Introduction
This paper focuses on several types of children’s communication skills and their importance to children. It also looks at various developmental stages that children undergo and their impact on them. Further, the role of play activities in children's development will be discussed. Finally, the paper will discuss the necessary steps a nurse should take to safeguard the children.
Different types of children’s communication skills and their importance.
Communication has been described as a process through which individuals exchange information. It may involve various methods of conveying the message. Children convey messages in diverse ways. Studies have shown that children develop communication skills in a specific developmental schedule notwithstanding the language a child is exposed to (Krapp and Wilson, 2005). The first thing a child learns is how to listen and understand. The next thing is expressing themselves through sounds and gestures. At first, their speech is dominated by repetitive syllables. However, they later learn to speak words, phrases, and full sentences (Paciorek, 2009).
It is important to note that despite there being some consistency in the way children develop their communication skills there is a variance in terms of time. Some children take more time to speak than others (Harley, 2017).
As noted above, children communicate through gestures and speech. The use of gestures is prominent when they have not developed in speech. When they learn how to speak, they use both gestures and speech to convey the message.
Children’s communication skills are significant in that they pass messages to the grownups when they are sick, hungry, or uncomfortable. Without the capability to communicate it would be very difficult to understand children's needs. They also use their communication skills to give feedback after they have been exposed to certain things or treatments.
Various developmental stages undergone by children and their impact on the children
The various stages of development that children go through were laid down by Jean Piaget. He came up with four stages that children are expected to undergo from their infancy to adulthood. They encompass the ability to think, make judgments, and possess knowledge (Manichander, 2016). The four stages (commonly known as Piaget’s stages) are discussed below:
Sensorimotor: This is the stage from when the child is born to the age of between 18 to 24 months. At this stage, they only recognize what is within their vicinity. They are not able to tell how things react and hence they keep trying out things. Later, they develop the ability to desire hence their actions will be dictated by desire. When they turn seven to nine months, they can recognize things even when they can no longer see them. This development is crucial as it indicates the ability of the child to retain some memory. In their 18th to 24th month, they develop the ability to communicate through gestures.
Preoperational: At this stage, the child's age is between 18 months to the early childhood of seven years. At this stage, children can think. Their communication skills improve, and their memory and imagination advance. At this stage, for instance, they can comprehend the idea of past and future. However, they cannot think logically.
Concrete operational: This stage is experienced by children of Ages seven to 12 years. At this stage, a child can learn and apply whatever he/she has learned through their cognitive skills. Learning is mainly through experiences and events (Shaffer and Kipp, 2010).
Formal operational: At this point, one is at the adolescence stage to adulthood. The individual develops the ability to have explanatory answers to principles. It is at this stage that one can distinguish between the real from the possible (Thies and Travers, 2006).
The impact of various developmental stages on children
As mentioned earlier in the paper, children’s stages of development involve a continuous process that follows a specific sequence (Singh, 2010). Throughout the process, different children have different experiences. The emotional and psychological effects that manifest during these developmental stages are unique to every child. The difference in effects of those changes is attributed to factors like genetics and different events during the child’s upbringing. These two factors are habitually incorporated in the study of child development.
The role of play activities in children development
The most significant role of play activities in children is to allow creativity and imagination. Apart from play being primarily perceived as a way of relaxing a child from strenuous activities such as learning, play is part of the ingredients of a healthy brain. Play is the link between children and nature. It allows the enhancement of skills and boosts physical and emotional strength (No Child Left Inside, 2007).
Distinct types of child abuse and their impacts.
Child abuse ranges from physical, sexual, emotional/psychological abuse and neglect. Physical abuse includes injuries caused by physical aggression (Jones, Fitzpatrick, and Rogers, 2012) This type of abuse causes pain and injuries to the child.
Sexual abuse as another type of child abuse includes any form of sexual encounter between a child and an adult (EAGLE,2011). This type of abuse takes many forms and must not consist of penetration or intercourse. Even spying on a child’s nudity is considered sexual abuse (Lindh et al., 2013).
Another common type of child abuse is psychological/emotional abuse. It is a common type of child abuse that has adverse effects on the child. Any act or omission that affects a child’s mental health is considered abusive. In most cases, emotional abuse is coupled with some other forms of abuse. For instance, sexual and physical abuse of a child may interfere with a child’s mental health.
Neglect is cited as the most prevalent type of child abuse. Studies show that neglect is the most suffered form of abuse by children. It is more than all other forms of abuse combined (Fava et al., 2016). Neglect is simply an act of omission or failure to do something that ought to be done for the well-being of a child.
Every form of abuse described above has adverse effects on the development of a child. Compared to children who are free from abuse, victims of abuse suffer from deprivation, and denial of rights, freedoms, and opportunities. Most of them suffer from stress, low self-esteem, and sicknesses, and some even die of abuse.
Necessary steps that a nurse should take to safeguard the children.
The first step in safeguarding the children is having the knowledge and the understanding of the nature of a child. To afford the best form of protection and care to the children a nurse ought to understand that children are vulnerable beings. The next step is responding to children’s needs when and as they arise while maintaining the highest standards of care. A children’s nurse owes a duty of care to the children. Under that duty of care, a nurse must possess and advance in skills to cope with the changes that arise. As an essential step in child care, understanding the needs of the children and various remedies to those needs must be apparent in a childcare system. The last step is ensuring that every stakeholder is confident and satisfied with the service delivery. Hence, commitment and quality assurance must be considered.
Conclusion
In summary, this paper addresses children’s communication skills and the various developmental stages undergone by them. The role of play activities in their development, as well as necessary steps in safeguarding their needs by nurses, are also addressed. Ideally, the paper focuses on the child in a developmental aspect.
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