Kids See Everything

[nbcrusader]

Kids Show Parents' Tastes in Barbie Test

Preschoolers pretending to shop for a Barbie doll's social evening were more likely to choose cigarettes if their parents smoked and wine or beer if their parents drank, a study found.

Researchers observing the children's play found that the ones who watched PG-13 or R-rated movies also were more likely to choose alcohol for Barbie. A 4-year-old girl chose Barbie-sized tobacco in the pretend store and said: "I need this for my man. A man needs cigarettes."

Parents who watched from behind a one-way mirror were surprised by their children's choices, said study coauthor Madeline Dalton of Dartmouth Medical School.

We influence others far more than we know.

 

[deep]

i read this with my morning anti-oxidant coffee




these are small potatos


compared to what things young children learn in the home

but I won't derail this thread




the link is password only, btw.

 

[FizzingWhizzbees]

It'd be interesting to know to what extent the level of influence parents have on their children extends once the children are older. Four year olds tend to imitate behaviour without having a real understanding of that behaviour. But as someone grows up they learn to make decisions for themself, rather than merely imitating others actions. Of course that isn't to say a parent (or anyone else for that matter) doesn't continue to influence a child's behaviour as they grow up, but I suspect the influence is rather more complex than the simple imitation we see from a four year old child.

 

[BVS]

Our children obviously are influenced by us. If we smoke they'll think its acceptable, one day they will grow up and either smoke or tell us to quit. It's the same with bigotry, how we act in relationships, etc...

 

[Angela Harlem]

I think loosely speaking, and merely from observation more than any researched fact, that kids will either do one or the other in terms of influence and it will be an extreme reaction to the parental influence. Like domestic violence, I think kids run the risk of either following the cycle and perpetuating it later in life with their own families - which I reckon is more common sadly, or they absolutely refuse to have it in their lives in any way ever again once they've grown up and have choices. And I think it is largely parental influence that does this. It either teaches complacency with whatever issue it is, or it builds resolve to rid themselves of it.
Problem is those parents who take the risk of not knowing which their children will do but continue their bad modelling regardless.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

exactly, I agree Angela