The Play Years:

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Chapter 8

• The Play Years
• Biosocial Development

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Body and Brain

• Young childrens body and brain develop according
  to powerful epigenetic forces
• Biologically driven
• Socially guided

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Body Shape and Growth Rates

• Analysis of Pictures (Infancy vs. Toddlerhood)
• Lower body lengthens
• child becomes slimmer
• Steady increase in height and weight
• 3 inches in height per year
• 4 1/2 pounds in weight per year

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Genes and Ethnic and Cultural Differences

• Genetic background prepares child to be
  experience-expectant
• Cultural patterns and differences guide
  development
• Most influential factors
• genes, health, nutrition
• Other influencing factors
• sex, birth order, geography

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Eating Habits

• Food should be nutritious
• isnt alwaysoften far from ideal
• enough caloriesnot enough vitamins and
  mineralsmajor nutritional problems are
• iron-deficiency anemia
• too much sugar
• too much fat
• not enough fruits and vegetables

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Statistics on Childhood Obesity

• The number of overweight and obese children has
  doubled in the last two decades.
• Currently, 15.3 percent of 6- to 11-year-olds and
  15.5 percent of 12- to 19-year-olds are at or
  above the 95th percentile for body mass index
  (BMI).
• Genetics, diet, high-risk behaviors (i.e.
  smoking, drinking alcohol and using illegal
  drugs) in adolescents, physical inactivity, and
  television/videotape viewing and video games all
  play a role.
• www.aap.org

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Brain Development

• Underlies rapidly expanding cognitive abilities
• by age 2, 75 of brain weight achieved
• by age 5, 90 of brain weight achieved
• pruning of dendrites has occurred

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Speed of Thought

• Myelinationprocess by which axons become
  insulated with a coating of myelin, a fatty
  substance that speeds transmission of nerve
  impulses
• thoughts follow each other fast enough for
  children to perform one task after another
• fast processing essential for fast and complex
  communication
• experience affects rate of myelination

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Connecting the Brains Hemispheres

• Corpus callosumnerve fibers that connect the two
  halves of the brain

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Connecting the Brains Hemispheres, cont.
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Connecting the Brains Hemispheres, cont.

• Left Side, Right Side
• lateralizationspecialization of the two sides of
  the brain
• left brain
• logical analysis, language, speech
• right brain
• visual and artistic skills
• Coping with Brain Damage

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Planning and Analyzing

• Prefrontal cortex (or frontal lobe) is the final
  part of the human brain to reach maturity
• the area in the very front of the brain that is
  least developed in nonhumans
• mid-adolescence
• maturation occurs gradually and incomplete until
  advances at about age 3 or 4 make possible
  impulse control and formal education

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Planning and Analyzing, cont.

• Perseverationthe tendency to persevere, to stick
  to a thought or action long after it is time to
  move on
• occurs normally in young childrenanother aspect
  of immature self- control

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Educational Implications of Brain Development

• By age 6, children are ready for formal
  instruction
• before, brain not sufficiently developed in ways
  it needs to be, but now child can
• sit still for more than an hour
• scan a page of print
• balance sides of body
• draw and write with one hand
• listen and think before talking
• remember important facts
• control emotions

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Educational Implications of Brain Development,
cont.

• The brain provides the foundation for education
• any impediments to normal growth of the brain can
  put academic achievement on shaky ground

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Motor Skills and Avoidable Injuries

• Brain development allows for greater coordination
  and impulse control
• Physical maturation can make a child more
  vulnerable to injury

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Gross Motor Skills

• Large body movements improve
• running, jumping, climbing, throwing
• Gross motor skills are practiced and mastered

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Gross Motor Skills, cont.

• Motor skills develop as rapidly as brain
  maturation, motivation, guided practice, and
  innate ability allow
• Children learn basic motor skills by teaching
  themselves and learning from other children

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Fine Motor Skills

• Small body movements are harder to master
• pouring, cutting, holding crayon, tying
• lacking the muscular control, patience, and
  judgment needed
• fingers short and fat
• confusion over which is dominant hand

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Artistic Expression

• Childrens artistic endeavors are also their play
• drawings often connected to perception and
  cognition
• gradual maturation of brain and body is apparent
• artwork helps develop fine motor skills
• in artwork, many children eagerly practice
  perseveration

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Serious Injuries

• Accidents are the most common cause of childhood
  death
• poison, fire, falls, choking, and drowning
• unintended injuries cause millions of premature
  deaths per year until the age of 40 then disease
  becomes greatest cause of mortality
• Injury control/harm reductionthe idea that
  accidents are not random, but can be made less
  harmful with proper control

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Three Levels of Prevention

• Primary preventionactions that change overall
  background conditions to prevent some unwanted
  event or circumstance
• Secondary preventionactions that avert harm in
  the immediate situation
• Tertiary preventionactions taken after an
  adverse event to reduce the harm or prevent
  disability

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Three Levels of Prevention

• Primary preventionMust occur before the injury
  its purpose is to reduce everyones chance of
  injury.
• Secondary preventionactions that avert harm
  minutes before it occurs
• Tertiary preventionactions taken after the
  injury occurs,- its purpose is to reduce damage
  from the injury, save lives, and prevent
  permanent disabilities.

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Three Levels of Prevention, cont.

• An Example Pedestrian Deaths
• Primary prevention Better sidewalks, slower
  speeds, wider roads, longer traffic signals, etc.
• Secondary prevention Improving car brakes,
  having school-crossing guards, having children
  walk with adults, etc.
• Tertiary prevention Protective helmets, laws
  against hit-and-run driving, emergency room
  procedures, etc.
• Results show that these measures help to reduce
  unnecessary deaths

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Parents, Education, and Protection

• SES is a powerful predictor of many accidents
• Prevention and protection crucial
• Parents need to institute safety measures in
  advance
• Parents job is protection

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Child Maltreatment

• Sensational cases attract attention
• but dont represent the typical case
• still, we need to learn lessons about abuse in
  order to understand its causes and consequences

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Some FL Cases
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Changing Definitions of Maltreatment

• Abuse and neglect
• child maltreatment intentional harm or avoidable
  endangerment to child
• child abuse deliberate action that is harmful to
  childs well-being
• child neglect failure to meet childs basic needs

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Changing Definitions of Maltreatment, cont.

• Types of abuse
• Physical
• Sexual
• Emotional
• Educational
• Neglect twice as common as abuse
• one sign is failure to thrive
• another is hypervigilance
• can be a symptom of post-traumatic stress
  disorder

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Types of Abuse - PHYSICAL

• I. Bruises welts and bite marks
• on face, lips, mouth, neck, wrists or ankles
• on torso, back, buttock, thighs
• injuries to both eyes/cheeks (accidents usually
  injure only one side)
• in clustered, forming patterns
• in shape of article (e.g. belt, cord)
• on several different surface areas
• evidence of human bite (compresses rather than
  tears)
• in various stages of healing
• regularly appearing after absence, weekend,
  vacation
• II. Lacerations or abrasions
• to mouth, lips, gums, eyes,
• to external genitalia, on back of arms, legs or
  torso
• III. Burns
• cigar, cigarette, esp. on soles, palms, back,
  buttocks

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Types of Abuse - SEXUAL

• Definition The sexual exploitation of a child by
  a parent, relative, caretaker or other person,
  which may range from non-touching offenses such
  as exhibitionism to fondling, intercourse or use
  of child in the production of pornographic
  materials.
• Physical Indicators
• Difficulty in walking or sitting
• Torn, stained or bloody underclothing
• Pain or itching in genital area
• Bruises or bleeding in external genitalia,
  vaginal or anal areas
• Bruises to the hard or soft palate
• Sexually transmitted diseases, especially in
  preteens includes venereal oral infections
• Pregnancy, especially in early adolescent
• Painful discharge of urine and/or repeated
  urinary infections
• Foreign bodies in vagina or rectum

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Types of Abuse EMOTIONAL

• Definition Emotional child abuse is maltreatment
  which results in impaired psychological growth
  and development. It involves words, actions, and
  indifference.
• Abusers constantly reject, ignore, belittle,
  dominate, and criticize the victims. This form of
  abuse may occur with or without physical abuse,
  but there is often an overlap.
• Examples of emotional child abuse are verbal
  abuse excessive demands on a childs
  performance penalizing a child for positive,
  normal behavior (smiling, mobility, exploration,
  vocalization, manipulation of objects)
  discouraging caregiver and infant attachment
  penalizing a child for demonstrating signs of
  positive self-esteem and penalizing a child for
  using interpersonal skills needed for adequate
  performance in school and peer groups.
• In addition,frequently exposing children to
  family violence and unwillingness or inability to
  provide affection or stimulation for the child in
  the course of daily care may also result in
  emotional abuse.

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Changing Definitions of Maltreatment, cont.

• Reported maltreatmentcases about which
  authorities have been informed
• 3 million per year
• Substantiated maltreatmentcases that have been
  investigated and verified
• 1 million per year

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Reported Cases of Child Maltreatment, United
States, 19762001
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Consequences of Maltreatment

• If not spotted early, then reported and stopped,
  maltreatment can affect every aspect of a childs
  development

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Brain Damage and Consequences for Learning

• Types of possible brain damage
• shaken baby syndrome
• condition caused by maltreatment involving
  shaking a crying baby, with severe brain damage
  as result
• Neck may break
• Blood vessels may rupture
• Neural connections broken
• brain damage in despondent or terrorized child
• memory may be impaired logical thinking may be
  delayed

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Brain Damage and Consequences for Learning, cont.

• Another brain disorder may appear in neglected
  child with clinically depressed mother unable to
  provide emotional support and guidance
• right prefrontal cortex develops more than left
  consequently, negative emotions dominate, with
  greater likelihood of depression occurring
• Inadequate essential nourishment also impedes
  normal brain development

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Impaired Social Skills

• Maltreated childrens social skills
• less friendly, more isolated and aggressive
• the earlier abuse begins, the worse the
  relationship with peers

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Three Levels of Prevention, Again

• Primary preventionprevents maltreatment before
  problem starts
• need for family support, e.g.,
• stable neighborhoods
• basic values
• SES

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Three Levels of Prevention, Again, cont.

• Secondary preventionresponds to first symptoms
  or signs of risk
• spots and treats early problems
• identifies high-risk children
• potential disadvantages
• wrongfully stigmatizes family as inadequate
• undermines helpful cultural or family patterns
• creates sense of helplessness in families

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Three Levels of Prevention, Again, cont.

• Tertiary preventionhalting harm after it occurs,
  then treating victim
• removal from family
• adoption
• Foster carelegally sanctioned, publicly
  supported plan that transfers care of maltreated
  child from parents to others

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Credits
The PowerPoint Templates were prepared by Cathie
Robertson, Grossmont College for Worth
Publishers. The lecture slides were adapted by
Mayte Insua-Auais, Psy.D. Miami Dade College
Department of Social Sciences for her DEP 2000
courses.
Please maintain the credits so credit can be
given where it is due.