communicating to children requires understanding and training. as an educator for young children, you pick up the basics. i learned that effective communication to children can required getting down to their level to communicate. the child can see and understand you better. further, the child knows that the communication is directed towards them. as such, one must often bend the knees and crouch down. as such, sensitivity is required to be an effective communicator to the youth. likewise, as a teacher, i spent much time sitting in those little plastic classroom chairs.
there are reports out that democrat house speaker nancy pelosi bullied a young child by elbowing her during a photo-op. she was apparently trying to get some spacing and move the young child over a bit. this did not sit so well as it was a newly-elected congressperson, mayra flores, who is a republican. nypost.com
if we threw speaker pelosi’s age the equation, any educator seeing her conduct would have told ms. pelosi that she “needed to use her words” to communicate. had she wanted the young child to move over, she simply could have bent down and politely said, “honey, can you move a few inches over please.” this line would have been sufficient and respectful. speaker pelosi, however, chose the elbow.
while commentators have pointed out the bullying nature of the speaker’s conduct, there is something more profound to read from the event. ms. pelosi, a parent, either does not understand children’s needs or she chooses to ignore them at opportune times. her conduct speaks volumes as someone who has taken sides on the abortion rights. her contempt for children speaks volumes. she comes across as someone seriously detached from children and their needs.
in sum, all politics aside, for those in the world with limited interaction with children it is important to understand how to effectively communicate to children. a big step in the process is to try to get down to their level to communicate. making eye contact and allowing them to see your lips moving is very helpful to them. yes. you can get children to do a lot of things in this world if you “use your words!”
be well!!
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