Category: Children

Domestic violence is a very controversial topic that affects almost every American in some way, shape or form. Domestic violence victims have not always been treated as most would like to see. Coming from that are many different foundations, that are supporting the victims by creating support systems, shelters, hotlines, and many more implementations have been put in place to make domestic violence victims lives easier after the incident has taken place. Domestic violence has also been called Intimate partner violence (IPV). Research of this topic has been growing for many years, which brings me to cover this topic, making me more familiar with it and maybe even enter a field that would allow me to continue to help these victims out.

Domestic violence victims make up most crime victims in America. Here is a little background information regarding what domestic violence actually is. “Domestic violence and abuse (DVA) comprise physical, psychological and emotional, financial, or sexual abuse, or controlling or coercive behaviors, against a current/former intimate partner or adult family member (Home Office, [29]).” (Trevillion 2016). The biggest misconception within the topic of domestic violence is that people believe the violence takes place two significant others and completely forget about the fact that it can also occur between family members within the household. “1 in 4 (25%) children are exposed to family violence during their lifetime (Hamby et al. 2011), with the vast majority (90%) of these children directly witnessing the violence between their caregivers.” (Herschell 2016). It is not good for these children to be exposed to these sorts of behaviors because it will directly affect their lives. “In fact, a recent review of 122 studies published between 2005 and 2011 (Lourenco et al. 2013) found that children who witness domestic violence exhibit internalizing symptoms (e.g., depressive symptoms, insecurity, and posttraumatic stress; 75.8%), externalizing and adjustment symptoms (e.g., behavior problems, aggression; 32.6%), and poor school performance (e.g., declining academics, bullying; 20%) at higher rates than their peers.” (Herschell 2016). Those rates are alarming high, especially in a case where these sorts of things could be avoided if the caregivers did not partake in domestic violence in front of these children. The rates mentioned are closely related to the statistical numbers and with the help of more support shelters or programs for these children to go to, the rates could significantly decrease by getting them out of these types of households. Being a teenager is already hard enough as it is especially as school, relationships, and clubs/sports start piling up, adding this sort of stress to the child’s life will hinder their ability to perform to their highest standards. “Further, when a child’s parent is also impacted by a stressful event, such as domestic violence, the relationship between the caregiver and child may be impacted (Osofsky 2004).” (Herschell 2016). This means that not only does the relationship of the partners who partake in the domestic violence get hurt, but the relationship between the partners will be hurt too. This is not something you want in a household, because as things go on, it will continue to break and make everybody in the household have weaker relationships and leading to weaker mental health to everybody involved. A child’s best support system usually comes from within the household, so when these bonds and relationships our broken, they will not have the same support system to motivate them to do the things needed to succeed in life. There are also domestic violence cases between the parent and the child where the child is killed by their parent. “While the child is typically not the primary target of the perpetrator’s aggression in these domestic homicide cases, children are often killed in a deliberate attempt to make their (former) partner suffer (Holden et al., 1996; Lawrence, 2004).” (Jaffe 2014). In these cases, the child usually did not deserve what happened to them and the reasoning for the homicide is usually the fault of one of the parents. The other parent will then seek revenge by taking their anger out on the child or by committing the homicide in order to get back at the other parent. This is very sad to hear especially since the child typically had no part as to why the homicide took place.

Women in the United States are the most victimized group in domestic violence cases. “In the United States, approximately 1 in 3 women (35.6%) experience domestic violence (e.g., rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner) in their lifetime (Black et al. 2011).” (Herschell 2016). This is just slightly higher than the 25% of children who are affected by domestic violence. With that being said, these cases are the ones that are most thought of when the topic of domestic violence is brought up. Domestic violence happens all over the world. “Data from 2013-2014 shows that one woman dies each week as a result of DV (domestic Violence) and VAW (violence against women) (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2018: ix).” (Fletcher 2018). This is another crazy statistic when looking at the case of domestic violence, especially knowing that on average there is a female killed each week in a violence case. In these sorts of cases, the victims do not even get a chance to be rehabilitated back to normal because their significant other or family member took their life. This is only in Australia too, so in just one country, about 52 women die each year in a domestic violence case or other violent case against women. Some of these crimes could’ve been prevented with more rights or shelters for the victims to vacate to and help them avoid the situation.

Domestic violence can be found just about anywhere you look, even on college campuses. There is a growing awareness of these sorts of cases that take place on college campuses and the numbers are shocking. A study conducted by Turgut Ozal University, School of Nursing in Ankara, Turkey that included 451 college students, 77.8% of those students were female. An article based on this study tells us that, “A significant number of the students (23.9%) indicated that they were subject to domestic violence. Most of the students thought that domestic violence was widespread in the society (94.0%) and agreed that a partner cannot have a justified reason to apply domestic violence against women (91.6%) and that domestic violence against women should be shared by others (90.4%).” (Aktaş 2016). The rate of students who were subject to domestic violence is right around 25% which is alarmingly high to see that almost 1 of every 4 college students were subject to becoming a victim of some sort of domestic violence based on this study. College institutions are taking steps to reduce these rates but there is no way to completely end all domestic violence. “Under the Clery Act, an institution is required to disclose crime incidents in three geographic categories: on campus, on public property within or adjacent to the campus, or in non-campus buildings or property owned or operated by the school.” (Campus safety 2014). This is one step that could lead to the decrease of these types of cases happening on college campuses, which would lead to less victims of domestic violence. Domestic violence is becoming a big deal to women who are incarcerated in jails or prisons. “It’s worth noting that the vast majority of women in prison are single mothers who have been victims of domestic and/or sexual violence.” (Cox 2017) This is a sad statistic to hear about, especially because when these women are locked in these cells with many other women around them, they would not be able to escape if somebody from within the jail would lead to domestic violence against them. The voice would likely not be heard or would be pushed to side and done nothing about. There needs to be more done for women who have been victims of domestic violence that are now in incarceration, or it happened while they were in incarceration. Victims of domestic violence have always been overlooked and not given much help when it comes to rehabilitation or restitution, and this is even worst when it comes to those who are incarcerated for whatever reason.

All over the world, shelters are being put in place to help aid with the treatment and rehabilitation of victims who are affected by domestic violence. These victims are in search of leaving their household to avoid becoming a victim once again, which makes these shelters even more important than most people even realize. An article from healthyplace.com tells us, “Battered women shelters are a refuge where women can feel safe and know that their batterer can’t hurt them there. Domestic violence shelters are used in cases of emergency and are typically open 24-hours a day. There are 1500 emergency battered women shelters in the U.S.” (Tracy 2016). With these shelters being open 24-hours every day, it allows the victims to come anytime they need to escape from the situation that is taking place, or even if they just need somebody to talk to about the situation. These shelters are there for immediately help but are not to be considered a long-term fix to the problem. The shelter will be able to provide many tips and tricks to help ease the situations when they arise and how to deal with it, but most of the time will not be able to completely fix the problem. Services that are provided while staying at these shelters include, Housing and meals, Information and referrals; educational programs, A crisis line, Support groups and counseling, Housing assistance, Employment assistance, Taking care of personal and medical needs, Childcare, Assistance with restraining orders and other legal matters, Accompaniment to healthcare and legal appointments, Transportation, Addiction services. (Tracy 2016). Although safety is one of the biggest reasons for victims to leave their current situation and go to one of these shelters, it may not be the only reason. They may also leave because some of these reasons, “counseling, social support, healthcare, addiction and recovery services, immigration help, housing, and services for their children.” (Sullivan 2017). Going through these sorts of things would require a sense of support and help to back them up, which leads them to the shelters where they have the ability to reach the resources needed to rehabilitate the victims back to being themselves again. But overall, these domestic violence shelters have made huge steps in the treatment and rehabilitation of then victims after their cases are over, and while some cases are still taking place.

To wrap this who thing up, domestic violence can be considered one of the biggest forms of serious crime that is committed all over the world. It also can come in many different forms such as, spouse on spouse, parent on child, child on parent, etc., making it unique in their own ways. When children are present while the violence is taking place or they are the victim in the case, they are affected in these categories, “internalizing symptoms (e.g., depressive symptoms, insecurity, and posttraumatic stress; 75.8%), externalizing and adjustment symptoms (e.g., behavior problems, aggression; 32.6%), and poor school performance (e.g., declining academics, bullying; 20%) at higher rates than their peers.” (Herschell 2016). Also, these cases are not only happening at home, they also are reportedly taking place on college campuses and within jail/prison cells. The trouble for the victims when the violence is taking place within jail cells, the guards are less likely to believe them, which would make it virtually impossible for the victim to escape the offender. These sorts of statistics and information are what lead me to researching the topic of how victims are treated, to help me better understand what these victims go through in their lives. There are over 1500 domestic violence shelters, with most of them being open 24-hours a day to the public for anybody who would need to seek assistance. (Tracy 2017).

Works Cited

1. Aktaş, D. (2016). Attitudes of University Students Towards Domestic Violence Against Women. Clinical & Investigative Medicine, 39(6), S173–S178. https://doi.org/10.25011/cim.v39i6.27523
2. Campus Safety. (2014). Congressional Digest, 93(10), 13. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=99845882&site=ehos t-live
3. Cox, K. L. (2017). Most Women in Prison Are Victims of Domestic Violence. That’s Nothing New. Time.Com, 2. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=125529414&site=eho st-live
4. FLETCHER, P., & STAR, C. (2018). The Influence of Feminist Organizations on Public Policy Responses to Domestic Violence and Violence Against Women: A systematic literature review. Social Alternatives, 37(2), 53–61. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=131723198&site=eho st-live
5. Herschell, A., Scudder, A., Schaffner, K., & Slagel, L. (2017). Feasibility and Effectiveness of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy with Victims of Domestic Violence: A Pilot Study. Journal of Child & Family Studies, 26(1), 271–283. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-016- 0546-y
6. Jaffe, P. G., Campbell, M., Olszowy, L., & Hamilton, L. H. A. (2014). Paternal Filicide in the Context of Domestic Violence: Challenges in Risk Assessment and Risk Management for Community and Justice Professionals. Child Abuse Review, 23(2), 142–153. https://doi.org/10.1002/car.2315
7. Sullivan, C., & Virden, T. (2017). An Eight State Study on the Relationships Among Domestic Violence Shelter Services and Residents’ Self-Efficacy and Hopefulness. Journal of Family Violence, 32(8), 741–750. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-017-9930-7
8. Tracy, N. (2016). Battered Women Shelters: What Are They? How to Find One? Retrieved April 23, 2019, from https://www.healthyplace.com/abuse/domestic-violence/battered-women- shelters-what-are-they-how-to-find-one
9. Trevillion, K., Corker, E., Capron, L. E., & Oram, S. (2016). Improving mental health service responses to domestic violence and abuse. International Review of Psychiatry, 28(5), 423–432. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540261.2016.1201053
10. Tsirigotis, K., & Łuczak, J. (2018). Resilience in Women who Experience Domestic Violence. Psychiatric Quarterly, 89(1), 201–211. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-017-9529-4

Morality is defined as “a system of principals that help an individual determine between right and wrong behavior.” Moral development, on the other hand, is a concept that has to deal with the incremental changes in moral beliefs as a person ages and gains maturity during his or her life (‘Moral development: forming a sense of rights and responsibilities | Educational Psychology’, 2019). Moral beliefs tend to be related to moral behavior but not entirely. While it is possible to know the “right” thing to do in a circumstance, an individual might not go through with it. Values are essentially underlying beliefs about societal standards that dictate moral decisions. It is important to note that children between the ages of 3 and 7 begin to learn the difference between “right” and “wrong”. A child’s experience within the home setting, the immediate environment, as well as their physical, emotional and social skills heavily influence their moral development. Each child develops morality at their own specific rate. Toddler aged children begin to realize that others have rights and needs as well but they still don’t understand the notion of “right” and “wrong”. Toddlers tend to listen and follow the rules of a particular environment to avoid being punished (pre-conventional level). This coincides with the concept that Kohlberg stated within his theory regarding morality. Soon after toddlerhood, children begin to demonstrate actions based on behaviors and beliefs they are surrounded by. Many school-aged children also begin to display feelings of guilt/remorse when they break the rules, as their conscience tends to help dictate behavior.

A child’s experience within the home setting, the immediate environment, as well as their physical, emotional and social skills heavily influence their moral development. Each child develops morality at their own specific rate. Toddler aged children begin to realize that others have rights and needs as well but they still don’t understand the notion of “right” and “wrong”. Toddlers tend to listen and follow the rules of a particular environment to avoid being punished (pre-conventional level). This coincides with the concept that Kohlberg stated within his theory regarding morality. Soon after toddlerhood, children begin to demonstrate actions based on behaviors and beliefs they are surrounded by. Many school-aged children also begin to display feelings of guilt/remorse when they break the rules, as their conscience tends to help dictate behavior. The morals that are established within a family household are imprinted within a youngling. At this stage in moral development, the child begins to think about their actions and how they affect those around them. Kids usually listen to authority figures to be viewed by society as being “good/just” rather than simply avoiding punishment as seen in earlier stages of moral development (Kail & Cavanaugh, 2019, pg. 307). Around the ages of 7 through 10, school-aged children start to realize that parents/caregivers and other authority figures are not always correct or have all the answers to life’s predicaments. Kids around this age begin to comprehend and value equality and look at morality as social merit (conventional level). In other words, they usually follow rules to be appreciated by others and to gain approval amongst their peers. Children at this age have a strong sense of what they should do and what they shouldn’t be doing. As the child grows older, they start to understand and base their choices and actions based on how it will affect those around them.

Moral development can vary greatly amongst children. Morality tends to develop throughout several different stages throughout a lifespan. As stated previously, a child’s environment greatly influences their moral development. Social, family, parenting, and religious values/beliefs play significant roles in shaping morality as well. Moral behavior is essentially learned behavior, which is acquired through observation. Children tend to attentively watch and learn the behavior of their parents, authority figures, and peers. The methods parents choose to discipline their children have an undeniable effect on how they develop morally. A child who receives fair and swift repercussions every time they break a rule will eventually learn to associate their actions with consequences. Morality is the ability to distinguish between right and wrong as well as the understanding of how to make just decisions. Kohlberg presents “Heinz’s dilemma” which deals with Heinz’s wife dying from a rare form of cancer. In the scenario, doctors inform Heinz that an experimental drug is the only chance of saving his wife’s life. The drug was recently created by a local chemist, whom Heinz tries desperately to buy the drug from. Unfortunately, the chemist informs Heinz that he is up charging the price of the drug by ten times its original price. Heinz is only able to raise half of the money and tries to persuade the chemist to let him pay half now/the rest later. The chemist declines, so he decides to take matters into his own hands and steals the drug himself. This presents readers with a moral dilemma, should he have stolen the drug? In my opinion, Heinz should have stolen the drug because he tried to pay for the item but was denied access to it simply over one man’s greed. My first defense for Heinz is that he was just in his actions because stealing a life-saving mediation is far more important than breaking the law (‘Thinking Exercise: Heinz Dilemma (An Idea on Moral Reasoning) – Screeble’, 2019). This would put me in stage 5 of the post-conventional level of moral development according to Kohlberg’s theory. I believe that laws are essentially guidelines that should not be so strict regarding situations such as the one presented in Heinz’s dilemma. I understand laws exist for a reason and are used as a standard for moral behavior. However, there are several instances (such as the one Kohlberg presented) where these very same laws work against the interest of common folk. In short, the potential for saving a life is certainly more significant than breaking the law such as theft in this case. Another answer I came to regarding this scenario would be that Heinz should be able to steal the experimental drug without having to face any criminal charges for his actions. I say this because the “law” in this instance is unjust due to it punishing an individual for trying to save a human life. According to this perspective, I would probably fall within stage 6 of the post-conventional level since I am more concerned with universal human rights. I feel that all people deserve the right to afford an item that can potentially be used to save lives, regardless of their economic/social class. I find it fascinating that I land within this category because in the text Kohlberg stated that very few people actually reach this level of moral development. Morality describes the system of beliefs that dictate our behavior as human beings. Without these principles in place, society, as we know, would cease to exist. In today’s society, the notion of morality is often associated with belonging to a certain point of view, but that is not always the case. Whether people know it or not, we all essentially adhere to moral principles of some kind. Humans are social beings, and the actions we perform have considerable repercussions on our environment as well as others around us. For this reason, we as a society need to be able to regulate our behavior to a set of standards in order to flourish and advance as a people.

Moral values are essentially the standards to which individuals perceive actions as being “good” or “evil”. These individual moral standards govern a person’s actions/behavior and are usually derived from a combination of society, religion, government, & one’s self. Take for instance, when moral values stem from society or government for that matter, they eventually change as the morals/laws of that particular society change (‘Moral Values’, 2019). A great example of this impact of ever-changing laws based on moral values would be in the case of marriages vs civil unions. In the past, it was uncommon to see couples who lived together without going through the legal matrimonial process. Nowadays, civil unions are almost as numerous as traditional married couples. Not only are they plentiful but they happen to be more socially accepted by others within their society than they were in previous generations. It would seem that once a society evolves into the “modern era”, prior moral values begin to disintegrate. Religion happens to be a significant source of moral development. Most faiths have guidelines of do’s and don’ts, a set of principles by which its believers should live by. Individuals who are devoted followers of a particular faith/religion will generally make considerable strides in order to follow that religion’s code of conduct. It is interesting to note that these particular moral codes can vary greatly from one individual to another. An individual whose faith allows polygamy will usually experience no guilt at having more than one spouse while believers to other faiths feel they must remain monogamous while in an intimate relationship.

A moral compass is the ability to judge between wrong and right. Young children’s behaviours are often directed by adults through learning by consequences or observing others. This aids their ability to understand what is good and bad behaviour in a social context. However, how much of their ability to judge whether actions are ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ is due to their environment, or is this an innate ability? In this essay I will explore the idea of morality to see if it is more than just ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. I will also examine empirical evidence to explore if a moral compass is innate in children.

Morality is a concept based on empathy. Gert and Gert (2002) suggest that there are two types. The first is known as ‘descriptive morality’. This type refers to the idea that social groups create ideals of behaviours. If an individual adheres to the social ideals of behaviour, they are accepted. The other type is ‘normative morality’, which operates at an individual level. This type is present in everyone, and is applied to moral dilemmas, regardless of contradicting social rules. Gert and Gert’s (2002) findings imply that morality isn’t a black or white concept, rather, a complex view that requires personal and social appreciations. Furthermore, the normative morality concept may suggest that morality is innate and thus present within individuals. This is because it may cause individuals to break conventional rules which could lead condemnation by society.

To further support the idea of morality being innate, a study by Warneken and Tomasello found that twenty-four 18-month-old infants can present altruistic behaviours, without any need for a beneficial consequence such as praise or reward. The study consisted of five experimental tasks which included helping the experimenter with out-of-reach objects or stacking books that had fallen. The experimenter did not in any trials indicate verbally that help was needed. Five control tasks were also present. The results showed that 22 out of the 24 infants helped the experimenter with at least one task, and 84% of the infants’ helpful action was within a ten second time period. Infants as young as 18 months aren’t old enough to fully understand verbal language or to be exposed to many moral dilemmas. The findings support the idea that a moral compass is present from birth, as infants in the study have not been taught the concept of helping others. Despite this, they were able to recognise when an individual needed help. These behaviours also resemble Gert and Gert’s concept of ‘normative morality’ as they weren’t actions that the infants believed were necessary by social standards, but a personal feeling of judging what the ‘right’ thing to do was. They were also willing to do so regardless of the absence of a reward. Therefore, as altruistic helping can be seen in children as young as 18 months, a moral sense must be innate. This also supports the idea that children do have a moral compass. On the other hand, it is hard to test and assess moral understanding in new-born babies as they are verbally and physically limited to respond to any situation. This makes it hard to substantiate innate morality.

In contrast, the environment does play a role in understanding what behaviours are acceptable or not. For example, as soon as children go to educational settings, they learn about rules and understand that there are consequences for unacceptable behaviours. Similarly, through praise and rewards, children learn what is acceptable, allowing them to construct their beliefs on what is ultimately ‘wrong’ or ‘right’ in their world. Skinner further supports this idea that moral judgement is acquired through the environment, much like other behaviours are. This claim contradicts the notion that infants have prior knowledge or innate sense of morality.

Another key figure in this view is Piaget. He believed that “moral knowledge is a continual process of experience” (Killen & Smetana, 2015, p. 705). Piaget believed that there were two states to acquiring an individual’s moral sense. The first state is known as the ‘Autonomous State’, and occurs in older children, above the ages of seven. This is when they become a moral subjectivist and construct their own idea of morality. The second is known as the ‘Heteronomous State’. This is applied to younger children, under the ages of seven years. In this state, children make their judgements on what is moral or not from the extent of damage caused in a situation. This can be through infants watching peers in a preschool setting enabling them to understand morality. Piaget specifically highlighted the importance of peer interaction in acquiring a moral sense. Peers have a huge influence on behaviour, as often children want to fit into a group and conform to the social standard. In fact, Bloom put forward the idea of a moral circle (as cited in Laham, 2008). This idea suggests that human contact widens an individual’s social circle. From this, more exposure to moral dilemmas can take place, allowing a moral circle to expand. Even though this idea shows that social relationships have an influence on how an infant develops their own sense of morality, there is not enough research regarding the idea of a moral circle. Does this lack of empirical evidence suggest that the environment does not have a role in the development of moral understanding?

Kohlberg (1985) suggested a stage theory to demonstrate how morality develops in an infant into adulthood. He tested children using moral dilemmas in order to see how children respond. This enabled him to see at what ages they develop a sense of morality. From this study, he produced three main levels. The first level of moral reasoning; Preconventional Morality, occurrs in children under the ages of eleven years. Here we find that punishments are what the child tries to avoid, and rewards are their goal. Therefore, external values are what is important to children at this stage. The next level is known as Conventional Morality. In this stage, children’s behaviours are only produced to be obedient to the law. This level shows how the conventional rules of society guide their understanding of morality, and at this stage morality is ultimately either ‘wrong or ‘right’. The last level is Post-Conventional Morality. According to Kohlberg, this occurs in individuals after the age of twenty years old and is where they know the difference between moral and legal rights. All these levels show how Kohlberg’s theory of moral development stemmed from an idea that morality is due to the environment. It also shows that children do have a moral compass which develops through childhood. Conventional rules are the main driving force in allowing children to understand what is immoral or moral in their society. From this, they are then able to construct their own ideas of morality, suggesting that it is something that develops over time. This idea does make logical sense as conventional rules do help shape an understanding of what is acceptable. However, the main critique of Kohlberg’s theory is that he based his idea on one sample of children from a western society. Does this allow his assumption to be culturally universal, or is it just a western ideal of what justice is? Similarly, his sample consisted of only boys, meaning that the generalisation of his theory can’t be made to all humans. Therefore, because we can’t truly say that a moral compass develops in all individuals in the same way, we can’t truly know if it is something developed due to external interaction at all.

In conclusion, I believe that morality in children is affected by societal factors. Laws enable children to put together how the world works, as often they are unable to know this immediately from birth. This provides a basic sense of morality. However, I do believe that part of a moral sense is innate as well. As discussed earlier, 18-month-old children were able to sense when someone needed help. They were able to acknowledge that ignoring their distress was an immoral thing to do and didn’t require any form of punishment or reward to encourage them. This shows that children do have a moral compass, as they have that specific ability to judge right from wrong. Also, Kohlberg’s theory was a key theory in moral development and had many critiques. The most important fact being that it was based largely on a western society, so how can we universally state that morality is developed in the same way across all cultures. Therefore, I think that morality is an innate quality that can be shaped and developed by environmental factors. This allows their innate moral compass to become more refined as the individual develops and grasps an understanding of the world.

Introduction

In today’s fast-paced, technology-driven society, inculcating the good values in children is more crucial than ever. One of the most important jobs we have as an early childhood educator is to help the children develop social skills, show them how to interact in a polite manner with people, and teach them to treat others with respect. However, I experienced a culture shock as the children were displaying a lack of good manners – not even the daily greeting of ‘Good Morning’, which serves as a catalyst to social interaction. They do not greet nor make eye contact with their teachers unless prompted to do so. Though it can be understood for children due to their limited vocabulary, the K2s, who are older and able to communicate efficiently do not enforce this as well. In addition, I have observed that parents play an important role in enforcing these rules as well. Despite having a curriculum that focuses on moral values, what is learnt is not implemented by the children which made me question myself – how do I inculcate the importance of moral values? Therefore, it has guided me to my research by using a literacy-based approach – I will focus on storytelling and its’ benefits in order to inculcate these values in the children. With the action research done, it has led me to my research question – How can storytelling inculcate values among pre-schoolers?

Literature Review

Values needs to be inculcated since young age to form a human personality which rooted in moral and ethics. Teachers have to deal with a variety of teaching methods and pedagogy to inculcate the good values. The literature review will look at the use of storytelling to inculcate values among preschool children.

Benefits of storytelling

As an art form, storytelling provides a language-based mode of conveying messages that assist one in meaning-making sense of one’s world. There was an Indian proverb had said “Tell me a fact and I’ll learn. Tell me a truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever”. This proverb indicated that people are preferred to listen to the stories in the narrative way compared to facts and theories.

Pre-school children are in a critical period for language development. Curtain and Dahlberg noted that children absorb languages effortlessly and are adapt imitators of speech sounds .Because they are very self-centred, they do not work well in groups, and they respond best to activities and learning situation relating to their own interests and experiences. Although they have short attention span, they have great patience for repetition of the same activity or game.

According to Brown (2007) children in the age between 4-6 years old categorized as very young learners. Egan explained that the mythic educational layer term reveals to children at the age 4 to 5. Egan (1989) commented that young children tend to draw an idea of the world of the imagination is in vivid and real .Learners in the mythic layer often believe that the real world as a fairy tale world operates. Using storytelling is the effective strategies for teaching young children.

Ur, P (1996) stated that there are three very important sources of interest for children in the classroom; they are pictures, stories and games. As far as young children concerned, they mostly find these lessons enjoyable as they are active parts in the process. They use the language in order to communicate idea, to play games and later on to tell stories.

Storytelling as educational tools

Storytelling is an effective pedagogical strategy especially for teaching young children that can be woven into instruction to increase students’ competencies in all areas.

Create students’ motivation and interest

Young children are more interested when teachers make stories while teaching. This is because student can motivate them by hearing the stories from their teachers as they always think lecturers have experiences in their life. Children are willing to pay attention in the class when teachers said “I have stories to tell you”. Most young children enjoy listening to stories. Stories have power which can bring the young children into world of imagination and a draw colourful picture with many interesting characters in the story. According to Isbell et al. (2004), storytellers tend to use more repetition, sounds, gestures than a person merely reading a story. The authors report that storytelling is considered an effective strategy for developing listening skills and keeping students engaged (Isbell et al., 2004).

Storytelling for inspiration and creativity

As stated by Emily (2006), storytelling for inspiration and creativity by engaging the participants in creative activities linked to the stories such as in art, dramatization, music and puppetry. The children can engage in the dramatization and even create or dictate their own stories through drawing, conventional or using invented spelling.

Most young children enjoy listening to stories. Stories have power which can bring the young children into world of imagination and draw colourful picture with many interesting characters in the story. Isbell (2002) highlights that storytelling promotes expressive language development in oral and written form and present new vocabulary and complex language in the powerful form that inspire children to emulate the model that have experienced. Storytelling for young children is critically important to create constructive and creative comprehension.

Storytelling for increased self-confidence.

Emily (2006), further emphasized that storytelling for increased self-confidence and it has been proven amongst children who have low self-esteem or are ‘low achievers. It is an effective way to motivate even the most reluctant reader or writer. Storytelling is defined as, “relating a tale to one or more listeners through voice and gesture” (National Council of Teachers of English, 1992, p. 1). Dugan (1997) reports that storytelling depends on both the listener and the teller, this strategy utilizes the social element of language and found that literacy instruction is most effective when developed through social interaction and collaboration with others . NCTE (1992) reports that that the weakest readers and writers are often the most adept at storytelling.

Improving literacy skills

Haven & Ducey (2007) highlights that storytelling can be used as an effective means to increase early literacy and promote reading comprehension skills. Isbell (2002)further emphasizes that storytelling promotes expressive language development in oral and written form and present new vocabulary and complex language in the powerful form that inspire children to emulate the model that have experienced. Through participation in storytelling experiences, students learn to build a sense of story by anticipating features of the genre, including how a story may begin and end (Craig et al, 2001; Washburn, 1983). Aiex, 1988 added that the development of a sense of story allows students to make better predictions, to anticipate what is next, to increase awareness of cause and effect, sequence events, and develop other skills that aid comprehension . Haven & Ducey, (2007) explains further that storytelling assists in the development of a sense of story by incorporating the use of essential story elements which include point of view, plot, style, characters, setting, and theme

Importance of values in young children

Having good values help children to have a strong and impressive personality. Children are able to differentiate between right and wrong if they are taught moral values at a very young age. It definitely changes how they perceive the world and behave once they are adults. Piaget (1965) explains that children construct and reconstruct their knowledge of the world through interactions with the environment. Piaget (1965) further reports that such knowledge includes children’s understandings about what is right and what is wrong. Moral development and cognitive development are thus closely interconnected. Berkowitz & Grych (1998) point out that being a “good” person, however, involves more than having the cognitive understanding of what is right and what is wrong.

Schools have long been seen as an institutions for preparing children for both academically and as moral agents in society. Halstead & Pike (2006) report that in order to become capable, moral citizens, children need to be provided with opportunities to learn moral values. According to Dewey (1915; 1947), children’s learning experiences must be led by the teacher by create a situation or condition that is conducive to their physical and mental development. Early education is emphasized because, in this stage the child directly or indirectly will adapt everything that happens around them. Each input and teaching will be more easily absorbed in the early stages. Bandura (1977; 1986) explains that children learn through ‘imitation’, from their social environment. In fact, the process of imitation of children from parents, adults and teachers deemed to be an important source for the development of children’s morality.

Maqsud (1977) reports that a number of studies support the views by Piaget and Kohlberg that interaction with peers can influence children’s moral maturity. The implications of Piaget’s Theory of Moral Development (1965) and Kohlberg (1969) is that teachers can help children learn moral values through stories and scenarios. After the teacher tells a story the pupils should be given the opportunity to create discussions and interactions between peers so that children can learn what is ‘wrong’ or ‘right’ through problem solving. Le Improving literacy skills

Haven & Ducey (2007) highlights that storytelling can be used as an effective means to increase early literacy and promote reading comprehension skills

Isbell (2002) further emphasizes that storytelling promotes expressive language development in oral and written form and present new vocabulary and complex language in the powerful form that inspire children to emulate the model that have experienced. Through participation in storytelling experiences, students learn to build a sense of story by anticipating features of the genre, including how a story may begin and end (Craig et al, 2001; Washburn, 1983). Aiex, 1988 added that the development of a sense of story allows students to make better predictions, to anticipate what is next, to increase awareness of cause and effect, sequence events, and develop other skills that aid comprehension . Haven & Ducey, (2007) explains further that storytelling assists in the development of a sense of story by incorporating the use of essential story elements which include point of view, plot, style, characters, setting, and theme

Importance of values in young children

Having good values help children to have a strong and impressive personality. Children are able to differentiate between right and wrong if they are taught moral values at a very young age. It definitely changes how they perceive the world and behave once they are adults. Piaget (1965) explains that children construct and reconstruct their knowledge of the world through interactions with the environment. Piaget (1965) further reports that such knowledge includes children’s understandings about what is right and what is wrong. Moral development and cognitive development are thus closely interconnected. Berkowitz & Grych (1998) points out that being a “good” person, however, involves more than having the cognitive understanding of what is right and what is wrong.

Schools have long been seen as an institutions for preparing children for both academically and as moral agents in society. Halstead & Pike (2006) reports that in order to become capable, moral citizens, children need to be provided with opportunities to learn moral values. According to Dewey (1915; 1947), children’s learning experiences must be led by the teacher by create a situation or condition that is conducive to their physical and mental development. Early education is emphasized because, in this stage the child directly or indirectly will adapt everything that happens around them. Each input and teaching will be more easily absorbed in the early stages. According to Bandura (1977; 1986), children learn through ‘imitation’, from their social environment. In fact, the process of imitation of children from parents, adults and teachers deemed to be an important source for the development of children’s morality.

Maqsud (1977) reports that a number of studies support the views by Piaget and Kohlberg that interaction with peers can influence children’s moral maturity. The implications of Piaget’s Theory of Moral Development (1965) and Kohlberg (1969) is that teachers can help children learn moral values through stories and scenarios. After the teacher tells a story the pupils should be given the opportunity to create discussions and interactions between peers so that children can learn what is ‘wrong’ or ‘right’ through problem solving. Learned in this manner is much more meaningful to students.

Storytelling to inculcate values

The practice of using storybooks or narrative method to inculcate moral values among children has been practiced by all the people of the world. Winston ( 1988; 1999) reports that stories such as the Ramayana of Hindu culture has long been used to give moral lessons to children. As Brown (2007) points out, from an educational perspective, it is well understood that students remember and learn well from stories. Additionally, many cultures, religions adopted it as a mode of teaching. In Islam for instance , the Quran had been arranged in narrative and stories so Muslims are able to learn from the verses and remember the rules that embedded on it

Folktales are generally tales or stories passed down through generations, that have been told orally over time. Children hear bed time stories or folk tales from their parents as entertainment for leisure. They learnt lot of lessons from these folktales. The three little pigs, Goldilocks and the three bears and Jack and Beanstalk are the few examples of folktales that had moral values in them. Most of the children know these stories very well and aware of the moral of the stories before they go to school. According to Bruner (1990), the content of the stories made up by children themselves can reveal a lot about their perception of the world and attitudes towards the surrounding world. Piaget (1951; 1999), further emphasises that the inculcation of moral values and ethics is best done since childhood, because according to Piaget (1951; 1999), children aged 2 to 8 years old began to build the concept and identity from behavior of animated characters and metaphors of nature.

The storytelling method is closely related to the cognitive and moral development of children. Children were equipped with a natural interest to listen and understand stories. Thus, this method can stimulate and motivate students in the learning process. Piaget (1965) and Kohlberg (1969) being the pioneers of the theory of moral development and children’s moral education also support the use of the storytelling method to convey knowledge of moral values to children

Bruner (1986) agrees that story-telling and use of stories is an effective way to transform moral experiences to moral knowledge. Berkowitz & Oser (1985) further agrees that when students are actively engaged in listening the story and involved in a story telling, then a values and virtues is most likely to occur

Conclusion

Tappan and Brown (1989) reported that storytelling as an approach can help develop and form moral sensitivity among children is slowly dying in our modern education system. Thus, it is critical that storytelling can be a teaching pedagogy to develop values and codes of ethics of preschool children. Through storytelling, children begin to think of the good and bad things, thus develop emotional and rectify their behaviour.

References

1. Aiex, N. K. (1988). Storytelling: Its wide-ranging impact in the classroom. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No.: ED299574).
2. Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
3. Berkowitch, M.W., & Grych, J.H. (1998).Fostering goodness: teaching parents to facilitate children’s moral development.Journal of Moral Education, 27(3), 371-391.
4. Brown, M. (2007). “Listening to lecturers, learning about teaching”. Journal of curriculum Studies, 41(1):131-144
5. Bruner, J. (1986). Actual minds, possible worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
6. Bruner, J. (1990). Acts of meaning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
7. Craig, S., Hull, K., Haggart A., & Crowder, E. (2001). Storytelling: Addressing the Literacy Needs of Diverse Learners. Teaching Exceptional Children. Vol 43 (5), pgs. 46-51.
8. Curtain, H. A., & Dahlberg, C. A, (2009). Languages and children making the match new languages for young learners, grades K-8
9. Dugan, J. (1997). Transactional literature discussions: Engaging students in the appreciation and understanding of literature. Reading Teacher, 51(2), 86-96.
10. Dewey, J. (1915). The school and the life of the child. In John Dewey. The school and society. Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press.
11. Egan, K. (1989). Teaching as storytelling: an alternative approach to teaching and curriculum in the elementary school. University of Chicago Press.
12. Johnsson, E (2006). Telling tales, A guide to developing effective storytelling programmes for mueums.
13. Haven, K. & Ducey, M. (2007). Crash course in storytelling. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
14. Isbell, R. (2002). Telling and Retelling Stories: Learning Language and Literacy.
15. Isbell, R., Sobol, J., Lindauer, L., & Lowrance, A. (2004). The effects of storytelling and story reading on the oral language complexity and story comprehension of young children. Early Childhood Education Journal, Vol. 32, No. 3.
16. Kilpatrick, W. (1992). Why Johnny Can’t Tell right from Wrong: Moral Illiteracy and the Case for Character Education. New York: Simon & Schuster.
17. Kohlberg, L. (1969). Stage and sequence: The Cognitive-developmental approach to socialization. In D.A. Goslin (ed.) Handbook of socialization theory and research (p.347-480). Chicago: Rand McNally.
18. MacDonald M. R. (1982). The storyteller’s sourcebook: A subject, title, and motif Index to folklore collections for Children. Detroit: Thomson Gale
19. Maqsud, M. (1977). The influence of social heterogeneity and sentimental credibility on moral judgements of Nigerian Muslim adolescents. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 8, 113-112.
20. National Council of Teachers of English: Position Statement from the Committee on Storytelling. (1992). Teaching Storytelling.
21. Parkin, M. (2004). Tales for change. London, UK; Sterling, VA: Kogan Page Limited.
22. Pellowski, A. (1977). The world of storytelling. New York: Bowker.
23. Piaget, J. (1965). The moral judgment of the child. New York: The Free Press.
24. Ur, P. (1996). A course in language teaching: practice and theory. Cambridge University Press
25. Tappan, M.B. (1998). Moral education in the Zone of Proximal Development. Journal of Moral Education, 27 (2), 1998.

Making your message heard

You can reduce the number of power struggles that you experience by learning how to communicate effectively with your child. Here are some important tips to keep in mind:

• Do a sound check first. Make sure that you have your child’s undivided attention before you make a request or start issuing instructions. Barking out orders from the next room doesn’t cut it. Not only do you increase the odds that you’ll be ignored, but by communicating in a less-than-respectful manner, you undercut your credibility as a parent.
• Use eye contact to your advantage. Get in the habit of establishing eye contact with your child before you communicate an important message. It’s much more difficult for your child to tune you out (or, alternatively, to claim after the fact that she didn’t hear what you were saying!) if you’re looking her straight in the eye the entire time you’re speaking. You can also pick up some immediate cues about whether or not your message is sinking in and/or likely to meet with some hefty resistance. (Hint: Heavy-duty eyerolling is seldom a positive sign!)
• Keep your instructions simple and to the point. If your child is very young or your message is quite complex and you’re concerned that your child may not necessarily have grasped all the important details, ask your child to summarize what you’ve said. If your child is missing some key points, you’ll know you need to go over some of those points again.
• Don’t get in the habit of turning statements into questions. You undercut your parenting credibility by routinely tagging “Okay?” on to the end of each instruction you give your child. By doing so, you turn each statement into a question. If you say, “It’s bedtime, okay?” you’re basically asking your child’s permission to send her to bed! • Watch out for the “why trap.” Although there’s nothing wrong with providing your child with a simple explanation for a particular parenting decision, you want to be wary of being lured into a “why trap.” Although you may think that you will eventually get buy-in from your child if you take the time to explain your reasoning at length, you’re losing sight of your child’s motivation in initiating this discussion. She isn’t interested in finding out why you vetoed her co-ed sleepover party plans; she’s hoping to find a flaw in your logic and/or to wear you down so that you’ll have little choice but to overturn that veto. Yes, Mom and Dad, sometimes too much information can be a bad thing! • Pay attention to your body language. Make sure that your body language reinforces rather than undercuts the meaning of your words. If you come across as apologetic rather than confident in your parenting decisions, you’re likely to sacrifice a lot of your credibility as a parent and leave the door open to repeated power struggles. • Be respectful and polite. Don’t make the mistake of adopting a bullying tone in the hope that doing so will make you come across as a more confident parent and help to discourage power struggles. Not only will you score more points with your child by being respectful and polite but you’ll also model the very types of behaviors that you hope to see in your child.
• Write notes or use pictures to communicate important reminders. If your child complains that you’re always nagging her about something, you may want to use notes, charts, checklists, or (for children who are too young to read) pictures to remind your child about important tasks that need to be done. (Granted, “always” may mean that you asked your child to pick up her wet towel once, but, hey, why not work with her on this one and go to a nonverbal system of “nagging?” Not only will you save her the aggravation of hearing you issue the wet towel reminder every time she steps out of the shower, but you’ll also save yourself the aggravation of having to repeat yourself ad nauseum.) See Chapter 5 for more on this important technique.
• Come up with a family rule book — literally. If there’s on-going disagreement about your family rules, put those rules in writing and post them in a place where everyone can re-read them on a regular basis, such as on the refrigerator door. This can eliminate the need to constantly rehash the rules—an exercise in frustration for all concerned— while helping to encourage consistency.
• Refuse to get into a shouting match with your child. If your child starts shouting at you because she’s not getting her way, respond in a calm, quiet voice. This may be enough to encourage your child to regain control over her own emotions. If she continues shouting, let her know that you’re not interested in continuing the conversation while she’s acting that way and that you’re ending the conversation until she regains control over her emotions.

Introduction

Cognitive development is concerned with the stages of human development, which encompasses memory, rationale and the ability of making choices (Ahmad, Hussain, Battool, Sittar & Malik, 2016, 72). According to the cognitive development theory, developed by Jean Piaget, children experience various levels of cognitive awareness of their environment, and each child is developing at their own pace (Lefa, 2014, p.1). In other words, children form an understanding of what is known to them and anything out of the extraordinary from that familiar environment becomes new knowledge, which they apply to what is already known. However, since the development of Piaget’s theory in 1936 (McLeod, 2018), several researchers had expressed their critique on Piaget’s theory (Barrouillet, 2015, p.2). In order to understand cognitive development in children, this paper intent to evaluate Jean Piaget’s cognitive theory and to build and argument on the relevancy of Piaget’s cognitive development theory in the 21st century.

Jean Piaget’s theory

Jean Piaget’s theory is that of learning, and his theory is based on a child’s understanding of the world. Piaget argued that children had limited knowledge and as they grow older they broaden their knowledge span, in order to understand and to make rational decisions (Mcleod 2018). Piaget’s theory identified the four phases of children’s cognitive development:

Stage 1: Sensorimotor (0 to 2 years old)

The sensorimotor phase is considered as the process where children learn to quickly become with familiar with their environment (Mcleod, 2019). They start to recognize sound, faces and objects. According to Mcleod (2019), Piaget’s cognitive development theory break down the sensorimotor stage into sub divisions:

• Reflex acts birth to 1 month

During this stage the infant is becoming attentive of its environment by responding to feeding, touching, hearing sound and looking around (Cherry, 2019).

• Primary Circular Reactions (1-4 months)

The infant is enjoying certain activities. Both Cherry (2019) ad Mcleod (2019) agrees that the infant finds it pleasing to suck their thumb and will repeat such behavior, in addition to kicking their legs or moving their fingers.

• Secondary Circular Reactions (4-8 months)

The infant become increasingly aware of its surroundings. At this stage, the infant is choosing toys or objects to put in their mouth (Cherry, 2019), or they might play with a toy rattle to listen to the sound and amusement (Mcleod 2019).

• Coordinating secondary schemes (8-12 months)

This stage demonstrates the infant’s ability to achieve a particular objective. Mcleod (2019) use the rattle as an example, and explains that the infant will use the skills gained in an attempt to reach the rattle using their own abilities.

• Tertiary Circular Reactions (12-18 months)

The infant makes use of sounds to get attention (Cherry, 2019). In addition, the infant is showing interest in building toys or will search for their favorite toy.

• Early Representational thought (18-24 months)

Vocabulary is expanding and the infant recognizes certain objects and would point it out, as well as playing with imaginary friends (Cherry, 2019).

The next stage in cognitive development is the preoperational phase.

Stage 2: Preoperational (2 to 7)

According to Cherry (2019) the child continues to expand their vocabulary. However, new activities such as role play and imitating people are becoming an interest. The child is playing games where they would take on the mom or dad role or doctor, fireman etcetera. Furthermore, the child would use objects around the house that represents animals. Here, Cherry (2019) mention the example of a broom, and the child would pretend that it is a horse.

Mcleod (2018) highlights the following characteristics during the preoperational process. This include the following:

• Centration

The child’s attention span is only on one activity. During this time, the child oblivious of the change in the environment around him/herself. The child is switching off from the real world and it is difficult to socially interact with the child when in the centration phase.

• Egocentrism

Piaget’s egocentrism is influenced by Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis theory (Kesselring & Müller, 2011, p. 328). The child become only aware of him/herself and, the child’s opinion is all that matters, thus showing a refusal of taking other’s opinions into account. Kesselring & Müller (2011, p. 329) argues that such behavior is common in autism.

• Play

Mcleod (2018) points out that during play, the child shows some form of interaction with other children, although not playing with other children, but rather on the side, although other children is still around.

• Symbolic representation

Children is using non-verbal speech techniques when playing (Wu, 2013, p. 11)

• Pretend play

Mcleod (2018) argues that the child become more socially interactive with other children and no longer in the self-awareness state. The child will play pretend games where they are for example a policeman or a superhero.

• Animism

During the animism phase the child believes that objects such as toys have human feelings. Slee, Campbell and Spears (2012, p. 273) illustrates the four forms of animism as described by Piaget.

• 4-5 years’ old

The child is under the impression that all objects are alive. For example, when the child gets injured, the child will blame ‘naughty’ the object.

• 5-7 years’ old

The child view only objects that show some movement as something that has a function. Examples includes the wind blowing and it makes the trees move.

• 7-9 years’ old

The child is making a distinction between, which is alive and not alive. In this case the movement of vehicles although its moving, the child recognizes as not alive.

• 9-12 years’ old

The child forms an understanding that plants and animals are alive.

• Artificialism

The child believes that natural occurrences is created by people (Mcleod, 2018).

• Irreversibility

The child’s cognitive abilities are still limited. Thus, the child finds it difficult to understand that a particular sequence is reversible (Mcleod, 2019).

Stage 3: Concrete operations (7-11)

This is the stage identified by Piaget where the child learns to reason. Furthermore, while the previous stages, the child had difficulties to understand their environment, at this stage the child is utilizing his/her cognitive abilities. Cherry (2019) argues that the child has a better understanding of inductive reasoning, to recognize cause and effect, but that the child lacks deductive reasoning from general statements. Another change in the child’s cognitive ability is that in the preoperational process the child did not understand reversibility, the child is now grasping the concept of reversibility. Other distinguished cognitive features are that the child is no longer self-centered, and have learned the ability to acknowledge others’ needs.

The last stage of the brain development is the formal operations stage.

Stage 4: Formal operations stage (adolescence)

The final stage highlights higher ranking thinking skills. This is characterized by the ability to problem solve, critically think and to make decisions (Cherry 2019).

Piaget had managed to develop a theory, which understands human development. However, researchers had found several discrepancies in Piaget’s theory. Researchers had expressed concern on Piaget’s lack of explaining the methodology in his research. Piaget never indicated how he had selected his participants (Hopkins, 2011). Bond and Tryphon (2009, p.70) also mention Piaget’s unconventional method of collection data. They went as far as pointing out that Piaget mostly chatted with children and that some of the children supposed to be his research participants were in some cases his own children. In any research methodology is important, and you cannot base your findings on vague testing

Another shortcoming in Piaget’s theory is failure to recognized the intellectual skills of children (Slee, et al., 2012, p. 269; Hopkins, 2011). Vygotski differs from Piagets viewpoint and states that children learn skills through social interaction (Tudge & Winterhoff, 1993, p.62). A further area of critique is Piaget’s is artificialism in the Preoperational stage. According to Piaget, children see natural phenomena as something that is made by humans. Mcleod (2018) provide the cloud example. During the artificialism phases children believe that humans created the clouds. Thus, it is clear that Piaget is bringing his own believes into this theory (New World Encyclopedia, 2018).

Conclusion

The question remains, is Piaget’s theory relevant in the 21st century, when the lack of methodology is clearly visible in Piaget’s research. The answer remains yes. Piaget’s theory provides for a clear understanding of how the brain develops from infant to adolescent stages. In addition, the theory explains how children acquire information to make sense of their environment. Furthermore, Piaget’s theory is concerned with active learning. Thus, it can be argued that although Piaget’s theory plays a major role within the field of psychology. Above all, Piaget dominated the field on his studies of intellectual development of kids. Piaget delineated growth of kids from birth to adolescence. The idea of Piaget’s theory features the development of kids and he provides an outline the features of the cognitive development stages in the early ages. In addition, Piaget prompt that as kids pass through these stags they construct their information by interacting with their social surroundings. The acquired information encompasses expertise. Therefore, Piaget emphasized the importance of activities for adolescents, notably in an instructional scientific discipline. Piaget, brought a new methodology within the field of education, which is referred to as discovery learning. For example, children learn through actions, instead of observation. Thus, giving teachers a better understanding of how students learn. The contribution of Piaget’s cognitive development theory provides for a better understanding of the cognitive development of children.

References

1. Ahmad, S., Hussain, A., Batool, A., Sittar, K. & Malik, M. (2016). Play and cognitive development: formal operational perspective of Piaget’s theory. Journal of Education and Practice 7(28): 72-79. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1118552.pdf
2. Barrouillet, P. (2015). Theories of cognitive development: from Piaget to today. Developmental Review 38: 1-12. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273229715000325
3. Bond, T. & Tryphon, A. (2011). Piaget and method. The Cambridge Companion to Piaget. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264534524_Piaget_and_Method
4. Cherry, K. (2019). The sensorimotor stages of cognitive development. Verywell Mind Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/sensorimotor-stage-of-cognitive-development-2795462
5. Hopkins, J.R. (2011). The enduring influence of Jean Piaget. Psych Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/jean-piaget.
6. Kesselring, T. & Müller, U. (2011). The concept of egocentrism in the context of Piaget’s theory. New Ideas in Psychology, 29(3): 327-345. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0732118X10000267
7. Lefa, B. (2014). The Piaget theory of cognitive development: an educational implications. Education Psychology. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265916960_THE_PIAGET_THEORY_OF_COGNITIVE_DEVELOPMENT_AN_EDUCATIONAL_IMPLICATIONS
8. Mcleod, S. (2019). Sensorimotor stage of cognitive development. Simply Pscyhology. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/sensorimotor.html
9. Mcleod, S. (2018). Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. Simply Pscyhology. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html
10. Mcleod, S. (2018). The preoperational stage of cognitive development. Simply Pscyhology. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html
11. New World Encyclopedia. (2918). Jean Piaget. Retrieved from https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Jean_Piaget#Role_of_religion_in_Piaget.27s_thought
12. Slee, P.T. Campbell, M & Spears, B. (2012). Child, adolescent and family development. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.ae/books?id=SfIunWSU7XUC&pg=PA273&lpg=PA273&dq=Animism+piaget&source=bl&ots=MKuZYDHUrh&sig=ACfU3U1b4wW-Qzb9s2MUEemz2OFYsLgIEg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjI2Y-H6JvmAhWNEMAKHW8GDas4ChDoATAHegQIChAC#v=onepage&q=Animism%20piaget&f=false
13. Tudge, J. & Winterhoff, P. (1993). Vygotsky, Piaget, and Bandura: perspectives on the relations between the social world and cognitive development. Human Development 36(2): 61-81. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/238331615_Vygotsky_Piaget_and_Bandura_Perspectives_on_the_Relations_Between_the_Social_World_and_Cognitive_Development
14. Wu, L-Y. (2013). Children’s play and symbolic representation. Review of Global Management and Service Science, 3: 7-14. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/2981/ff4b98c4dad8442e3d2eab4edd3594709fac.pdf.

To suggest that the reliability of the memories of child witnesses had been a controversial issue for quite some time is definitely an understatement. There has been a variety of research and discussions worldwide about an ongoing controversy issue in the forensic psychology field. Should a child be able to testify as an eyewitness? An eyewitness testimony is provided by an individual who was present during an incident and could recall what happened from start to finish.

Throughout many cases, including those without any proper evidence, an eyewitness can have a strong impact on the case and assist with the final verdict made by the jury. Nonetheless, an eyewitness testimony can alter the life of an individual by helping assist finding if they are innocent or guilty, it is crucial that the eyewitness is a credible one. An individual, especially a child, tends usually changes their mind by questioning themselves and trying to ensure the way they are thinking, or feeling is right.

Legal professions and social scientists have put their attention as to whether they can depend on young children’s abilities to provide credible testimony to eyewitnesses. It was also reported that on many instances, they depend on testimonies from child witnesses, some of which are physical and sexual abuse cases.

Children’s credibility as eyewitnesses is still debated due to their memory capacity, the possibility that children can be easily influenced and because they may overlook some very significant details in the period between the incident of the case and the testimony. As a result, there has been a significant rise in scientific research in eyewitness competence for adolescents, with studies showing that very young children are far worse than younger adults. Considerable research has been done on children’s memory. As predicted, the visual attention of children which is closely linked to memory, seems to increase as they get older. Pezdek (1987) supported this concept based on the theory of schematic treatment that demonstrated that not having the needed schema to link to memory, it is not recorded in memory as detailed as the given stimulus of an older individual (Oates, 1990). The child’s memory recall will then be unreliable as they lack the understanding of the information that needs to be presented during the interview.

However, a variety of studies have been done on how credible the child’s testimony is. With time, studies have begun to show that information from children is credible. In a study conducted by the National Science Foundation in 2008, it was discovered that the legal system had concerns about the negative light that is shed on the topic of children testimonies. The National Science Foundation (2008) found that people had two forms memory which are ‘gist trace’ and ‘verbatim trace’. Their research showed that children have more ‘verbatim trace’, but as they get older, their ‘gist trace’ starts to develop more. Therefore, children’s memories are more credible than adults and can provide credible evidence (The National Science Foundation, 2008).

Reyna and Brainerd advocated for the same study. They claimed that memories are store and documented independently and distinctly in two areas of the mind. Studies show that significance-based memories particularly in adult witnesses, are primarily responsible for false memories (Reyna & Brainerd, 2012).

The concern with most children’s memory experiments is that they document things that are shown to kids on slides, in videos, or told to them as stories. A study conducted by Goodman and Helgeson (1985) in which 3-year-olds, 6-year-olds, and adults spent five minutes communicating with an unknown individual and then checking their memory of this experience four to five days later (Oats, 1990). It was discovered that 93% of the 6-year-olds and 75% of the adults were able to correctly recognize the individual in a line up but only 38% of the 3-year-olds were able to give a detailed account of what happened. It is suggested that if children are free to recall and are asked simple questions, they will be able to recount events accurately.

Experts believe that children presume that an adult would not perform the task if the goal was not present, so when the children are confronted with the lineup, it indicates the to the child that the adult wants them to choose someone. Thus, the children will choose someone to avoid either deceiving the adult and avoiding accepting confusion or they may also choose someone who looks similar to the target they have seen before.

In line up identifying experiments, young children behave at a level similar to young adults when the lineup displayed includes the real perpetrator but when it does not, there are more false identifications (Pozzulo & Lindsay, 1998). There are many explanations why a younger child may provide inaccurate information when it comes to being an eyewitness. Some of the reasons are false memories, deceiving suggestions, intimidation, or some form of abuse which would cause the allegations from children noncredible.

They also mentioned that the young children may feel under pressure to report whether or not the suspect is properly remembered. Statements from children can be made more credible right from the beginning of the interviewing process by having the child make a statement as quickly as possible and ensuring that the right people, such as the guardian, are involved.

Having numerous individuals interact with the child during the case is not appropriate as this could confuse or pressure the child. Children could easily be controlled and led on, because they are still young and reliant on someone else. They will speak for the people they meet with knowing the repercussions. Making suggestions during the interview can also alter their statements, making their statements not credible (Brainered & Reyna, 2012).

The environment where the child is being questioned is important. It is important to have the environment as comfortable as possible so that the child is able to give a credible statement. If the child is not comfortable, that could lead to unreliable statement. A study was completed by Pozzulo and Lindsay and it was suggested that children see adults as authority figures, so the children are not aware that they have an option of saying they do not know something. Therefore, they do not use the phrase as adults would in a similar situation.

Children should be able to provide a credible eyewitness testimony in order to make sure false convictions are not made, under the condition that they are not adequately examined and are competent enough to give a credible testimony. Since children are more vulnerable than adults, they can be misled by the questions being asked. The reliability of the child’s memory not only depends on the style of questioning but also the type of questions that are being asked during the interview. It has shown that when prompted to openly remember the incident, children will accurately recollect the event that took place (Pipe, 1996). But, being that these children are young and not familiar with different concepts and/or ideas, some may not be able to understand. Therefore, they will not be able to describe everything they have seen and prove to be a credible witness.

Many people feel as though they fully understand the concept of memory but when asked exactly what it is, they find it difficult to put in words or simply define it as how we store and recall past and present information. The study of human memory has been a subject of research and major interest for many years. There are plenty of questions and theories surrounding the concept, but the subject remains quite complex. Majority of the time, many people tend to believe that they remember more than they actually do and most of the time the information that is recalled contains more inaccuracies than truth, but we still believe what we think we remember. Memory is far more unreliable than we may think and over time memory can fade and be left open to be altered and adjusted without realization. Although memory can be shaky and questionable, it still remains an important part of life and to no surprise, an important part of our justice system; specifically focusing on eyewitnesses. Society is aware of how faulty memory can be and traumatic events, stressful moments, and even questioning can modify how we remember the information we have stored. Regardless of how highly unreliable memory can be and the drastic effects it can have on eyewitness validity, it is still applied in our justice system. Adults every day are expected to present evidence in cases based on their recollection of events and many of times they may fall short. If adults struggle with their memory during questioning and testimonies, imagine if that same responsibility and the main source of information in a case had to come from a child. In many cases involving abuse or violence to a child or in a child’s family, it is no surprise that children will be the prime witnesses and information source, but we have to wonder if that causes more harm than good. This paper will discuss the concept of memory, suggestibility of children, the importance and reliability of eyewitness testimony; and to what extent can we rely on the recollection of children.

Memory is defined in the dictionary as, “the faculty of the brain by which the mind stores and remembers information”, sounds simple enough you would think, but the concepts stretch far deeper. The Textbook of Clinical Neurology describes memory as the recording, retention, and retrieval of knowledge. It accounts for all knowledge gained from experience-facts that are known, events that are remembered, and skills that are gained and applied (Brewer, 2007). In more basic terms, as humans our minds take quick snap shots of the world around us, stores them and when we recall what we saw and the information we remember, we piece everything together to form that memory. Majority of the memory we have stored is done without our knowledge, meaning we go through life, and our mind takes in our surrounding such as what is on the billboard that is posted by the freeway you take to work. Majority of people are unaware that we have that memory stored until we actually need to use it and that’s how it is for years. From birth we are stormed with immense amounts of information regarding both ourselves and the world around us and we must learn how to hold onto everything. Our brain has different models of memory, both short-term and long-term memory, one lasting just a few seconds and the other lasting months and years. The Textbook of Clinical Neurology focuses on and describes both models of memory. Short-term memory is explained as information we are aware of thinking about in the moment which can last around thirty seconds unless we rehearse it (Brewer, 2007). The best example that majority of people have experienced is trying to remember a phone number. When someone tells you a phone number, you try quickly to remember it but seconds later you noticed that you have already forgotten it. If you had rehearsed it, such as repeating the number numerous times then maybe it would have been more committed to your memory, but short-term memory is still open to inference. Any new information that we obtain during that quick time will replace the old; if someone gives a number and a short time after you receive another number, there is a chance that you will mix both numbers up and create one you think is correct or the number you kept repeating may be one number off and now you have the wrong number committed to memory. Although short term memory can quickly be forgotten, memory that is rehearsed or attended to can then become long-term memory. Long-term memory on the other hand, is described as permanent and semantic memory that is used to interpret new experiences and the ongoing use is what can cause the original memory to become altered and inaccurate. It becomes organized by meaning rather than perceptual characteristics (Brewer, 2007). The example given referred to people who may remember the content of a sentence they had read far better than the specific words in the sentence and similar to short term memory being opened to interference, this is when long-term memory becomes susceptible to distortion and error.

There have always been discussions about just how perfect and accurate the human memory is. No system is perfect; there are times we may forget or misremember something or there may be moments the memory was not properly or correctly stored to begin with. This is where the concept of memory errors comes into play. During the APA 2003 Convention, the author of ‘The Seven Sins of Memory’, Daniel Schacter, stated: “Memory, for all that it does for us every day…for all the feats that can sometimes amaze us, can also be a troublemaker” (Schacter, 2002). The book divides memory errors into seven fundamental transgression or sins, as it’s called. The first three which are described as sins of omission which is simply when we fail to bring a memory to mind. This includes transience which refers to the weakening and loss of memory through time, absentmindedness, the breakdown between attention and memory, and blocking which is a thwarted attempt to retrieve information. The next four are considered sins of commission which is when the memory brought to mind is incorrect. These include misattribution, a natural cognitive mix up, bias, which is when our knowledge and beliefs affect how we remember a past event, persistence, remembering something we wish we could forget, and finally and the most dangerous, suggestibility; the main sin of focus, which is when our memory is distorted by information from external sources. All forms of memory errors are very important and have been studied in-depth for decades but when referring to the topic at hand, suggestibility is of the most importance and in my opinion, causes the most drastic effects.

When needed, we try hard to remember or recall a specific event in time and sometimes it can be difficult to recall things perfectly and exactly the way it happens. When we fall short and continue to struggle, it is easy for someone to include their suggestion of what may have occurred and unconsciously, our memory begins to follow along with that suggestion and we use it to fill in the missing gaps therefore forming a memory we believe to be accurate. In this case, although we are filling in missing pieces with inaccurate but plausible information, we are not lying nor are we making something up. Our minds genuinely believe what we are recalling to be true even if the event didn’t happen that way or in some cases didn’t even happen at all. Referring back to Daniel Schacter book, ‘The Seven Sins of Memory’, “suggestibility in memory refers to the tendency to incorporate information provided by others, such as misleading questions, into one’s own recollections” (Schacter, 2002). The book delves deeper into the concept and negative effects of suggestibility. It states that, “when people are asked suggestive and misleading questions about a previous event, their recollections of the original event may be altered by the provision of erroneous post event information” (Schacter, 2002). This is a serious concern when legal context comes into play and suggestive questioning by law enforcements can lead to errors in eye witness testimonies, false confession and even false imprisonment. This has been a problem in our justice system for decades and the fate of people lives and freedom has depended on the recollection of regular people. Unfortunately, no one is more vulnerable to suggestive influence than young children. Kids not only tend to have an overly active imagination, but they remain an essential part of criminal case. No one seems to question just how fragile a young mind can be and just how much responsibility and trust is placed on them.

In a scholarly article titled, ‘The Suggestibility of Children: Scientific Research and Legal Implications’, the author Richard D. Friedman researched the vulnerability of children to suggestions. He states that, within the mainstream scientific community, scholars agree that young children are more susceptible than older individuals to leading questions and pressures to confirm to the expectations and desires of others (Friedman Ceci, 2000). Majority of cases were the reliance of child memories and testimonies are brought into question is that of childhood sexual abuse or violence. Studies showed that although preschooler’s memories are often accurate, Schacter explained that suggestive procedures can lead to the creation of subjectively compelling false recollections of autobiographical episodes. There are numerous cases involving people being found guilty of sexual crimes they did not commit due to the recollection of a child. One tragic case in particular is the case of Fell Acres Daycare in Massachusetts was an entire family was falsely convicted. The incident dates back to 1984 when a five-year-old boy informed his uncle that he was touched on his private parts at school. The young boy had wet his self at school and a school attendant helped change him into some clean clothes. The mother of the boy claimed that soon after the incident the boy began displaying disturbing behavior. The boy explained that at school the attendant had pulled down his pants. The mother continued to question the young boy further until he stated that he was taken into a secret room where he was abused and indicated that other children at school were abused as well. The mother reported the abuse and a meeting was held at the local police station where sixty-five other parents were informed to question their child and be persistent if the child was reluctant to speak about it. Parents were informed of specifics of the incident and what behavioral symptoms to look out for. After the meeting, many more children had begun to disclose similar stories. Children had spoken about a secret room, a clown, robots and knives. In the end, three people were charged with molesting and abusing a total of twenty-nine children. Thirteen children had testified against the adults in questioned and jurors stated that the children’s testimony had a major influence. This case was a prime example of the negative affect’s a child testimony could have on a case. The children were interviewed improperly and tainted with suggestive questioning, prolonged questioning by parents, police officers, and lawyers and even when they tried to deny that anything had happened, they were still being heavily pressured. Imagine being an adult and being questioned by numerous people for a prolonged period of time. We as adults would struggle with such a thing so one could only imagine how difficult it would be for children who has a need to please their parents and adults. It is unfortunate to say that this is only one of many cases that involved false statements from children.

Author Ross E. Cheit wrote a book titled ‘The Witch-Hunt Narratives’ that highlighted high profile criminal cases involving day care centers and sexual abuse of children. One of the cases researched was the McMartin Preschool case which involved children making some bizarre and far out accusation case, along with a dozen other cases that were eventually labeled as nothing more than witch hunts. Cheit explained: “McMartin was the first of a series of prosecutions in the 1980s that have come to be seen as a collective witch hunt, in which panicked parents and incompetent investigators led children to make up stories of abuse by adults at day care centers and preschools”. Children we asked leading questions, adults had insinuated that other children had already told what happened, children were even scolded for denying they were abused, and they were constantly interviewed until they said wat adults wanted to hear. Its cases just as this that set a precedent for how children should be handled in future cases but unfortunately things are still far from perfect.

There are many different forms of evidence that can be utilized in a case to determine the resolution of a case or dispute, but eye witness testimonies have remained an important factor. Although juries pay close attention to witness testimonies and depend and rely on it as an important source of information, eye witness testimonies have continued to be an important area of research. Studied has shown that eyewitness testimonies are the main form of evidence in more than 20% of cases but 75% of false convictions are due to inaccurate eyewitness statements. The Innocence Project has proven how false eye witness testimonies and misidentification are the most common cause of wrongful conviction than all other factors combined. There has been many studies and research that states that this type of evidence is too unreliable and can end up causing more harm than good. No were does is state that eyewitnesses should not be used, it is simple stating that too much reliance is placed on evidence that is not concrete. Many innocent people spend years in jail just to later be exonerated through DNA or other evidence and many people never get to see freedom and have to carry out a sentence for a crime they did not commit. Although eye witness testimonies have been the forefront of many studies and research, the attention did term to whether we can rely on young children to provide an accurate account of events.

‘Perspectives on Children’s Testimonies’ is a book they addressed a study done by Yarmey and Jones in 1983. The study asked different groups of people involving criminal lawyers, judges, law students as well college students, to judge their reliability of a hypothetical testimony of an eight-year-old girl. They were asked how they felt a child of that age would answer questions by police officers or in court. The studied showed that less than fifty percent felt that the child would respond accurately while sixty nine percent felt that the child would respond the way the questioners wished or according to the interviewer’s desire. Children will often choose to answer in a way where they are not disappointing the adult and when it comes to identifying someone, they may choose someone they feel resembles someone they may have seen. Children also want to seem as though they are being helpful especially in cases involving a friend or a fellow classmate. The book, ‘Jeopardy in the Courtroom: A Scientific Analysis of Children’s Testimony’, discusses different reasons behind why a child may provide more incorrect information than truth. Some reason discussed included misleading suggestions, false memories, or the presence of authority. Sometimes the adults interviewing the child actively try to explore a number of possible explanations for the child’s statements, and finally, in an effort to help the child open up, some therapists use techniques such as repeated suggestive questioning, visually guided imagery, hypnotic regression, trance inductions, and self-expansion training. The point of the research was to uncover if children can actually remember emotionally stressful event that occurred, or do they tend to reshape or forget the event all together even when it actually occurred.

The topic of this paper is not to just bring attention to suggestibility in children and its effect on cases involving innocent people, but all cases of injustice, even those involving guilty parties as well. Not all cases involve false.

Numerous academic research journals can be found into the study of the progression and portrayal of Disney princesses and their impact to children’s self-esteem and self-identity. This literature was reviewed to determine the conclusion on if both environmental and biological processes are included in the discovery of the impact that Disney princesses have on children’s self-esteem and how the two approaches interplay.

Both quantitative and qualitative approaches to such research have found negative representation of women (Lacroix, 2004; Dundes, 2001; Do-Rozario, 2004; Béres, 1999). However, that newer Disney princesses portray a character of more modern feminine behavior (Streiff & Dundes, 2017; Dundes & Streiff, 2016; Dundes et al., 2018).

Comparing the traditional versus the modern literature of Disney princesses, the portrayal identified has key similarities in the approach of the research, which focuses on the environmental impacts on children through themes surrounding the princesses’ beauty and independence, together with the prevalence for a male suitor. However, literature has left limitations on the outcome of how biological influences could represent the impacts on children’s self-esteem and self-identity.

Literature surrounding biological processes defining beauty and gender stereotypes was reviewed for contextual purposes, however is not addressed in this thematic analysis beyond addressing key similarities in how these processes have been framed and researched to date.

Review

Disney created their very first Disney princess, Snow White, in 1937. Snow White was described as ‘the fairest of them all’, with plump child-like features, accompanied by fair skin, red lips and black contrasting hair. The storyline of ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ sees the Queens magic mirror announce that the Queen is no longer the ‘fairest of them all’ in favor of Snow White. The Queen also witnesses how a prince falls in love with Snow White after hearing her sing. In retaliation the Queen orders her Huntsman to take Snow White to the forest and kill her. The Huntsman could not carry out this task and begs Snow White to run and never look back. In taking the advice of the Huntsman, Snow White stumbles upon the home of the seven dwarfs. The seven dwarfs willingly invite Snow White into their home after she offers to cook and clean for them. The Queen eventually discovers the truth about Snow White being alive and attempts to kill her again, however only placing her into a sleeping death curse which can only be broken by ‘love’s first kiss’. Ironically, the prince who heard her sing was able to break this curse with a kiss.

Reflecting on the Disney film the perception of beauty is established from the beginning. With Snow White’s features defined by the magic mirror, and the portrayal of ‘love at first sight’ sending a strong message on the importance of having beautiful feminine traits – that, together with being the submissive female who concerns herself with domestic duties and later waits passively to be rescued.

Disney’s most recent princess, Moana, created in 2016, intends to portray a brave and independent young woman, destined to be her people’s leader and chief, and with no male suitor. Whilst Moana possesses inherent beauty, Disney steered away from their typical ‘beautiful’ features of fair skin, slim build, pristine hair, ball gowns and quietly spoken nature usually associated with Moana’s peers.

Moana’s story sees her chosen, as a baby, by the ocean to return the heart of Te Fiti, to which her grandmother, a perceived ‘drifter’ or free-spirted, encourages throughout her life. However, Moana’s father, the dominant male figure in her life, discourages Moana’s desire for exploration and makes it his life’s work to make sure Moana leads their people the way he has deemed proper, suppressing her desires for the person she wants to be and how she wants to lead. Moana sails on her mission to convince Maui, the Demigod, to return the heart of Te Fiti. For Moana to leave on this mission, whilst heroic, she had to sneak away in the middle of the night in what is perceived to be a rebellious and selfish act based on her father’s intentions for her. Moana leaves on her journey unites with Maui, who then takes on the male-lead role in the film, teaching Moana to sail and becoming the means to the end of Moana’s mission – without Maui, Moana would not have succeeded.

Whilst Moana’s character in the film is not perceived by children to be a princess or beautiful, Moana continues a tradition of Disney princess movies that perpetuate gender stereotypes, whilst without a romantic distraction, but rather by the usual undercurrent of a male dominating figure leaving Moana needing to seek approval of her self-identity to her overprotective father, and then the reliance on the overtly hyper masculine, Maui.

Traditional literature of the Disney princesses uses social cognitive theory, with a focus on of gender development, and identity theory, to suggest that Disney princesses are a model within the environment, which teach children to develop beliefs through their interpretations, highlighting the impact of media consumption as a powerful force to developing self-beliefs. Differences in modern literature to that of traditional literature of Disney princesses focuses on the evolving change of the role the princesses play, the perception of beauty, independence and gender stereotypes. The modern research explores these perceptions with children used as the subjects to characterize such traits, and explores the impact to the children’s self-esteem and self-identity through the children’s own observations and not the hypotheses which look at film to theory only. Observing the literature, the concept that biology plays a role in the perception of beauty, independence and gender stereotypes is absent. Both modern and traditional literature on Disney princesses frame the research to identify whether environment plays a key role in the perception of beauty, independence and gender stereotypes with the resulting self-esteem and self-identity being formed as part of the environmental influence.

The exploration that perhaps Disney is portraying characteristics which stimulate biological processes that stem from the biological definition of human beauty, which has existed long before Walt Disney Productions, could be explored further to gain a better insight into cause and effect of self-esteem and self-identity. Such studies exploring the biological aspects of beauty have been carried out independently of Disney princesses. However, the literature on what defines beauty when observing physical features, chemistry of love at first sight, vocal attractiveness, submissive behaviors and gender roles could consciously or subconsciously be the cause of deciphering of such story lines where the princesses meet beauty ideals. As observed in the films, the beauty ideals lead to love at first sight through physical features, signing and carrying out domestic duties. Regardless of whether these aspects of a person are reflected in the way humans are conditioned to live and behave in modern times, such exploration of both environmental and biological causes could add an aspect of conclusion to the cause and effect of impacts to children’s self-esteem and self-identity.

Conclusion

Through the review of the literature into the impact Disney princesses have on the self-esteem and self-identity of children it seems that story lines within Disney films have changed favorably to improve the outcomes of the impacts. Beauty ideals have changed, the role of female characters have changed, and the idea that princesses need male suitors have changed. However, there remains the gender stereotype undercurrent where dominant male figures seem to have taken the place of romantic distractions. Whilst progress in the impacts of these films has been made, consideration of the environment where female characteristics come from internal empowerment are yet to be explored.

The research often concludes that children consuming media surrounding these story lines are impacted through environmental exposure of ideals portrayed in the films. However, there is a lack of evidence on how biology plays a part in where ideals should or should not be upheld by the intended audience. Research reviewing cause and effect of beauty ideas would make an interesting addition to the literature on the topic of Disney princesses.

Infections are germs that can make individuals and animals debilitated. Infections cause chickenpox, foot, colds, mouth malady, hand, influenza and numerous different illnesses. Coronaviruses are a group of infections that can taint the respiratory tract and cause manifestations like a runny nose, high-fever, sore throat, and short of breath.

Toward the end of 2019, a virus named called COVID-19 started to make individuals highly sick in China. This virus is generally known by the name as Coronavirus. This infection first affected the animals of different kind. People are getting infected from the infected animals of Coronavirus. This symptom was first diagnosed in Wuhan in China at a seafood selling market. Thus, the primary centre of this virus is in Wuhan. After, that this virus is then transmitted from human to human through cough, sneeze, or just by shaking hand. It causes fever, sore throat, and also short of breath. It is highly prone in certain individuals, particularly if they are already sick from before.

Specialists accept that coronaviruses spread from one person to another. This virus can transmitted through a number reason such as coughing, sneezing, or just getting close contact to that person. Coronavirus contaminations are highly vulnerable during the winter season.

Coronaviruses are regular reasons for colds and respiratory tract contaminations. You may hear the infection called novel coronavirus, or COVID-19. A portion of the first cases were analyzed in quite a while who had visited the Wuhan fish selling market. The deadly virus of coronavirus in China has killed more than 900 people.

Specialists are as yet examining how the new coronavirus spreads. Well, the coronaviruses lives in air from which the virus gets transmitted to the person. Then gradually it gets spread or transmitted from one person to another. So coughing makes it vulnerable to get affected by this virus. A few people who got debilitated with the new coronavirus lived with other people who had the infection.

Symptoms of Coronavirus

Well, Health official authorities are effectively examining this infection to study its effect. However, the people who are infected by this deadly virus have been reported that the impact varies from mild to severe. The most common symptoms prevail in a person is a fever which can vary from mild to severe. Now, let’s see the other prevailing symptoms of coronavirus:

• Fever
• Pneumonia
• Coughing
• Breathing trouble
• Fatigue
• Sneezing
• Sore throat
• Cerebral pain
• Looseness of the bowels
• Body aches

Child Care in Coronavirus

Well, the positive side is that children are getting less affected by this deadly disease than adults or in old. As per report, only two new born infants got infected by coronavirus in China. Well, medical experts are not sure enough why children are less prone to this disease.

Specialists are as yet finding out about this new infection, so we don’t have a great deal of data about it yet. However, it appears to cause a milder contamination in kids than in grown-ups or elderly adults. Just around 100 cases in kids have been accounted for around the world. A large portion of them got the disease from somebody they lived with or a relative.

Side Effects in Children due to Coronavirus

Pneumonia can be one of the deadly cause of coronavirus. The individuals who have become sick are accounted for to endure sneeze, fever, and breathing challenges. In extreme cases there can be multi-organ failure. As this is viral pneumonia, anti-microbials are of no utilization. The antiviral medications we have against influenza won’t work. Recuperation relies upon the quality of the safe framework. A significant number of the individuals who have died were already having severe poor health condition.

How Is the New Coronavirus Treated in Children

Conoronavirun might affect children in few severe and rare cases. In the wake of conversing with a specialist, most improve with rest and liquids. Individuals or children who are sick get care in a medical clinic with breathing assistance, IV liquids, and different medications. Also, treatment for most coronavirus contaminations in children includes easy treatment until the disease gets severe. Patient with severe illness with coronavirus may require treatment in a medical clinic or other health care centre.

Precautions

Similarly as with different infections, the most ideal approaches to ensure yourself and your family are:

• Evade contact with individuals who are already sick from before.
• Tell your children to Wash their hands well and frequently. Wash at a rate of 20 seconds with cleanser and water or use hand sanitizer.
• Do whatever it takes to tell your children not to contact their eyes, nose, and mouth if they haven’t washed your hands.
• Clean and purify surfaces and items that children touch the most.
• Maintain a strategic distance from travelling to China​​ until this phase has completely over.

Anti-toxins can’t treat infections so they won’t help with the coronavirus. Prescriptions for influenza don’t work either on the grounds that the coronavirus is unique in relation to the influenza infection.

Specialists around the globe are considering and following the new coronavirus. Nations like the United States are finding a way to keep it from spreading. This implies recognizing individuals who have the infection and anybody they come into contact with.

It is brought about by an individual from the coronavirus family that has never been experienced. Like different coronaviruses, it has originated from various animals. A large numbers of people got infected first either they are fish-sellers or much of the time shopped in the Huanan fish market in the centre point of the Chinese city.

UK Chief Medical Officers are examining any individual who has made a trip to the UK from China, Taiwan, Japan, or other East Asian coronavirus countries over the recent past 14 days and who is encountering a cough or fever or brevity of breath to remain inside and call NHS 111, regardless of whether side effects are mild.

China’s official health authority has affirmed human-to-human transmission, and there have been such transmissions somewhere else. China has accounte 2,345 death tolls from the Covid-19 virus from 22nd February. It was reported that a total 76,288 cases mainly affected China. An estimation of 12,000 has been regained to a healthy life.

The coronavirus has spread to at a rate of 28 different nations. Japan has 607 cases; including 542 in Yokohama from a cruise ship, and has recorded three deaths. There have additionally been deaths in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Iran, Philippines, and France.

Should People Panic?

No. The spread of the infection outside China is stressing however not that much. So, people don’t need to panic unnecessarily. The WHO has proclaimed the virus to be a general wellbeing crisis of universal concern. The key issues is how transmissible this new coronavirus is among individuals, and what extent become seriously sick and end up in medical clinic. Frequently infections that transmit easily will generally have a milder effect. For the most part, the coronavirus is more vulnerable to grown-up adults or elderly adults, with not many cases in kids.

However, worldwide endeavors right now are centered simultaneously on restricting the spread of this infection and alleviating the effect of this infection. The national government is working intimately with state, local, regional, and tribal accomplices to keep a track of this deadly virus. The health official authority is multi-layered, with the objective of recognizing and limiting presentations of this infection in the United States to decrease the spread and the effect of this infection on children as well as on grown-up adults.