Is Your Home a Warm, Encouraging Place for Kids?
August 29, 2003 |
 Click to hear the show. Requires the RealPlayer from RealNetworks. |
Transcript
In most neighborhoods, and in our memories, there’s one home that most kids are drawn to like a magnet. That home had a relaxed, happy environment where kids hung out, played, and enjoyed being together. And I bet the parents of that family had a lot to do with shaping the character of that home, which had a magnetic appeal. In the book "Stress and Your Child", Doctor Arch Hart writes about a study involving 200 German kids and how they were affected by family patterns. Researchers found that children exhibited high levels of anxiety and stress when their home atmosphere was characterized by restriction and control. These were homes where kids were granted little freedom to express themselves and were not even allowed to act like kids. But in homes where freedom and personal expression were encouraged, kids were more optimistic and had a greater ability to cope with stress. We don’t need to have a strategy for our neighborhoods but we do for our homes. Are we making our homes warm, encouraging, and happy places for our kids? Who knows, this kind of magnetism may spread to their friends as well. |
|
What station did you hear us on?
|
Its Your Turn...
please give us your comments, questions, or suggestions for family matters.
(response limit: 1000 characters) |
|