Coping Strategies In Children

Many children await the day when they can be considered grown up. For them it represents a time where they possess more rights and privileges. However, for middle children which are between the ages of 7 through12 this time may seem more like a nightmare because it marks the time when they undergo physical and mental changes. These physical and mental changes have a major impact on their development. The subject in this scenario is a little boy named Mark who is being bullied at school by a group of older boys to the point that he has received bruises from the encounters. As a result, Mark dislikes going to school for the fear of being embarrassed or hurt and the looming threat of recurring bodily harm if he asks for help from the teachers. This situation has become so serious that Mark is barely eating and has withdrawn himself from his peers in efforts to avoid the boys who are bulling him. After examining the above scenario, this paper will explain Mark’s different issues based on signs of biosocial, cognitive and psychosocial development and discuss what should be done to help Mark succeed in his current situation based on research.

Sub-stage 5-twelve to eighteen months, this stage is characterized by a child’s ability to conceptualize the idea that an object that cannot be seen still exists. The sixth and final sub-stage of the Sensorimotor Period is eighteen to twenty-four months, this stage is characterized by a child’s ability to understand through reasoning and express themselves creatively (Lefmann & Combs-Orme, 2013). Stage 2-Pre-operational Thought (i.e., 2 - 7 years old); the Pre-operational Thought period is defined by a child's ability to create their own form of communication. Sub-stages of the Pre-operational Thought are characterized by a child’s ability to identify characteristics of photographs and their use of an intuitive thought process (Powell & Kalina, 2009). Concrete Operations (i.e., 7 – 12 years old); the Concrete Operational period is defined by a child's ability to reason logically. Formal Operations (i.e., 12 years old - Adulthood); the Formal Operational period is defined by a child's ability to use critical thinking and analytical reasoning to approach new challenges. Children initially enter into action-based (sensorimotor) and progress into a mental (operational) level as they grow older (Powell & Kalina, 2009). A comparison of the theories of Jean Piaget and Erik Erikson is important to gain a holistic point of view of a child’s developmental progress.

This section focuses on the standard, “Children demonstrate strategies for reasoning and problem solving” (Early Childhood Iowa, 2012, p. 99). Through this standard, a child will: show interest in and find a variety of solutions to questions, tasks, or problems; recognize and solve problems through active exploration, including trial and error, and through interactions and discussions with peers and adults; share ideas or make suggestions of how to solve a problem presented by another person. Adults must support these benchmarks by providing opportunities for each child to try new ways of using materials, creating a safe environment with developmentally appropriate materials that offer an appropriate amount of stimulation and choice for each child to explore and play with, allowing each child time to process experiences and information, talking through problems with children to model problem-solving, holding class meetings to discuss issues that may occur and have the children brainstorm solutions, and choosing appropriate materials that promote creativity, self-expression, number, and emerging literacy skills (Early Childhood Iowa,

Behaviourist approaches – children learn as a result of what they see and what happens to them.

She tells her teacher, “Here teacher, help me put it on.” The teacher gives the coat back and tells Rosa to try by herself. Rosa says, “I can’t.” The teacher shows Rosa how she would put her coat on. Rosa then looks for the first arm to put in and puts the coat on the back. She finally then puts both arms in and says, “Look teacher, I did it by myself.” After Rosa put on her coat she runs outside with a smile on her face to play with her friends.

I previously watched a video called, “What do Babies Think?” In the video, there was a lady named Alison Gopnik. In her video she explained how babies are continually are processing probabilities in their head. Alison also explained an experiment on how a four year old thinks or process things in the brain. In the experiment, she had a four year old boy try to use blocks to make a light come on. The boy tried five different hypothesis, and finally ended up finding the correct way after trial and error. By using the experiment with the child, she showed how a four year olds mind thinks/understands processes.

According to an article about bullying and victimization, it was noted that male victimization rates for bullies was among the highest and because bullying became more detrimental in the later stages of middle to late adolescents, due to self-blame, loneliness, anxiety and low self-esteem (Graham and Juvonen 1998). Also, peer victimization may lead to depression, low self-evaluation, anxiety and other different mental health problems (Crick &

This part of the chapter is significant because it teaches the importance of peer groups among children and how children basically learn from each other. It also informs us about bullying which is a serious issue among all age groups, especially during middle childhood. People, specifically parents and guardians, need to be informed about bullying and the consequences and results of it. All parents should guide their children to avoid the path of becoming bullies, so that children can grow up in peace and harmony with one another. Along with peer groups, children will befriend others they can relate so they do not feel alone (Berger, 300-302). Lev Vygotsky’s social-cultural theory can be applied to this because the way a child is raised or how they grow up to be, in which includes factors such as environment and the people they associate with, will affect their overall developmental growth. Similarly, Jean Piaget’s Cognitive Theory relates to bullying because his theory focuses on changes in how people think over time; thoughts shape attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors (Berger, 28). For example, when a bully insults someone by saying that he/she is fat, ugly, stupid, etc., the victim starts to believe that it’s true and will put him/herself down. They will lose self-confidence and become extremely conscious about their appearance and characteristics. The constant name calling perpetuates to the victim believing and noticing the words the bully is saying about them. When

Peer victimization, while unfortunate, is not uncommon in school environments (Shin & Ryan, 2012) and ethnic differences serve as a potential source for discrimination and teasing. Several adolescents suggested befriending someone of the same ethnicity, especially when new to the school environment, to buffer the effect of discrimination, a technique corroborated by Shin and Ryan (2012). That some older participants noted using humor in response to ethnically charged comments is consistent with findings with one of the few other studies of coping among urban youths (Vera et al. 2012). It may be that humor in response to ethnically-based teasing has some neutralizing effect on the perpetrator, while focusing on emotions by crying, for example, may fuel

As would be expected from recent research on brain development (Spear, 2000), the use of particular cognitive strategies such as strategizing, decision-making, planning, and ref lection does not seem to be widespread until late adolescence or even early adulthood. In fact, the pubertal transition marks a time of less extensive use of problem-solving than in late childhood. This time-limited decline in problem-solving may correspond to a particular time of heightened stress reactivity that limits a young person‘s capacity to direct attention to problem- solving coping strategies. At the same time, increases in distraction, rumination, aggression, and avoidance are apparent.

* Discipline hyperactive children from the beginning and do not follow their tendency to be hyperactive attitude they were not directed to negative things.

Students in 8th and 10th grades represent the developmental stage when adolescents explore autonomy and form identity influenced by internal and external influences (Muuss, Velder, & Porton, 1996; Dudovitz, Li, & Chung, 2013). At this stage, adolescents start forming their perceptions about the family, society, self, and peers. Their life course, such as interpersonal relationships with family members and peers and support (moderator) are the protective factors, and their victimizations (predictor) at school or work are the risk factors (Brook, et al., 1998), as shown in Figure 2. Family and peer relationships and victimization are associated and victimization (predictor) can influence family and peer relationships (Brook, et al., 1998). Interpersonal

Data: From 2009 to 2013 the number of individuals in substance abuse treatment on a single day decreased from 45,149 to 42,945. The 2010 U.S. Census estimates reveal that there children ages 5 years and younger living in the United States were well beyond 20 million (Howden & Meyer, 2011). The risk of onset developing childhood mental health issues is greatest in the first 5 years of life (Osofsky & Lieberman, 2011). Ultimately mental health insult in infancy can increase a child’s risk for permanent future behavioral problems (Hemmi, Wolke, & Schneider, 2011). Early childhood interventions that can identify infant mental health challenges can

Emily’s Perceptual Reasoning skills were found to be in the well below average range as compared to peers her same age. PRI items required Emily to utilize her nonverbal skills. She was required to manipulate concrete blocks to recreate patterns, and to visually manipulate pictures of puzzle pieces to create a similar figure. She was asked to identify patterns in design and reconstruct puzzles in her mind. Emily was given choices to select answers from, and she appeared to do best when offered choices as compared to open ended

In the concrete operational stage between the ages of seven and twelve, children become capable of logical thought, they also start to be able to think abstractly. However they are best suited to visible or concrete objects and things they can see (Lee and Gupta). Once the child has reached the formal operations stage from twelve years onwards it becomes more practiced at abstract processing, carrying out problem solving systematically and methodically thus completing the cognitive development process.