Perception- A Necessity

                                     

I have been confused about what to write today and this is not because I don’t know what to say but more because I have so much to say. A friend, who I hadn’t spoken to in so many days, finally liked my last post. The concept of perception intrigued him. Another asked me if I thought it had something to do with an expression of hope.  

Therefore I decided to start from the beginning, i.e. when a child is born. I found a study according to which a child in her first three months sees 15 faces per hour which comes down to 6 faces per hour by the time a child is 1 year. Why it is relevant, is it because of the frequency of visits a newborn gets or need for assistance. How will that affect the perception of a child who has no idea of the world?

The study was an initiative developed with support from the National Science Foundation. Teachers use various ways to help children develop their sight, smell, and other senses. I saw a video of a nursery where a teacher was guiding a toddler to play blocks. There were colours, shapes, and a song that the teacher was singing very softly to encourage the child. 

Another video and a personal favourite of mine are that of a doctor administering a vaccine to a child. Even though he knows that it will cause the child pain, he creates an atmosphere of fun with an action song, bubbles, and just when the child is busy he goes ahead and gives the injections. The child never feels the pain.

In both these videos, the reactions of two adults made a lot of difference to those children at that moment. if the teacher was impatient or upset or the doctor indifferent, the story would have resulted in two unhappy and scared children. Would it have affected their perceptions, I am not sure, but it definitely affects the child’s willingness to communicate with an adult.

Our perception of the world is mostly a result of our experience of childhood. How we have been treated or how we see others being treated make us the person we are. Children soak in everything, as the ability to filter out doesn’t really exist.

It is only as we grow older we become equipped with the art of selective processing. In fact, I imagine the process of moving from taking everything in to leaving something out is liberating and that is the phase where most of us are get into altercations with our stubborn teenagers.  Children would suddenly realize that they don’t ‘have to’ listen to everything, and they don’t ‘have to’ adhere to rules and that they have questions that their parents or immediate family do not have answers to.

Imagine the change in perception then. Psychologically it will be a huge shift. From seeing the elders in an immediate circle as a prime authority, they move to question their authenticity. The feeling could also lead to a sense of betrayal if parents insist of living up to the sham of know all mindset or I know what is right for you mindset or worse still, I am right and you are the wrong mindset.

The shift is perception is natural and required. It is for parents to realize that they need to keep up rather than offering a challenge to the children to make them fall in line with something they are not convinced with.

Creating communication channels and keeping them open is the only way for parents to keep up with changing perceptions of the children. This by extension also applies to teachers, schools and society at large. Shutting them off will only give rise to mental health issues a challenge that we don't want our children to face.

It is a good idea to welcome all perceptions, old an new, negative or positive and then work with the thought process. Power of suggestion is by far the strongest tool in parent's arsenal.