I have been using the Summer to catch up on a little television via Hulu and Netflix. Well, I was watching an episode of Empire, America's current guilty pleasure while I was running on the treadmill. Aside from the drama, there was one part that caught my eye. One of the characters, who is struggling with his identity as a gay man, was trying to bond with the daughter he only recently learned he had. The child, an adorable little girl, was dropped off at the father's place of business. This situation leads to a tough adjustment period for both the man and his young daughter.
The scene that I am critiquing is the one where the man, is trying his best to entertain the little girl. She does not want to do anything that he is suggesting and it is clearly frustrating him. He is suggesting things in his language, in adult lingo such as, " whatever you want to do I 'm down". She does not understand this kind of talk! I remember thinking that when I was watching. The little girl asked when he mother was coming back. The young man then found a way to bond with them, by singing. Their last names were the same. He led her in singing, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". He gave her part of the melody to sing and he sang the actual song.
What I learned is that body language is communicated to children and they can feel our vibes in a way that keeps us extremely honest. What I liked is that the father went to his comfort zone to find a way to communicated and found a way to include his daughter in his comfort. He began building commonality based on their genes, their DNA, their last names, the fact that they were family, and the result was that we as an audience finally saw the two bond in a genuine way.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Persona dolls [DVD]. Strategies for working with diverse children. Baltimore, MD: Author.
Pierce, J., & Johnson, C. (2010). Problem solving with young children using persona dolls. YC: Young Children, 65(6), 106-108. Retrieved from the Walden Library using the Education Research Complete database. http://ezp.waldenulibrary.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=56561009&site=ehost-live&scope=site
I agree body language is a big part of communicating. Children are more observant than we give them credit for. Children are constantly observing the body language of adults. Adults need to find a way to communicate with children that they can relate to and the child will be more responsive to that adult. Sometimes adults forget that children do not understand they way adults speak to one another. Adults need to speak to children in ways they understand.
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