One of my teachers was laughing after school and I asked what was so funny? And she said that she had told the children in her class that it was raining cats and dogs. Well, about three of her kids ran to the window to check outside to see the cats and dogs. It seems so funny to us as adults but to children they just believed that what the teacher said was literal. That is because children don’t understand until the age of around 7 to 11 that reality and fantasy are different things. Do you ever notice how small children are terrified of a character from an amusement park but when they get to be around 7 or so, they start trying to figure out who’s inside? Piaget calls it Concrete Operational, and it is a part of our cognitive development. Suffice it to say, children believe what they hear and see as real because they aren’t fully developed yet. That’s why we adults have to play a huge part in sheltering our children until they can learn to make that distinction on their own. If a stranger says they have some puppies in their car that they want to show the child, that child believes them because they don’t have the discernment yet to question whether that is real or not. Children don’t understand that something they see on TV is not appropriate for them to act out because they don’t understand that it is pretend. Pretend is their reality. So, let me put a bug in your ear, parents. And I’m not talking about a real bug, just a thought to ponder on. What am I exposing my children to that may be harmful to them as they develop? Happy pondering!
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