Page 25 - Blue Valley News February 2021
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TODAY’S CHILD













































        autonomy from parents, contribute to the   confusion and possible misinterpretation   will happen is that we will make a big effort
        formation of close friendships in adolescence.   regarding the emotional reaction of the   to get our relationships back up and running.
        Online friendships are not the same as   person.                         We want to connect. So, let’s keep the social
        building friendships face-to-face.                                       connections going and even start some new
                                             While this may not pose too great a challenge   ones, albeit mostly online for now.
                                             for  adults,  as  we  know  to  ask  if  we  are
        6. Face masks are impacting our      not getting the complete picture, young   Life is indeed better with friends!  BV
        connection                           children look for emotional cues in parents,
        The most powerful tool in human connection   teachers and other contacts. We need to be
        is the face. Even when strangers speak   cognisant of the absence of this information
        different languages, people are able to   and perhaps allow time to expand on verbal
        communicate using facial expressions.  This   explanations to people, especially children
        is  because  facial  expressions  are  simply  the   and adolescents.
        universal language of human understanding.
        Face masks help prevent the transmission   Keep working on your social
        of Covid. But because we cannot see the   connections
        lower half of the face when someone is   Evidence  indicating  the  significance  of
        wearing  a  mask,  our  ability  to  understand   friends  in our lives has been growing. With   •   Marital, Couples & Family
        is reduced considerably.  We are forced to   the decline in the nuclear family, values are   Therapy
        rely on language and gestures which limit   also changing. People are valuing friends   •   Counselling Children,
        the extent to which we can interpret subtle   more highly than before.  The growing   Adolescents & Adults
        nuances. Face masks block emotional   significance of friendship may be one of the   •   “Teen” Challenges
        signalling. They impair our social interactions   most important cultural changes of our time.   •   Behavioural & Adjustment
        and our ability to understand and empathise   To reap the full benefits of social connection,   Challenges
        with others. Masks are creating situations   it helps to have a network of friends. Even as   •   Stress-Related Challenges
        where people are misinterpreting non-verbal   social media platforms enable us to connect   •   Adjustment to Depression &
        communication.  The most obvious example   with hundreds or even thousands of other   Anxiety
        here is a smile. When wearing a face mask,   people, research shows that the number of   •   Subject & Career Counselling
        we do not see the visible mouth. A smile   meaningful  connections  we  can  manage  to   •   Psychometric Testing
        uses both the upper and lower half of your   sustain has stayed the same. In other words,
        face.  With the face mask, the lower half of   technology enables us to connect with loads   For an appointment please call
        the face is covered and the onlooker cannot   of people but we still choose to have real   083 376 1995
        see the mouth, but they can see the upper   connections with only a select few.
        half of your face. In a smile, the upper half of                           Fees are charged according to Scale of
        our faces produce a ‘frown’ and wrinkling of   The strength of our social connection will be   Benefits
        the eye area. Without all the information, as   even more seriously tested while numbers
        only the lower half of the face is visible, the   of infection increase. BUT humans are highly
        onlooker can only see the frown and hence   resilient. People are putting in the effort to   Pr. Nr. 0860000114022
        has only half the information to make a call   connect, even with all of today’s challenges.   Reg. No.: PS 0080543
        on non-verbal communication. It may cause   When the pandemic ends, the first thing that

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