Open Discussion Forum

  • 1.  The stress issue.

    Posted 01-21-2019 11:02 AM

    Current information from the scientific research of the brain looks important to me. For one thing, I'm hoping that we can discuss discipline again. It looks like anything that causes unrelieved stress is damaging to a child. Stress can develop parts of the brain that lead to ineffective fear responses and doesn't develop the parts of the brain that think carefully about responses. It's clear that sometimes a caregiver needs to say, No, to a child. Sometimes it's even with a raised voice. This act raises attention to a behavior, but it also causes stress and the child then needs to be calmed in order to think about the consequences of her behavior.

    This approach to discipline is very different from spanking. There is no anger, no blame. It doesn't cause fight or flight behaviors. It doesn't make the child feel less smart or less worthwhile. A "no" does need to lead to a discussion so that what is learned by the child isn't just acceptance of authority. Well-considered discipline can support the thinking that develops attention to consequences and leads to making effective decisions about behaviors.

    Survey's find that some 80% of parents still believe in corporal punishment. That suggests to me that early childhood caregivers need to discuss discipline in order to adjust their own beliefs as well as those of the parents they work with. Like all science there may be errors in conclusions that will come out later, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't consider new evidence of harm to children. Let's talk about discipline.



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    Jack Wright
    Child Development Consultant
    Success With Children
    St Ignatius MT
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  • 2.  RE: The stress issue.

    Posted 01-22-2019 07:45 AM
    Jack, Thank you for always reminding us about brain science, which tells us that when a person is stressed they can't always access their executive functioning skills, which are responsible for reasoning and impulse control. You probably already know the self-regulation work of Stuart Shanker.  I like his work because it combines brain science, child development, and compassion.  His work is used in schools across Canada.  There's more information at www.self-reg.ca.       He has published a book for parents:  Self-Reg: How to Help Your Child (and You) Break the Stress Cycle.  When I talk with teachers about a child with challenging behaviors I encourage them to identify possible stressors and what we can do to alleviate them, even before we look at specific behaviors.  "See a child differently; see a different child."

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    Aren Stone
    Child Development Specialist
    The Early Years Project
    Cambridge, MA
    she/her
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  • 3.  RE: The stress issue.

    Posted 01-23-2019 08:19 AM
    @Aren Stone I like that quote "See a child differently; see a different child."  May I use it? and who should I credit the quote to?  



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    Tabitha Shelton
    Disability Services & Mental Health Manager
    East Coast Migrant Head Start Project
    Raleigh NC
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  • 4.  RE: The stress issue.

    Posted 01-24-2019 08:24 AM
    Tabitha Shelton wrote:  I like that quote "See a child differently; see a different child."  May I use it? and who should I credit the quote to?  

    Tabitha:  It's great, isn't it?  It is from Dr. Stuart Shanker and I should have made the more clear.  Share away.


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    Aren Stone
    Child Development Specialist
    The Early Years Project
    Cambridge, MA
    she/her
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  • 5.  RE: The stress issue.

    Posted 01-22-2019 12:39 PM
    Jack does this include bulling, recently I have heard of a 10 year old taking his own life because of bulling. That is Stress, we need to stick together on this subject. Teachers, Parents and Children,  it takes a village to raise a child.





  • 6.  RE: The stress issue.

    Posted 01-22-2019 01:18 PM
    Ruth, yes, bullying is terribly stressful for the bullied and looks like a fear response--an amygdala response--not a thinking--prefrontal cortex--response in the bullying child,as their lives usually end up tragically. I think it important to realize that not all children can be bullied. Those with secure attachment tend to just think the bullies are damaged people. Those who easily muster a physical or emotional response that promotes fear in the bullying person don't get bullied. Bullies pick on the vulnerable. My youngest son acted fearful about going to school the year that his big brother left the small school to go into town to the middle school. I told him that if attacked he may not be the best fighter as he was still small by comparison to the older grade children, and wasn't practiced at fighting, but that it would be important to at least hurt the bully as they tended to pick on people who don't hurt them. I also said that I would talk to the school about a bully and call his parents in for a talk. Further, I said, I would visit the parents with a police officer if nothing else worked. We would make him not an easy target. He went to school without fear and was never bullied.

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    Jack Wright
    Child Development Consultant
    Success With Children
    St Ignatius MT
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  • 7.  RE: The stress issue.

    Posted 01-24-2019 10:51 AM
    I am teaching a class this semester on trauma in early childhood. We are only a few weeks in, and I am already seeing the "light bulb" go off when they've considered behaviors in the classroom and the potential meaning behind those behaviors. Yesterday we discussed the states of arousal and the impact that our actions, or the actions of a parent, can have on those states. The way adults respond to a child's actions can help them learn, or send them in to a more dysregulated state.

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    Michelle Mertic
    Program Director of Early Childhood Education
    Baker College of Allen Park
    Brownstown MI
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