Trust your children: Leading psychologist

Trust your children: Leading psychologist

JAKARTA (JP): Encouraging children to be independent from an
early age is a must in today's increasingly competitive world,
according to a leading Indonesian psychologist, and one way of
fostering such independence is to have faith in children's
capacity to develop themselves.

Fawzia Aswin Hadis, speaking at her induction as a professor
at the University of Indonesia on Saturday, called this approach
the "constructivist" view of childrearing.

"A constructivist parent or teacher will see the child as
someone who can develop himself and develop actively," said
Fawzia, a specialist in developmental psychology.

Such a parent believes that the child can handle a range of
situations and is able to use feedback and take initiatives to
gain experience. "Such a parent will be more sensitive and will
behave more responsively toward the child," she added.

This attitude will lead to a creative and independent child,
said Fawzia in her oration titled "Parental Ideas in Reaching
Optimum Quality of Human Resources".

However, citing her own research in 1993 and another study on
mothers in urban and rural areas in Central and West Java, she
said many parents are not supportive of creative and independent
children.

Most parents, she said, still stress children's obedience
towards them.

"More parents prioritize obedience, honesty, diligence and
sincerity ... and discourage children from feeling free, self-
confident, independent, and having adequate intelligence."

These latter features, said Fawzia, are needed to develop
future Indonesians. A number of ideal characteristics are already
mentioned in the state guidelines, she noted, but a change in
parental views is needed to enable better nurturing of children.

Among tips in encouraging children's creativeness, Fawzia said
children should practice writing.

"The stress is on the process, rather than the result, of
writing," said Fawzia, who has four adult children.

This way, writing is a creative, rather than a mechanical,
expression, she added.

Fawzia, the 43rd female of 244 professors at the university,
also referred to characteristics of the "modern Indonesian" as
formulated by sociologist Harsya Bachtiar.

Harsya's 13 features include faith in God, respect for the
law, a degree of independence, cooperation with others,
appreciation of time and interest in national and world news.

Besides studying parents' views on raising children, Fawzia's
earlier work included monitoring the curricula of schools for the
disabled and a study on nutrition improvement for children under
five years of age.

Fawzia currently heads the Islamic Al Izhar Foundation in
Pondok Labu, South Jakarta. (anr)