Monday, November 22, 2010

The Science of Babies

My husband and I watched a National Geographic show on TV a few weeks ago.
It was about the first year of a baby's life.  


Everything was fascinating but the one thing that keeps sticking in my mind is the face of the orphan from Romania.  That little boy spent the first year of life looking up at a plain, white ceiling for most hours of his day.  He received little to no human interaction and it has permanently affected the way he behaves with other people.  He can not "read" faces and he has trouble understanding the needs of others (let alone himself).


Babies learn to read faces in the first year of life.  The seeds are sown at this time for how to connect emotionally to other people, how to feel compassion...extremely important abilities in everyday life.


When I hear or read about "the future" of technology and how people don't need people the way they used to because of technology I think about these kinds of children.


There will never be a time that children don't need parents and community - loving ones - and I think the real value in technology/facebook/and other social media is that they add another "tool" in our communication toolboxes...not that they replace face-to-face, shoulder-to-shoulder interactions.





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