When there is a problem at home, many children don’t know how to communicate the circumstance. Issues can be presented in dreams, artwork, stories and even when he or she plays with an imaginary friend. However, sometimes these instances can be misdiagnoses based on the imagination of the child. Some situations may be nothing more than something the child observed outside of the home. Childcare professionals need to spend more time being detectives when it comes to the welfare of a child.
1. Art
Not every piece of art represents a problem in the home. Although children tend to assign an image to fears, it could also represent a game he or she has seen or otherwise witnessed discussions about. For instance, drawing a picture of plants shooting zombies doesn’t mean the child is afraid of zombies attacking his or her home. It could be the representation of the game Plants vs. Zombies. He or she isn’t displaying an act of violence and is contemplating shooting what he or she is afraid of.
2. Writing
Stories can play a role in determining how the situations at home are unfolding. They can also be determined by a child’s imagination as he or she wants to tell a fictitious tale. Children can pull this information together from nothing more than watching a news broadcast on television. Humans are a product of their environment and regardless of how careful parents are to reduce violent scenes, it is next to impossible to remove them all. What makes the news more influential is the fact that these events have happened in real life as opposed to those that are taught as fiction.
3. Dreams
Dreams can be detail-rich when your subconscious is trying to work out a problem. These can be quite influential in a young child for he or she may not have a clue as to what the subconscious is trying to investigate. The problem with dreams is that they can be grossly misrepresented to actual facts. Many people will read more into a dream than what may be actually there. Just because a child is dreaming they are fighting oppressive aliens on a distant planet with imaginary firepower, doesn’t mean he or she is looking for justification of killing. It could simply mean that he or she relishes the idea of space travel and being a hero while saving an oppressed race.
4. Imaginary Objects
The active imagination can be presented in a variety of ways. Just because a child in a classroom environment turns a large eraser into a star ship and pretends it is fighting other imaginary ships, doesn’t mean he or she has attention deficit disorder. He or she could simply be bored with relearning content of the class that he or she already knows and looks to find new stimuli. A bored child isn’t ADD by default. The behavior needs to be further scrutinized to figure out why he or she relies on the imagination in the classroom. You could find that the child is exceptionally intelligent and that he or she is bored with repetition.
Jumping to conclusions without investigating the matter can be detrimental to the growth of the child and the actions of the family environment. Instances that could be meant as an innocent way of expressing imagination could cause a family to be wrapped up in caseworker visits and court procedures. Look closer at a matter before you decide what is best for a child.
Author Bio
Rachel is an ex-babysitting pro as well as a professional writer and blogger. She is a graduate from Iowa State University and currently writes for www.babysitting.net. She welcomes questions/comments which can be sent to rachelthomas.author @ gmail.com.