us to get information quicker.It can also save papers where I don’t need to buy or photocopy books when I need to read a book,I can easily access to the ebrary in just a few clicks.

Multimedia learning resources

The multimedia learning resources which can explain the phenomena and arouse my interest to learn and do thing rationally.I will be able to learn more from Information Technology that will help me in my studies and I will have more interest in process of learning in the college.

Easily collect and gather information

I can easily collect and gather information that I need for my assignments in the whole progress of my studies.I will have more sources to on finding of materials through internet.On the other hand,I can view news and read articles online so that I can perform better personal development and self improvement.

Store and protect information

With the IT inventions,now we will be able to store our documents or files into the online webstorage,where we can actually store and backup the information in the system so we will never lost it and in case if any file is missing we still have a hard copy in the system and this system is very secure which can prevent hackers from gaining access to my private information.

Gained the ability to work productively and securely

I’ll have a better experience in time management.I can learn how to work productively and securely when the lecturers give us some work such as the typing some words and where we will need to finish it in a period of time.I can learn more about the way to manage my stuff by doing them perfectly in a given time.

Develop Presentation skills.

With the use of Microsoft powerpoint,now I learn the ways to present correctly.Next,I can also easily present the information for my assignment to give a better understanding of my assignment.This develops effective presentation skills to be used in the future.Presentation is very important in all types of industries in my country.This can also build more confidence in myself so i will be able to present perfectly in the future.

Always get up to date information in a short time and get the latest updates.

When i do my project,I can easily get the latest update of all the informations I need.I can search everything i want on the internet in order to finish my tasks and or projects.For example,i can read the latest news online,ebooks,journals and magazines.The access to all these books is very simple and it saves my time on doing my project and this will also train myself to be more responsible in doing things whether for the community or the country.

Improve my technical skills and learn teamwork skills.

Through Information Technology I can improve my technical skills in computers and electronic devices and I will understand how to run software on the computer that can make my work easier. Besides that, from Information Technology I learn the teamwork skills where I can use it in the future so that I can easily get used to the trend of working with a team of people in an organization .I will become more motivated in doing things.

Invention of laptops

The invention of laptops make my life easier.I can keep all my private documents in the laptop because im the only owner for the laptop so this is more to privacy.Furthermore,the laptop will increase the vulnerability of my data,Laptop is more convenient because it is portable and I can bring it everywhere and do my assignment any time when I feel like doing it.

Conclusion

IT should therefore be a must for every person especially to students,Information Technology contributes a lot to education especially in a college,the students use information technology to do their work so that they will be more efficient.Moreover,it will only help college students to complete their tasks more effective and faster besides of improving productivity.Information Technology continues to develop day by day.The new Information Technology Applications that can help in the progress of studying of the college students.Now,they can actually learn more and save time in doing tasks.Students eventually can get information easily from the internet.Students can learn a lot with Information Technology.A student will become more responsible when they come to the world of career after they graduate.This will create more employment chances to them with the knowledge of computer by the information technology.

Year 04 – 78 67 83 76 102 79 91 total 576

Future Leaders’ Perception on Baby Dumping Issues In Malaysia

Nazni Noordin

1+

, Zaherawati Zakaria

2

, Mohd Zool Hilmie Mohamed Sawal

3

, Zaliha Hj Hussin

4

and Kamarudin Ngah

5

1,2,4

Faculty of Administrative Science & Policy Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, P. O Box 187, 08400

Merbok, Kedah. Malaysia

3

Faculty of Information Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA, P. O Box 187, 08400 Merbok, Kedah

Malaysia

5

Centre for Policy Research and International Studies (CenPRIS), Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Pulau

Pinang

Abstract. The increasing cases of outrageous acts of dumping new-born babies and foetuses in Malaysia

recently alarming the Malaysian to take serious attention in handling this matter. This research was about

teenagers’ perception on baby dumping issue. Out of 7,535 populations at four selected schools at the area of

Bakar Arang State Assembly under Sungai Petani Parliamentary, Kedah, 400 students were selected as

respondents. In this study, simple random sampling was used. This research used Descriptive Statistic and

Pearson Correlation for data analysis purposes. Data were collected from July until October 2010. Three

hypotheses were tested and accepted. The result indicates that there were positive relationship between

awareness towards consequences of free sex, knowledge on sex education and religious belief towards baby

dumping cases. The significant of this study was awareness creation on consequences of having free sex

among youngsters as well as parents and school administration and also inclusive of religious

bodies/agencies in taking seriously on the impact of this issue towards our social development in global era.

Conclusion/Recommendations: The recommendations were made to the parties concerned in this issue in

order to find the best solution in curbing this problem.

Keywords: Baby dumping, Teen, Awareness, Sex Education, Religious Belief.

1. Introduction

Lately, Malaysia is facing a serious issue regarding on baby dumping which getting more chronic and

cause a lot of attention. This social problem appears every day in newspaper and mass media. From the

period of January until July 2010, public were shocked, appalled, dismayed by the increasing reported cases

of abandoned babies, some of whom were found dead. This incident indirectly indicated that something is

wrong in our society [1][2][3][4][5].

What is actually the issue of baby dumping? It is not only just dumping new-born babies but also refers

to discarding or leaving alone, for an extended period of time, a child younger than 12 months of age in a

public or private setting with the intent to dispose of the child. The worse situation of this issue also can be

seen when a girl gives birth in a school bathroom at night then throws the baby into the garbage or in the

toilet bowl, also when a baby flung in the chicken coop, a baby swaddled in newspapers left squalling by a

fly-infested dustbin, a baby abandoned under the harsh sun beating down on a wet rice field, a baby stuffed

into a cabinet drawer, a baby left on the doorsteps of people’s home with notes or in a mosque. It is so

embarrassing, sad and worst scenario that happened in our society.

+

Corresponding author. Tel.: +604- 4562519; fax: +604- 4562234

E-mail address: [email protected] 137

2012 International Conference on Economics Marketing and Management

IPEDR Vol.28 (2012) © (2012) IACSIT Press, Singapore Statistics from the Malaysia Welfare Department for this year, from January to April 2010, reported that

111 unmarried young girls were pregnant. The figure, however, is just the tip of the iceberg as many cases go

unreported and pregnancies terminated. It also reported in New Straits Times on 23rd July 2010, the body of

a baby girl found in a bag at a bus stop near the Sultan Ismail Hospital, Johor Bahru in the morning. Also

there a baby found buried. New Straits Times on 18th July 2010, reported that a fetus was found buried by

the roadside in Jalan 12, Bandar Puteri Puchong, Selangor.

Baby dumping is not the solution to a life problem and it could be charged under Section 317 of the

Penal Code which carries a maximum jail term of seven years or fine or both according to the Malaysian law.

For the past few years there are many newborn babies have been found, dead or live in the most unlikely

places like rubbish dump. For instance, The Malay Mail on 26 July 2011 [5] reported that a fetus with the

umbilical cord intact was found in a garbage can at Pulau Mutiara wholesale market in Jalan Makloom,

Penang. This shows clearly that “baby dumping” is really serious problem that currently happened in our

society.

2. Problem Statement

Table 1.Statistic of baby dumping cases from the Headquarters of Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM): By – State from

2005 until 7 April 2010

Cases of Baby Dumping Reported in Each State from 2005 until 7

th

April 2010

States Number of cases

Selangor 105

Johor 83

Sabah 65

Sarawak 34

Negeri Sembilan 24

Pulau Pinang 22

Perak 19

Pahang 17

Kedah 17

Kelantan 10

Terengganu 5

Melaka 3

Kuala Lumpur 2

Perlis 1

Total 407

Based on Table 1, the statistic from the Headquarters of Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) [6] indicated

that there were 407 cases of baby dumping, for the past five years starting from 2005 until 7th April 2010.

On average, there are 68 cases every year and these cases keep increasing. While in Figure 1.2.1, it shows

that, there are 472 babies found dumped nationwide since 2005 until 16th August 2010.

In year 2010 alone, it already recorded 65 cases up to 16 August 2010. That is means average 8 cases per

month solely in year 2010 and this figure is not included the cases that not reported. According to Federal

Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Director Commissioner Datuk Seri Bakri Zinin, this year alone

(2010), as at 16 August 2010, 65 dumped babies had been. As compared to 42 cases during the same period

last year (2009), there is an increase in these cases [7].

Recently, the Cabinet also informed that there were 21 recorded cases of students who got pregnant out

of wedlock between 2006 and 2010. Then, what about the unreported and unrecorded cases? Public belief

that the figure more than what we can imagine. After all the shocking incidents proven by the data produced

by PDRM and Welfare Department, we found a strong base to do this study.

3. Methods & Material

A simple random sampling technique was conducted among 400 students (out of total 7535 students)

from Form One until Form Six (Upper Six) in secondary schools at the area of Bakar Arang State Assembly

under Sungai Petani Parliamentary, Kedah. The schools involved were Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan 138Ibrahim, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sungai Pasir, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Khir Johari and

Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Bandar Sungai Petani in Sungai Petani, Kedah.The data was analyzed using

Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) in getting descriptive statistic and correlation.

4. Results & Discussion

4.1. Profile of Respondents

Out of 400 respondents, there were 183 (45.75%) male respondents and 217 (54.25%) female

respondents. This finding showed the dominant of female respondents in this study. Regarding the age group,

the respondents were in the age of 13 years old (18 students or 4.50%), followed by 14 years old (51 students

or 12.75%), 15 years old (44 students or 11.00%), 16 years old (97 students or 24.25%), 17 years old (94

students or 23.50%) and lastly 18 years old and above which is 96 students or 24.00%. The highest

respondents in this study was 16 years old, followed by 18 years old, 17 years old, 14 years old, 15 years old

and the lowest respondents were 13 years old. The race of respondents in this study consist of three major

races in Malaysia which is Malay, Chinese, and Indian and the balance was other races. From the finding, it

can be concluded that the highest race in this study was Malay, which consist of 242 students (60.5%),

followed by Chinese, 75 students (18.75%), Indian 67students (16.75%) and the lowest was other races

which consist 16 students (4.00%).

4.2. Result of Findings

H1: There is a significant relationship between awareness towards consequences of free sex and baby

dumping issue from the secondary school students’ perspective.

Table 2. Awareness on consequences of free sex towards a perspective of baby dumping issue

Awareness towards consequences of free sex

Baby Dumping Pearson Correlation 0.396**

Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000

N 400

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

There was a significant relationship between awareness towards consequences of free sex and a

perspective of baby dumping issue from the secondary school students’ perspective whereas P =0.000 and r

= 0.396. Significant level is P < 0.05 (P = 0.000). So, the researcher accepts the H1.

This means, the awareness towards consequences of free sex has an influence towards perspective of the

baby dumping issue. This finding was also supported by APWLD Annual Report 2010 [9].

H2: There is a significant relationship between knowledge on sex education and baby dumping issue

from the secondary school students’ perspective.

Table 3: Knowledge on sex education towards a perspective of baby dumping issue.

Knowledge on sex education

Baby Dumping Pearson Correlation 0.445**

Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000

N 400

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

There was a significant relationship between knowledge on sex education and perspective of the baby

dumping issue from the secondary school students’ perspective whereas P = 0.000 and r = 0.445.

Significant level is P < 0.05 (P = 0.000). So, the researcher accepts H2.

This means, the respondents agreed that knowledge on sex education is important in order to prevent or

reduce the number of baby dumping that happen in Malaysia. Besides that, most of the respondent agreed

139that by learning sex education, teenagers will be more matured and responsible to themselves and having

knowledge on sex education is important to prevent free sex among teenagers.

H3: There is a significant relationship between religious belief and baby dumping issue from the

secondary school students’ perspective.

Table 4.Religious belief and a perspective of the baby dumping issue.

Religious Belief

Baby Dumping Pearson Correlation 0.386**

Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000

N 400

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

There was a significant relationship between religious belief and a perspective of baby dumping issue

from the secondary school students’ perspective whereas P = 0.000 and r = 0.386. Significant level is P <

0.05 (P = 0.000). So, the researcher accepts H3.

Religious belief also plays an important role in order to prevent baby dumping that increase from time to

time. Other than that, most of respondents also agreed that religious belief need to apply in their daily life

activity. This finding was also supported by the Azmi (2010) [1] and Coleman & Testa (2007)[8].

5. Conclusion

As a conclusion, awareness towards consequences of free sex, knowledge on sex education and religious belief showed the significant relationships with the baby dumping issues in our country. Most of the

respondents agreed that these three variables have a significant impact on baby dumping cases. It is

important for the teenagers to understand the consequences of free sex so that they can prevent the unwanted

pregnancy at the young age. Besides that, the knowledge on sex education is important to ensure the

teenagers have a better understanding about their body so that they will not easily involve in free sex which

can lead to the baby dumping. On top of that, the important of religious belief and practices also play a vital

function. Every religion has lay down and taught about the dos and don’ts, about the sin and reward, and all

religion prohibited the act of free sex. In order to prevent it, the government, schools, parents and teenagers

should take necessary actions to stop this baby dumping issue from becoming worst.

6. Recommendation

In order to cope with this baby dumping cases, government should come out with several policies and

programmes. First of all, the government may incorporate sex education in school curriculum as part of a

holistic approach to tackle baby dumping cases. This approach is needed in order to provide awareness and

better understanding of reproductive system and health at school level. Besides

I have selected this topic because I have observed many child’s who are very fond of playing video games became aggressive and violent. They were used to play video games and then try to apply those techniques in real life which they applied in games for example if a kid had played racing game and did drifting in it and get the compliment like Excellent, Nice e.t.c so he/she feels he/she was expert in it and he/she can do it in real life too but when he do it in real life it may cause serious accident which may cause his/her death. While outdoor games like cricket, football e.t.c. help us to maintain physical and mental health, create the spirit of confidence, discipline and tolerance and we learn obedience of rule. These games promote peace and harmony among people.

Games and Human Behavior

Games help us to maintain physical and mental health, create the spirit of confidence, discipline, tolerance and make us enthusiastic and some violent video games can increase aggressive behavior.

In ancient times gymnastics were the only method of physical exercise. It was very dull and monotonous. Man wished to get mental pleasure during physical exercise so he invented many outdoor and indoor games with the passage of time.

The history of the sports and games likely extends as back as the being of people as purposive sportive and active beings. Sports have been useful way to increase mastery of nature and environment for people. The history of sports can teach us about social changes and about the nature of sport itself. Sports involves basic human skills being and exercised for their usefulness. It also help us to know how society has changed its beliefs and therefore there are changes in the rules.

In outdoor games we have to obey all the rules so we learn obedience of rules. We learn how to act with our companion players. In outdoor games we learn sportsmanship and also get the spirit of sportsman so, we tolerate the victory of the opponent party When we play outdoor games we breathe in mess of fresh air and oxygen which keeps us away from different kind of fatal diseaseaˆˆso it turn away one’s mind from all kind of tensions, problems and worries.

Games are the important source for the growth and development of mind and body. We acknowledge that sitting in front of video games, television for hours and hours is not health beneficial being outdoors help our children sleep more well. When they have played outdoors we should not mind if our children get dirty or filthy due to playing outdoors. We should encourage them to play and prefer outdoor. The benefits of outdoor play can be found in both mentally and physically. We know the benefits, strength endurance and builds coordination. Playing outside is a value able activity in many ways for babies, toddlers and preschoolers. It promotes their development. Babies, toddlers and preschoolers are sensory nerve learners. Besides all health benefits it stretches out children knowledge and thinking. As adults we know that we learn through doing so we should acknowledge that children learn from motion. Playing outdoors cuts down stress in children. Children express and work out emotional aspects of every day experiences through unstructured play. Children allowed to play freely with peers learn skills for seeing things through another person’s perspective, cooperating, sharing, and solving problems.

Outdoor games help us to control on different fatal diseases such as respiratory, heart diseases and stroke, high blood pressure, non insulin dependent, diabetes, obesity, back pain osteoporosis and can improve your mood, help you to better manage stress, which also keeps you away from different psychological issues. It keeps a person away from smoking and other addictions which are bad for health. It deviates one’s mind from tensions, problems and worries.

Outdoor games teach us different type of skills which help us throughout our life and tell us how to handle different type of situation. It gives us confidence which man always lacks and man always need confidence in every situation. It enhances our decision making. It makes us sharp to manipulate the decision. We learn obedience of rules and laws, so it teaches us the discipline. Tolerance is another factor which it gives us. When we are defeated by the opposite team it teaches us the tolerance against the winning team. It also teaches us the sportsmanship passion and motivation. When we are defeated it gives us passion and target to win next time.

People are so busy in their lives that do not know each other living in the same locality even they do not know their neighbors for years and years. So when people play together in teams so it gives us a better chance to know and to interact with each other. In a team every player has a different socio-culture background when players meet each other they share their moral values, beliefs and norms. Outdoor games bring unity among people and provide a platform to exchange their culture, tradition, customs, views, thoughts and ideas.

Science has made a remarkable progress in the field of technology just to provide comfort and to serve humanity in a better way. During the last few decades our society is facing a serious problem that our youth has involved too much in Gaming at their homes for hours and hours but it is very disastrous for their health. As we know that Video games have been in existence for last many decades and growing concerns about their negative influence are very high especially according to survey held in New York City that those Teenagers who play violent video games over a number of years become more aggressive and stubborn. According to a recent research that violent video games can change the brain in just one week and make players more hostile and harsh. The most alarming situation is that the crime rate is increasing phenomenally due to violent video games we have most of the times what we have in those games for instance bloodshed, massive killings, bombings, sex abuse and sexual contents.

The biggest example of the game that stimulate greater violence was the call of duty and Anders Breivik, the Norwegian who killed 77 people, claimed earlier this year that he had played video game Call of Duty to train himself I have some recent examples which are enough to prove me right.

A 13-year old boy jumped from the building’s 24th floor and committed suicide after playing War craft III for 36 hours straight.

A teenager went on a rampage and killed three men, two of them police officers, after months of playing Grand Theft Auto

A 17-year-old male killed his mother and wounded his after they took Halo 3 away from him.

A 15-year old ran away from home after his parents took his Xbox console away. His dead body was found almost a month after.1

Eric Harris and one of his freinds, Dylan Klebold killed 13 students at Columbine High School and then killed themselves on 20th of April 1999. According to the statements of their mothers, both were big buffs of the Doom, the first-person shooter video game. Is it too large of a leap in logic to deduce that this violent video game resulted the pair to perform this terrible act of barbarity?2

More than 130 researches have been carried on more than 130,000 participants around the world (Anderson et al., 2010). These surveys prove that violent video games increase aggressive thinkings, furious feelings, physiological stimulation, and belligerent behavior. Violent games also decrease aiding behavior and notions of sympathy for others.3

Child’s who are very fond of playing video games became aggressive and violent. They were used to play video games and then try to apply those techniques in real life which they applied in games for example if a kid had played a racing game and did drifting in it and get the compliment like Excellent, Nice e.t.c so he/she feels he/she was expert in it and he/she can do it in real life too but when he do it in real life it may cause serious accident which may cause his/her death.

It is said, “Healthy body creates a healthy mind” however, it is just not possible for everyone to go on doing hard work at studies without a break. All time hard work and study can result into great monotony. Every student after a hard work needs a change, some recreational activity etc and sports are the best for this purpose. Outdoor games are equally important as studies are. These games help a student to maintain a good physique and sound health. If a person does not take part in such kind of activities, this will not let him/her to perform well in academics. Games and sports create a sense of leadership, a sense of confidence in a student.

At the end, outdoor games are very important in one’s life. These games promote peace and harmony among the people. A student must primarily work hard on his studies but he cannot ignore games and sports. It is wrong to say that playing games and sports is wastage of time. Playing game is rather a creative utilization of time but children should not play violent games as by this he/she might became aggressive.

WORK CITED

Measurements taken from New York times Published on 12 July, 2011

http://parrishco.com/academic/the-effect-of-violent-video-games-on-the-human-psyche/ Data retrieved on 25/12/2012.

http://www.ithp.org/articles/violentvideogames.html Data retrieved on 25/12/2012.

A promising intervention programme should be theoretical and evidence-based. The Incredible Years programme, a well-designed and comprehensive intervention package, has strong theoretical grounds (Webster-Stratton et al., 2001). It was originally invented to treat early onset conduct problems among young children (Webster-Stratton, 2000), then was revised to prevent conduct problems by promoting social competence universally (Webster-Stratton, Reid & Stoolmiller, 2008). Children who display high rates of anti-social behavior or aggression are at risk of developing conduct problems (Webster-Stratton & Reid, 2009b). It is found that these children experience more peer rejection and non-supportive comments from teachers (Carr, Taylor & Robinson, 1991; Webster-Stratton & Reid, 2002), and as a result, they dislike going to school and may display more negative emotions and behaviors (Birch & Ladd, 1997). This is a vicious cycle which The Incredible Years Series are aiming to bring it to an end.

The Incredible Years programme is not only targeting on children, but also the factors that contribute to the cause of such conduct problems. Webster-Stratton (2005) suggested that a disorganized home environment, ineffective parenting and teachers’ lack of instrumental classroom management skills were all provocative. Although it is believed that parental influence on children’s social development is the most prominent (Webster-Stratton et al., 2001), past research showed that parent training might not be effective enough, as the children only made short-term improvement at home, but not at school (Gresham, 1998; Taylor & Biglan, 1998). Therefore, a multi-faceted intervention project that includes trainings for parents, teachers and children is designed (Webster-Stratton, Reid & Hammond, 2004). The Incredible Years Series was compared and evaluated against single or paired training programmes; longitudinal results indicated that the children’s improvement in the integrated training series were longer-lasting and could sustain beyond the training setting (Webster-Stratton & Hammond, 1997; Webster-Stratton, Reid & Hammond, 2001; Webster-Stratton, Reid & Stoolmiller, 2008).

The Incredible Years Series that address multi-levelled risk factors are strongly supported by a number of theories. In the following, I shall briefly introduce the underlying theories, following by an extensive discussion on how these theoretical underpinnings are applied to the training programmes and the method of delivery.

Theoretical underpinnings

Behaviorism

According to the theory of operant conditioning, human being’s behavior is contingent upon the consequences (Butterworth & Harris, 1994). Behavior is likely to be reproduced if reinforcement follows (Baer, Wolf & Risely, 1968). The presentation of reinforcement not only serves the informative function to indicate the appropriateness of certain actions (Bandura, 1977), but also serves the motivational functioning that increases the probability of future production (Bolles, 1979).

Children’s development is closely linked to their experiences of reinforcement. It was found that children whose parents who did not reinforce their social skills were weaker in establishing friendly relationships (Patterson & Dishion, 1985). In classroom setting, appropriate use of praise and reward improves children’s classroom behavior (Pfiffner, Rosen, & O’Leary, 1985) and a consistent punishment system is also effective in reducing undesirable behaviors (Pfiffner & O’Leary, 1987).

The behavioral approach explains aggression as a result of external reinforcement. Bandura (1973) proposes that by acting aggressively, some children may gain approval, power, or enhancement in self-image that reinforces them to continue.

Social learning theory

In agreement with the behaviorists, social learning theorists also believe in the importance of environmental stimuli (e.g. reinforcement), but it is proposed that personal determinants cannot be ignored (Bandura, 1977). Human behaviors are seen as an outcome of the reciprocal interactions between the persons and their surroundings (Webster-Stratton & Reid, 2009b).

Bandura (1977) believes that learning can occur without personally experiencing the action and its consequences. He suggests that most children learn to use aggression through modeling. The sources can be very diverse, ranging from the mass media, peers in schools, to parents’ aggressive punishment.

It was discovered that children with parents who had bad marital relationship had higher probability of developing conduct disorders (Webster-Stratton, 1996). The social learning theory provides a justified reason: when parents are openly criticizing each other, displaying hostility, or producing aggressive behaviors, children observe and learn to use these coercive tactics to solve conflicts (Patterson, Reid, Jones & Conger, 1975).

Bandura (1989) also proposed the idea of self-efficacy. It is defined as the personal evaluation of one’s ability to accomplish a certain task (Harter, 1993, Kanfer & Zeiss, 1983). It is believed that human beings have an innate tendency to strive for social self-efficacy with the parents, and would be discouraged if not successful (Heydenberk & Heydenberk, 2007).

Perceived self-efficacy influences people’s actions and beliefs, and also one’s persistence in difficult times (Bandura & Adams, 1977). For people who have high self-efficacy in social aspects, they expect success in forming and maintaining positive relationship with the others. For people who have low social self-efficacy, they might have experienced failures in interpersonal aspects before (Webster-Stratton & Lindsay, 1999). They judge themselves as socially incompetent and put less effort in forming social relationships.

Self-efficacy stems from successful experiences, vicarious learning and verbal persuasion (Bandura & Adams, 1977). One’s own expectation of the probability to get contingent reinforcement (Kanfer & Zeiss, 1983) and also the significant others’ expectations is crucial for the development of self-efficacy (Cooley, 1902). Children understand what their parents or teachers are expecting from them through verbal or non-verbal means (Webster-Stratton, 2006). If they then act according to what others expect from them, they will be contingent to the others’ expectations, it is called the self-filling prophecy (e.g. (Lee & Bishop, 2008; Strassberg, 1995). The lower the teacher’s expectations on their students, the less motivation the students have (e.g. Chung & Westwood, 2001; Jussim, 1989; Wigfield & Harold, 1992). But it is hopeful that children can benefit a lot too when the teachers increase their support and expectations on them (Webster-Stratton, Reid & Hammond, 2004).

Theory of the “coercive process”

The coercive hypothesis generated by Patterson (1982) can be regarded as an extension and integration of behaviorism and social learning theory. It starts with a social interactional perspective and considers children’s aggressive behavior as a product of repeated coercive interactions between a dyad that are created and maintained by the positive and negative reinforcement (Mesman, et al., 2008). Both members of the dyad should be responsible for the undesirable outcome (Webster-Stratton, 2000).

The coercive model sees the importance of parents’ and teachers’ interactions with the children. Continuous negative reinforcement and modeling escalates both the children’s and the parents’/ teachers’ coercive attitudes and behaviors (Patterson, Reid, Jones & Conger, 1975). A reinforcement trap occurs when one member of the conflicting pair gives up during the coercive interaction (Webster-Stratton, 2005). From the viewpoint of the member who insists, this can be seen as a negative reinforcement and would encourage him/her to use such coercive tactics again (Webster-Stratton & Hancock, 1998). The other member also learns by observation and modelling to escalate their aversive behaviors to avoid further ‘failures’. So, the intensity of aggression increases and accumulates after every conflict (Patterson & Dishion, 1985). And children may generalize such pattern of conflict managements to other contexts.

Parents fall into the reinforcement trap because of their non-contingent parenting skills and ineffective disciplinary strategies to deal with coercive behaviors (Patterson & Dishion, 1985). To decrease aggression, one must change the coercive process by stopping the negative reinforcement. Parents and teachers can be taught using more effective and positive discipline methods and no longer triggers children’s aggressive behaviors, and change theirs by modeling.

Attachment theory

Bowlby’s (1997) attachment theory emphasizes the importance of a positive parent-child relationship. It is found that children who have a loving and trusting relationship with a major caregiver are more socially competent (Lee, 1990), while children who experience hostile contacts from parents lack emotional regulatory and conflict-management strategies (Webster-Stratton, 2005).

By using the strange situation, four types of attachment styles can be identified, namely secure, insecure-avoidant, insecure-ambivalent and insecure-disorganized (Van Ijzendoorn, Bakermans-Kranenburg & Sagi-Schwartz, 2006). The attachment pattern highly affects how one thinks and feels (Cummings-Robeau, Lopez & Rice, 2009) and has enormous influence on interpersonal functioning (Collins, 1996). Insecure attachment may develop when the parents are being inconsistent, rejecting and insensitive to children’s needs (Webster-Stratton & Reid, 2009b). Children with this type of attachment may have higher level of aggression and greater difficulty expressing their feelings and trusting the others (Fagot, 1997). In contrast, securely attached children possess greater social skills (e.g. Schneider, Atkinson & Tardif, 2001; Weinfield, Scoufe, Egeland & Carlson, 1999) and feel safe to explore the world as they trust their parents (Juffer, Bakermans-Kranenburg & van IJzendoorn, 2008b). better social competence (e.g. Schneider, Atkinson & Tardif, 2001; Weinfield, Scoufe, Egeland & Carlson, 1999).

As the kind of attachment formed is closely linked to the parenting skills and parental sensitivity (Bakermans-Kranenburg et al., 2008), Incredible Years aims to improve those elements so as to alter the attachment pattern. Moreover, the attachment theory can also be applied to the teacher-child relationship, as children also have a lot of contact with teachers (Birch & Ladd, 1997).

The Incredible Years Programme

Based on the above theories, Webster-Stratton (1981) developed three interlocking programmes, targeting at the parents, teachers and children to promote social competence.

Parent training

The parent series is the most important one (Webster-Stratton et al., 2001), with four sub-sections designed for promoting different skills and accommodating children of different age groups.

One of the heaviest elements in this series is the training of parenting skills. In line with the underlying behavioral theory, parents are taught the effective use of reinforcement and punishment. In order to encourage children’s exhibition of prosocial behaviors, parents make good use of reinforcers. They are guided to create a hierarchy of reinforcement that is tailor-made for their own children. Examples of powerful reinforcers are social rewards like attention, smiles and hug and social activities like going to beach together (Neville, Beak & King, 1995). The way parents administer the reinforcements is very crucial – they have to make sure that the reward is immediate and contingent to specific favorable behaviors; and also, children should receive the rewards together with labeled praise. Moreover, parents are reminded that materialistic rewards like money and toys may apparently seem to be incredible reinforcers, but their effectiveness may not be very long-lasting. This kind of tangible rewards is better used at times when children achieve a particular goal that is clearly defined beforehand (Webster-Stratton & Herbert, 1994).

Conversely, to reduce children’s aversive behaviors, parents are trained to use a wide range of methods depending on the intensity and type of misbehaviors. Examples are removing existing reinforcements like “ignoring” and “timeout”, and rewarding alternative positive behaviors (Neville, Beak & King, 1995). Parents are taught not to argue and shout with the children during conflicts, as those naggings are also reinforcing, as they are parental attention. Yet, using “ignoring” is not easy, as parents have to be consistent and determined to neglect the child until the unwanted behavior vanishes (Webster-Stratton, 2006). Or else, parents would have been fallen into the reinforcement trap, as suggested by Patterson’s (1982) coercive model. “Timeout” is another good strategy if used probably as it gives both the parents and the children a cooling period. Children are kept isolated for a while, and are deprived of any possible reinforcement, including parents’ attention (Webster-Stratton & Herbert, 1994). Using these methods can reduce children’s coerciveness, model children the peaceful way of managing conflicts and still to remain a trusting parent-child relationship. No matter it is the administration of rewards or punishments, one rule that parents must follow is to be consistent. Previous research studies show that unpredictable parenting style seriously affects the parent-child bonding and makes children feel insecure and frustrated (Lee, 1990).

To manage discipline, both reinforcements and punishments may be needed (Pfiffner & O’Leary, 1987). The latter one should be used as last resort (Neville, Beak & King, 1995), as punishments may trigger children’s anger, create tension and model unwanted, aggressive behaviors to them. Moreover, punishing for a bad behavior does not give children ideas what an appropriate behavior is. To prevent using punishments, one of the best ways is to set limits. Parents can set clear, realistic and positive goals with the children (Webster-Stratton, 2005). With limit setting, coercive process of aggression can be prevented, and children’s experience of reaching goals or keeping within the limits reinforces them, and enhances their social self-efficacy (Webser-Stratton & Reid, 2007). According to the expectancy theory, when children recognize that parents have high but reasonable expectations on them, their self-confidence is enhanced and self-fulfilling prophecy predicts that they will try hard to act accordingly.

To enhance children’s self-esteem, the support from parents is essential (Harter, 1993). According to Bandura (1977), one’s self-efficacy can be improved by verbal persuasion. Parents should view their children in a positive way, accept their weakness and encourage them to think positively about themselves (Webster-Stratton, 2006). For elder kids, parents can try to involve them more in family meetings, limit settings, or any other activities can require collaborative decisions (Coopersmith, 1967), so that children have more opportunities to express themselves and they might feel confident as becoming a contributor in the family (Webster-Stratton, 2000).

The ADVANCE parent training programme focuses on the parents’ interpersonal skills. It is found that parents who have poor communicate skills and anger management strategies are more likely to have children who suffer from conduct problem (Webster-Stratton & Reid, 2009b). This is due to the fact children can observe and may have modeled their parents’ behaviors (Webster-Stratton, 1996). In this training series, parents are empowered to act as a good role-model of their children. And by modeling, parents can foster social skills and desirable learning habits to them (Webster-Stratton, 2005).

Teacher training

The teacher training series focuses on skills and tactics to manage a large of children (Webster-Stratton et al., 2001), mainly by using reinforcement, managing misbehavior, fostering a warm and safe environment, building positive relationships, teaching social and problem-solving skills (Webster-Stratton, 2004). Although the target is different, the major concepts used in the teacher training are similar to that of the parent one (Webser-Stratton & Reid, 2007).

To promote positive behaviors, reward again is very important. Besides praising children specifically and enthusiastically, teachers, persons that are familiar with children’s learning progress, should praise children for their improvement instead of the scores they achieve. A consistent rewarding system can enhance children’s self-efficacy and social competence (Webser-Stratton & Reid, 2007).

Another special component of the teacher training series is the effort of teachers to collaborate with the children’s family (Webster-Stratton, 1999). It is desirable for teachers to visit their students’ family, so that they can better understand the students’ home environment and background, and thus to be more sensitive in catering the students’ special needs. It is equally valuable for parents to visit their children’s schools. Teachers in the Incredible Years programme are equipped with techniques to communicate and cooperate effectively with the parents (Webser-Stratton & Reid, 2007).

Children Training

The children training series emphasizes enhancing children’s emotional literacy, social skills, conflict management and problem-solving skills (Webster-Stratton, 2004). Emotional literacy is “the ability to recognize, understand, handle and appropriately express emotions” (Sharp, 2001: 1). This is one of the most fundamental communication skills that children acquire in the Incredible Years student series. Children with conduct problems usually have worse emotional literacy and ability to identity and understand facial cues (Webster-Stratton & Reid, 2003).

The ability to convey emotional messages are closely linked to one’s emotional and social health (Morrison and Matthews, 2006; Nyland, 1999). It was found that enriching emotional literacy can lead to a reduction and delinquency and aggression (Carnwell & Baker, 2007); and children with higher emotional literacy have comparatively better social outcomes like having more friends (Hubbard & Coie, 1994; Miller et al., 2005).

Olson (1992) explained that for children who were not equipped with enough vocabularies to communicate their emotions, it was likely for them to use their bodies to express themselves. This is often quite undesirable, as for example, if the child was angry at the moment, and because he did not know how to verbalize it, he transformed his anger to physical responses and hit his classmates. Research evidence did show that the lack of emotional vocabulary and emotion understanding were correlated with aggressive behaviors (Bohnert, Crnic & Lim, 2003) and ineffective conflict management (Heydenberk & Heydenberk, 2005). After building up a list of emotional vocabularies and learning the usage of strategic communications skills like I – messages (e.g. I want toaˆ¦, I feelaˆ¦, I hopeaˆ¦, etc.), children displays significantly less anti-social behaviors (Heydenberk & Heydenberk, 2007). It is easier for them to regulate their emotions (Webster-Stratton & Reid, 2009)

Methods of Delivery

In the Incredible Years Programme, most of the sessions involve group discussion and practice, while one-fourth of them are administered through videotape modelling (Webster-Stratton and Herbert, 1994).

Group Discussion

One of the goals of the Incredible Years is to provide a cost-effective intervention program. This is achieved through the use of group-based delivery (Webster-Stratton, 2000). There are around 12 to 14 participants per group, with one group leader to assist in administrative issues and encourage discussions. Besides the economical value, the group setting allows parents or teachers to share and normalizes their experiences (Webster-Stratton, 1981), to provide support for each other, and to facilitate modeling (Webster-Stratton, 2004). When parents or teachers know that there are so many other people that are encountering the same difficulties as they do, they feel more relieved and confident with their parenting or teaching skills.

Video Modelling and live modeling

Video Modelling is a cost-effective training method that has been extensively used in the programme (Brestan & Eyberg, 1998). This method is based on Bandura’s (1989) theory of observational learning. It was proposed that participants would model the positive behaviors by observing the interactions shown in the videotapes (Webster-Stratton, 2005). The study done by Singer and Singer (1983) showed that children who watched a television programs that promote prosocial behaviors really exhibited significantly greater desirable behaviors upon watching.

Parents are mainly shown about parent-child interactions at home during dinner, play, etc.; teachers are shown the teacher-child interactions in classroom during circle, work time and play, etc. (Webser-Stratton & Reid, 2007). Some of scenes are positive, while some are negative, so the adults understand there is no perfect teaching or parenting (Juffer, Bakermans-Kranenburg & van IJzendoorn, 2008a), and this may raise their self-efficacy. Seeing the adult-child relationships give them an idea how to increases children’s prosocial behaviors and reduces aggressive or aversive behaviors (Webster-Stratton, 2004).

Previous research, in line with the hypothesis, indicated that children video which showed some positive peer interactions were effective in enhancing children’s politeness and friendliness and in decreasing children’s noncompliant and negative behaviors (Webster-Stratton, 1982).

Unlike, one-to-one interventions, video modeling makes it possible to show different kinds of people interacting in different contexts, which creates greater generalization and participants may find it easier to apply the skills learnt in daily lives (Webster-Stratton, 2000).

There are some important points to note when using modeling. First, video-makers have to ensure that the participants have affirmative feelings about the model, and they can identify with the model to some extent. One way to achieve this is to explicitly tell the participants that those models are not actors, but real parents like them. Secondly, the video must have scenes showing the model getting reward upon doing some favorable (Webster-Stratton, 1981). For example, the children’s cooperation is a kind of intangible reinforcement for the adults. Thirdly, group leaders should ensure that participants are paying attention, and not being disturbed by some external distracters. Lastly, there should be chance for the participants to practice the new skills and gain the reward as shown.

In the Children Training Series, the leader and a puppet named Wally act as a live model (Webster-Stratton, 2000). The group leader uses the puppet to role-play and model a positive interpersonal interaction, so that children can learn the appropriate behaviors through vicarious experience (Webster-Stratton & Reid, 2009).

Behavioral research (Homework and practice)

Homework and exercises are given to participants to try out the newly learnt skills and to apply the knowledge to real life context (Webster-Stratton & Reid, 2007; Webster-Stratton & Reid, 2009). The role-playing exercises allow participants to understand the concepts and skill more thoroughly and clearly (Webster-Stratton, 2000). And through this, they know how it feels to use appropriate strategies in interactions. Experiences of success is very important for participants to be motivated in using such skills and real achievements can boost their self-esteem (Emler, 2001).

Child-directed play

Child-directed play is a useful tool in enhancing attachment and positive relationship between adults and children (Axline, 1969; Webster-Stratton & Reid, 2009). This kind of play can also enhance children’s social competence and self-efficacy (Lee, 1990).

There are a number of techniques that aid child-directed play. First, the adults should give minimal comments, not to judge or question during the play. Adults reinforce and encourage the children’s effort, concentration, creativity and all the other positive behaviors. This can help promoting the children’s perceived competence and self-worth (Webster-Stratton & Reid, 2009). Second, adults try to follow the children’s thoughts and allow children to have independent thinking (Webster-Stratton, 2006).

There are six different child-directed play skills that can help teaching children academic and social skills, and building a positive adult-child relationship (Webster-Stratton & Reid, 2009). First, the adults use descriptive commenting to show that they are paying attention to the children, and at the same time, to teach children important vocabularies. The joint attention reinforces children to continue playing. Second, adults can use academic coaching to teach children academic skills like counting and names of objects. Third, when children are encountered with challenges in the play, adults try to promote persistence in playing (Schunk, 1981). As suggested by Bandura (1989), the longer one stays in the difficult problems, the stronger confidence one has about his abilities. Adults use persistence coaching to encourage children by commenting on their cognitive condition. Being praised and knowing oneself as persisting, children feel reinforced and contented. Fourth, emotion coaching can be used to teach children feeling words. The last two are one-on-one and peer social coaching that allow children to practice playing with children, so that they can model the interaction techniques and experience real success (Webster-Stratton & Reid, 2009).

Conclusion

The Incredible Years Series is a theoretical-based intervention programme that is found to be effective in treating or preventing children’s conduct problems in many previous research studies (e.g. Webster-Stratton, 1994; Webster-Stratton et al., 2001; Webster-Stratton & Reid, 2009; Webster-Stratton, Reid & Stoolmiller, 2008). A lot of developmental or educational psychologists from different countries have been trying to revise and adopt the programme to their culture, reflecting the effectiveness and popularity of the programme. All the three training modules (parents, teachers and children) place great emphasis in promoting children’s positive behaviors by reinforcement, reducing misbehaviors using sensible skills and learning effective social skills through observational learning. Overall, this is a well-planned intervention programme and it is hopeful that Incredible Years can really helping creating incredible lives for the next generation.