Identifying and Addressing Newly Emerging Needs of Children in Romania-Intervention Toolkit

Identifying and Addressing Newly
Emerging Needs of Children in Romania

– Intervention Toolkit –
Bucharest 2010
This material was developed by Civil Society Development Foundation
within the project
“Innovative Approach in Professionalizing the Work with Children”
Identifying and Addressing Newly Emerging Needs of Children in

Romania – Intervention Toolkit
Partners in the project:
Education Partner:
Financed by Leonardo da Vinci – Transfer of Innovation program
Civil Society Development Foundation

Headquarters: 2K, Splaiul Independenţei, Scara 1, Etaj 4, Sector 3, Bucureşti, România
Contact address: 86A, Orzari, Sector 2, Bucureşti, România
P.O. Box 22-219, Bucureşti, România
Tel: +40-21-310 01 81 Fax: +40-21-310 01 80
E-mail: office@fdsc.ro
Web: www.fdsc.ro; www.copiisitineri.ro
All the rights over this study are owned by the authors. Any full or partial reproduction of this
study, irrespective of the used technical means, without the written consent of the authors, is
forbidden.
ISBN 978-973-0-09317-9
Co-authors
Adriana Popescu Daniela Demenenco
Gabriel Mareş Ştefania Andersen
Simona Radu Camelia Bran
Simina Hinţ Diana Berceanu
People that contributed to this study

Rekha Wazir (ICDI, Olanda) Silvia Mişu (FDSC)
Nico van Oudenhoven (ICDI, Olanda) Aurelia Grigore (FDSC)
Diana Ristea (FDSC) Cristina Brezoi (FDSC)
National trainers in the emerging needs field:

Alexandra Şuiaga (former Vlad) – President, "Mirakolix" Games Center, Cluj-Napoca
Bogdan Cristescu – Prof. ScD., Adjunct School Inspector, ISJ Iaşi
Camelia Bran – University Assistant, "Aurel Vlaicu" University, Arad
Cristian Silvian Puişor – Professor, "Danubius" School, Călăraşi
Cristina Neguţ – President, “CREATIV" Association, Bucharest
Diana Bolanu – Social Assistant, Anti-Drug National Agency, Bucharest
Iuliana Dinu – National Coordinator, "Chance for Life" Foundation, Bucureşti
Marlena Melinescu (former Florea) – Teacher, "Mircea Eliade" School, Craiova
Raluca Tănase –Technician Psychologist, "Sf. Ioan" Emergency Clinic Hospital for Children, Galaţi
Simina Maria Hinţ (former Morar) - Director, CJRAE Bihor
Simona Radu – University Assistant, Polytechnic University, Bucharest
Smaranda Witec – Social Assistant, University of Bucharest, Faculty of Sociology and Social Assistance
Sorin Marinescu – Program Coordinator, "Princess Margaret of Romania" Foundation, Bucharest
Veronica Ştefan – Temporary President, Romanian Youth Council, Bucharest
Adrian Secal – Program Coordinator, Civil Society Development Foundation, Bucharest
Casa Studies’ Authors:

Ana - Maria Zaloaga – „Miron Costin” Technical College, Roman, Neamţ County
Ana Scrieciu – School no. 143, Bucharest
Angelica Ghinea – „Vasile Lupu” Pedagogical School, Iaşi
Aurel Costache – Agricultural High School, Fundulea
Camelia Şerban – General School no. 1, Dăneşti, Dolj County
Catană Viorica – School no. 2, Ulmeni, Călăraşi County
Cati Sandru – “Ioan Buteanu” Industrial High School, Arad
Cercelaru Margareta – School no. 31 "Theodor Aman", Craiova
Cristina Elena Georgescu – Educational Assistance and Resources’ County Center, Vaslui
Cristina Dutescu – Ecotim, Slatina
Daniela Luca – "Ion Mincu" Industrial High School, Vaslui/ "Ion Mincu" Youth Association, Vaslui
Dany Ungureanu – Perişoru Kindergarten
Delia Atena Milconiu - "Hălânga",Agricultural High School, Mehedinţi
Diana Nichita – "Dimitrie Cantemir" School, Oradea
Doina Cristea – “SOS Copiii Gorjului” Foundation, Târgu Jiu
Dorina Marin – "Dimitrie Anghel" School, Corneşti-Miroslava, Iaşi County
Elena Florea – School no. 307, Bucharest
Emese Câmpean – "Petru Rareş" National College, Beclean, Bistriţa-Năsăud County
Emilia Dima – "Ştefan Velovan" National College, Craiova
Emilia Cirstocea – School no. 307, Bucharest
Eugenia Munteanu – "Axente Sever" Theorethical High School’s Association, LTAS, Mediaş, Sibiu county
Eva Varadi – "Bathori Istvan" Theoretical High School, Cluj-Napoca
Felicia Mihai – DGASPC Botoşani
Florentina Dudu – Teaching Staff Resource Center Vrancea, CJRAE Vrancea
Gabriela Dancu – Extended Program Kindergarten no. 1, Sighişoara
Gherghina Matache – School no. 2, "I.H. Rădulescu", Urziceni, Ialomiţa county
Grety Irina Moroi – "G. M. Cancicov" School, Bacău
Horaţiu Suciu – "Iulia Haşdeu" National College, Oradea
Ioana Dumitru – “Butterflies - Les Papillons” Association, Călăraşi
Lidia Ciocan – Unţeni School, School Structure Burleşti
Liliana Bulgagiu – "Ştefan cel Mare" Theoretical High School, Zalău
Liliana Vlad – CJRAE, Călăraşi
Maria Eugenia – "Mircea Eliade" High School, Bucureşti
Mariana Buican – Children’s Club, Zimnicea
Maricica Manole – "Elena Cuza" School Iaşi / "Save the Children" Iaşi
Mihaela Carmen Stancele – "Save the Children" Association – Dolj entity
Mirela Spita – "Al. I. Cuza" School, Bacău
Nastasia Covaci – Anghel Saligny High School, Craiova
Nela Mirea – “Gheorghe Ionescu Şişeşti” Theoretical High School / „Gheorghe Ionescu Şişeşti” Youth
Association
Nicoleta Radu –“Dan Mateescu’’ High School, Călăraşi
Petronela Petrea – "Valea Lupului" School, Iaşi
Ramona Giură – General School, Galşa, jud. Arad
Silvia Zaharia – „Alexandru Popp” Industrial High School, Reşiţa
Simona Ionescu – Psycho-pedagogical Assistance County Center, Prahova
Tarr Tunde – Schoola no. 11, Oradea
Veronica Lavinia Vulpe – "Fraţii Buzesti" National College, Craiova
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
Foreword – A Toolkit on Newly Emerging Needs of Children

You have before you the first ever toolkit on how to investigate and address to Newly Emerging
Needs of Children (briefly NEN). The concept of NENs was developed by Nico van Oudenhoven and
Rekha Wazir, ICDI experts (International Child Development Initiatives, Olanda). Alarmed by a
growing stream of media messages over seemingly un-connected, but none-the-less clearly serious
issues affecting children and young people, Nico and Rekha came to the notion that there are several
new problems developing in the lives of children around the world, problems as well as opportunities
that are hitherto hardly given attention or not at all, and for which there are no adequate policies or
intervention measures.
An initial research into these NENs was embarked upon in 2005. During a three year period
researchers from International Child Development Initiatives (ICDI) and the Institute of Social Studies
in The Hague went to a diverse range of countries, such as Bulgaria, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, the
Netherlands, Nicaragua, Russia, and Suriname to talk with children and young people, and to identify
the NENs in their lives. This resulted in the much acclaimed book ‘Newly Emerging Needs of Children,
an Exploration’; a book which has since its publication drawn a lot of attention and has by now been
translated in several languages (Portuguese, Romanian, Russian). In many ways, the book was also
the inspiration and first step in the process that leaded to this Toolkit.
In 2008 the Romanian CSDF and the Children of Slovakia foundation (long standing partners of ICDI)
introduced NEN research into their countries. Besides sensitizing relevant child and youth care
professionals to the concept, their joined project also addressed one of the aspects that was still
lacking in NENs: how to form adequate response mechanisms to the identified new problems and
challenges in children’s lives. As part of this effort, this NEN Toolkit was to be developed, an easy to
use guide on how to implement NEN research from start to finish, including the necessary follow-up.
So, here it is: the first ever Toolkit on NENs, the result of an arduous collaborative effort between
CSDF, CSF and ICDI during the past two years. Did we reach the ambitious target we set for
ourselves? We think we did. At least this Toolkit is an important and, yes, elegant next step in the
process of developing NEN research globally. In our view NENs have to be studies and addressed with
urgency. In a fast changing world, driven by information technology, we cannot stand idly while
whilst future generations are threatened in their healthy development or fail to grasp the
opportunities open to them.
Bucharest, Romania Leiden, The Netherlands

Ionut Sibian Mathijs Euwema
Executive Manager, CSDF Executive Manager, ICDI
2 Identifying and Addressing Newly Emerging Needs of Children in Romania - Intervention Toolkit
2
SUMMARY:
Chapter 1: Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 5

1.1. The document’s purpose and context of appearance ........................................................................... 5
1.2. To whom is this toolkit addressed? The structure of the toolkit ........................................................... 6
Chapter 2: What are newly emerging needs? ........................................................................................................ 7
2.1. The appearance of NENs concept ........................................................................................................... 7
2.2. Defining emerging needs .......................................................................................................................... 8
2.3. New needs, Old needs ............................................................................................................................ 10
2.4. Features of emerging needs ................................................................................................................... 12
2.5. The exploratory study carried out in Romania ....................................................................................... 14
Chapter 3: Childhood. Adult’s role. Tendencies and challenges .......................................................................... 17
3.1. The child – Child’s development theories ............................................................................................... 17
3.2. The adult and his role in child’s life......................................................................................................... 20
3.3. Tendencies and challenges .................................................................................................................... 21
Chapter 4: Identifying newly emerging needs...................................................................................................... 23
4.1. The importance of identifying and addressing newly emerging needs ............................................... 23
4.2. What do we identify? The ameliorative and preventive role of identifying newly emerging needs ... 24
4.3. Who identifies?..................................................................................................................................... 25
4.4. At what level do we identify? ............................................................................................................... 26
4.5. Tools to identify newly emerging needs of children ............................................................................ 28
4.5.1. How can we identify emerging needs ............................................................................................. 28
4.5.2. Identifications methods ................................................................................................................... 29
4.5.3. Identifying the causes determining emerging needs’ appearance ................................................. 32
Chapter 5: Intervention – the proper approach of newly emerging needs ......................................................... 33
5.1. The necessity of intervention ............................................................................................................... 33
5.2. Intervention mechanism ...................................................................................................................... 34
5.2.1. What kind of support do we offer to our children? And especially how do we offer them the
support and attention they need? ................................................................................................... 34
5.2.2. Intervention mechanisms ................................................................................................................ 38
5.3. Available resources and specific responsibilities.................................................................................. 40
5.4. Intervention models ............................................................................................................................. 41
4
5.5. Intervention methods and possible plans of action ............................................................................. 44

Chapter 6: Conclusions ......................................................................................................................................... 47
APPENDIX.............................................................................................................................................................. 53
7.1. Case study model ................................................................................................................................... 53
7.2. Debate with students for identifying NENs ............................................................................................ 54
7.3. Case-study: Obesity tendency and unhealthy nutrition of young students – intervention plan ........... 55
7.4. Case-study: Unhealthy nutrition – intervention plan ............................................................................. 57
7.5. Case Study: Unhealthy food habits ......................................................................................................... 59
7.6. Case Study: emotionally abused child .................................................................................................... 61
7.7. Case Study: Intervention plan for learning difficulties............................................................................ 66
7.8. Case Study: Computer and Internet Addiction ....................................................................................... 70
7.9. Case Study: Children are more violent.................................................................................................... 73
7.10. Case study: Choosing the academic field - individual action plan ........................................................ 77
7.11. Case Study: Identity crisis - individual action plan ................................................................................ 80
7.12. Case Study: Children whose parents are working abroad - intervention plan ..................................... 83
7.13. Communication Activity for Children - A story ..................................................................................... 87
7.14. Teaching Game - How to use family photographs? .............................................................................. 87
7.15. Case Study: Computer games - intervention plan ................................................................................ 88
7.16. Case Study - overdemanding the child; Babies living in Timisoara learn English before reaching the
age of one year ..................................................................................................................................... 93
7.17. Case Study - proper diagnosis and supported intervention ................................................................. 96
7.18. Case study: emotional fragility - methods of intervention ................................................................... 98
7.19. Project on educational therapy of timidity- „The Courage Group” .................................................... 100
7.20. Activity Project- Group counseling with parents ................................................................................ 107
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................................ 113
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1. The document’s purpose and context of appearance
This toolkit became real within the project “Innovative approach in professionalizing the work with children”,
carried on at the same time by CSDF in Romania and Children of Slovakia Foundation in Slovakia, with the
support of International Child Development Initiatives (ICDI), the Netherlands. The trilateral project received
material support from the European Commission through Leonardo da Vinci – Innovation transfer platform,
and also from Dinu Patriciu Foundation – Education Partner, as co-financer.
The idea of the project came out following a strong partnership between ICDI and CSDF; both foundations
have been implementing a long-term project since 2005, financed through Dutch Foreign Affairs Ministry’s
Matra program: “Children and youth, promoters of the civil society in Romania”. It was a program which
aimed to train and support the NGOs and the education bodies regarding children and young people’s life
skills. The purpose of the project “Innovative approach in professionalizing the work with children” was
developing the capacity to improve the programs’ and politics’ quality, addressed to newly emerging needs of
children.
The present material – “The toolkit on identifying and addressing newly emerging needs of children in
Romania” is an explorative tool, the result of a participative process which required a lot of research and
training on NEN, and of course children and professionals’ involvement.
Relying on the book “Newly Emerging Needs of Children, an Exploration” 1 as a starting point and on ICDI
experts’ support, CSDF developed in 2009 the exploratory study “Newly emerging needs of children in
Romania”. The study had a qualitative stage (focus-groups with children, interviews to experts) and after
analyzing the outcomes of these meetings, came the quantitative stage. The study presents a sequel of
information, concerning the specific features of today’s children generation in comparison with the old ones.
The next stage of the project consisted of the selection of a training group, specialized in NENs. Thus, IDCI
experts have delivered a special course “Training of trainers on identifying and addressing NEN” to sixteen
education professionals. Afterwards, they have planned a two days training, addressed to people involved in
Romanian children education. Over 2000 participants (the great majority of them teaching staff) participated
in local sessions of training, later on acting as local multipliers to identify and address to children’s NENs and at
the same time taking a proactive approach for investigating newly emerging needs of the children they are
working with.
The present toolkit is the result of putting together the contribution of different Romanian experts trained
during the project, but also of those who attended local trainings and sent over 60 case-studies. You can find
some of these at the end of the document as annexes. A bigger collection of case-studies can be found on
internet (in Romanian), on the website www.copiisitineri.ro. Excerpts from the paper “Newly Emerging Needs
of Children – An Exploration” were also used.
1
Van Oudenhoven, Nico, Wazir, Rekha – “Newly Emerging Needs of Children – an Exploration” (Garant, Antwerp,
2006)
6
We hope that further information will be attached, such as good-practice patterns from people who operate
in preventing and improving newly emerging needs, and also that the readers will promote NENs concept and
the importance of proactive action for children’s benefit.
1.2. To whom is this toolkit addressed? The structure of the toolkit
The present paper is addressed to professionals working with children and young people, as well as to persons
involved in their education or whose actions and concerns have consequences on children, in a way or other.
We see this toolkit as a fulcrum for teaching staff and other professionals, especially when we have in mind
situations and other behaviours than those we are accustomed to. We hope for a proactive approach when it
comes to identifying emerging needs, and subsequently, analyzing each and every case, for an appropriate
locally addressing and media spread of the results at national level. Beforehand, we want to offer our readers
some questions meant to help them understand the concept of NENs and how they can use it.
Through this toolkit, we have referred to:

- the start of the project in Romania; explaining the concept of NEN and its features;
- basic notions about children and their parents part in their education; tendencies and challenges;
- the identification and practical addressing to emerging needs;
- concrete examples and real case-studies.
Chapter 2: What are newly emerging needs? 7
Chapter 2: What are newly emerging needs?
2.1. The appearance of NENs concept
After becoming aware of particular events, that seemingly have no connection, in children and young people
lives, and couldn’t have been added to some characteristic aspects of the classic psychological stages of
development, Nico van Oudenhoven and Rekha Wazir – founding members of ICDI – began an exploratory
study, that lead to a published book on this theme, “Newly Emerging Needs of Children - an Exploration”.
There were various events that have called authors’ attention: starting with children with more parents than
one, or children with fully access to information and grown-up experiences, to children with high risks at
diseases specific in the past to adults. Since the end of the 80’s, when ICDI began gathering these information,
newly emerging needs’ presence was reported with a considerably frequency.
This increase of newly events, previously unknown, was an alarm signal for the authors, who began
questioning the effects of these events upon children’s life, afterwards one question raised: which are the new
needs of children, resulting from these experiences? The newly emerging needs are the concept that the
authors use to describe this interconnected group of challenges, issues and new opportunities children are
confronting with.
The image resulted following these research and observations “at the office”, was further tested on the field:
four countries – India, Kenya, the Netherlands and Nicaragua – were chosen to identify newly emerging needs
of children and young people. These countries were picked out because they represent four different areas
where children are growing and not because they are a source of supply for a comparative analysis (survey). In
these places some focus-groups were carried out, involving a wide range of people, inclusively children,
parents, teachers, experts and media spokesmen. Limited debates took place in countries where ICDI was
implementing other projects and it came out the opportunity of some interviews. These included states as
Bulgaria (Sofia), Russia (Nolinsk), Palestine (Ramallah) and Suriname (Paramaribo)… These field debates turned
to be a very useful way to check up, validate and expand ideas, besides identifying some aspects linked to local
features.
ICDI experts have thus realized NEN’s concept – Newly Emerging Needs or NEN – to describe a group of
challenges, problems and opportunities relevant for children’s overall development. Still, many of these
problems aren’t paid enough attention on researchers and politicians behalf, and on the other side, there
aren’t enough ways to examine and certainly, to address. They are “new”, meaning that they had never been
discovered anywhere in the world or they hadn’t been in no other society. They aren’t discussed in education
handbooks or those about child’s psychology; parents or those who look after children, don’t have the
required skills and knowledge to recognize them and, on top of that, to find the proper solution. The society as
a whole seems to be helpless when it comes to identify these needs and challenges and put some coherent
answers. Control devices don’t have the necessary filters, which may identify these trends, because they focus
on main issues that children deal with, such as school, mortality, nutrition or police contact. It would be unfair
to sustain the fact that there aren’t solutions to these challenges, but at best they are reactions to singular
events without highlighting the whole process or further projects.
Thus it came out the book “Newly Emerging Needs of Children – an Exploration”. ICDI offers a theoretical
definition of newly emerging needs, explains how they can be indentified and what’s new about them; they
also give details on special needs from India, Kenya, The Netherlands and Nicaragua and how those have been
8
discovered. Afterwards, seven themes are being explored, each one with different outcomes of the research
from the four countries: changing concept of childhood, implementing Children’s Rights Convention, the
uneven rise of girl power, bypassing of traditional mediators, fusion of reality, virtuality and the impossible,
accessing new terrains, exposure to global lifestyles. According to the authors, these themes are the main
domains of how newly global needs appear, and they might appear in a certain extent in the research done in
different societies, countries, children groups.
ICDI steps were taken in Slovakia and Romania, where there have been carried out country surveys and were
created these toolkits on how to investigate and address NENs, according to every country’s features. Also in
other countries some local actions on NEN are being implemented already.
2.2. Defining emerging needs
Further on, we’ll explain from our view, what the emerging needs are. All the aspects found as a result of our
research, the domestic and international context, have lead to the idea that these entire novel concerns
should be gathered under a common umbrella of a concept, like an attempt to summarize and approach
holistically and in a composite manner the issues. This approach has a lot of difficulties, since the causes aren’t
at all local and we may talk about global causes. At the same time, we should have a global approach, instead
of a local one, at community level. At the moment, these new conditions represent professionals’ concerns,
but it hasn’t been yet raised the question of a global approach, of finding a concept capable to include many of
the emergent problems, of an approach ready to identify solutions and address methods.
As a result of these local contexts (through local, we can understand a community affecting me directly, with a
possible global area), an attempt to approach the concept has lead to gathering some characteristics that
transformed into a “work” definition.
Instead of offering a precise definition of NENs, we have embraced a rather elastic label that presents them as
a loosely connected group of challenges, opportunities, events, problems and threats, that are relevant to the
overall development of children, but that, hitherto, have not been encountered by these children nor by those
before them in their societies, or if they were present then there is a dramatic increase in their incidence.
When we deal with this concept, we have to stop for a second, before we can say that we have understood its
true meaning. The first problem we confront to, comes from understanding the word “emerging”, a little
pretentious and scientific and less heard in daily speech. Besides, “emerging” is a word borrowed from French
vocabulary, but it has the same common Latin etymology. The word “emerging”, according to explanatory
Romanian dictionary, it means: “adj. (as for a body, a radiation) which comes out from an environment after
crossing it, from Fr. emergent. (DEX, page 339).
We already have an over dynamic image of the word and the concept itself, which starts getting a shape. The
other word of the concept, “need”, makes us think, especially those familiar to psycho – pedagogical language,
at something related to the idea of “need, necessity, request, something that is asked for, it urges to be done,
a situation that has to be solved immediately. (DEX, page 693). The same idea of energy and dynamism,
impetuousness and complexity, lies into the concept of “emerging need” itself. It’s important however to
remember that the significance of the whole concept is beyond the idea of “need”.
Thus, we define emerging needs of children and young adults using a classic label, which includes a loosely
connected group of challenges, opportunities, events, problems and threats that are relevant to the overall
development of children and young adults. This situational group can cause a succession of effects that might
have serious consequences upon their lives. These needs are out of ordinary since they have not been found
in any other period and generation, and even if they have been found, there is a dramatic increase in their
incidence. Because of this feature, the concept received a new significance – these needs are novel.
So far it is important to remember that the idea of need is not reduced to its usual meaning, known and
explained in the dictionary till now, but it refers also to a large complex of situations and contexts children and
young adults can find themselves in, and with a huge influence upon their life and development. They are
“novel” as they have never existed before or they have not caused hitherto any known effects. We’ll give a
relevant example of an event which attired public and scientific opinion’s attention in the Netherlands: a
woman, who had undergone in vitro fertilization, gave birth to two boys, one white and the other one black.
The black boy came as a surprise as both parents were white. It was later learned that the specialist had not
cleaned his instruments sufficiently and some semen of a previous, black donor had been inserted as well 2.
This is a context in which the progress of science and technology has both a positive and a negative effect on
family life, where a white child has a black twin brother. It is a psychological context unheard off before, until
this century, a sensitive situation both children and parents, with huge consequences upon their development
and their life’s quality. We can identify in this family, different emerging needs.
Another example pops out from 1993 English society, when a two year old child, Jamie Buger, was killed by
two boys ten years old, from Liverpool. It wasn’t the first time a child had committed a crime, in Great Britain
or elsewhere, but it seems that this kind of incidents, although fey and uncommon, have not determined the
embrace of a joint position regarding criminal children. Not even the legal system was prepared to make
justice in a proper way taking into account children’s age. The ten year old children have been judged as
adults, have been present during the trial, their names have been revealed to the media and they received a
minimum sentence at 15 years of prison. The over increased aggressiveness of children was a new situation
and generated new needs at that time within British society. So we’re talking about events occurred almost
two decades ago. Back then, but also nowadays these are considered situations that cause emerging needs in
the contemporary world. Temporally speaking, the concept of emerging needs appeared at the end of 80’s.
Emerging needs appearance was more visible then, because of the easier correlation between these and the
unprecedented swing of scientific and technological development, with major but unsuspected effects upon
human’s quality of life.
Emerging needs have multiple and complex causes, being the result of different current features of the
society, from various points of view: technical, scientific, social, educational, medical system, legislative
system and the way people interact and communicate. If we go back to the definition of the word emerging,
maybe now we understand better the significance of NEN’s concept. There are the characteristics of different
aspects of the society throughout the entire globe and they are quicker discovered by an expert concerned by
this type of transformations. They emerge in the society after crossing it, with multiple and complex causes
and features. As the years passed, they were observed carefully, but they have not been given a specific name
and that is why integrated and synchronized reactions have not appeared yet.
Also the concept of “emerging needs” is continually defining and resizing, like the reality that it represents.
The causes of newly emerging needs are different and they can expand from the local level to the
international one, and vice versa, turning into a specific and concrete concern for the experts, who now
possess a specific definition for different kind of situations, events, challenges and opportunities defining the
society at a given moment and showing effects upon children and young adults development.
Among the tendencies in children’s development in some parts of the world, there are hyperactivity and acts
of suicide at early ages, which may be identified as emerging needs. A French website talks about “the new
children”, those who are recognized not after their age, but after their state of mind. Some assertions of little
children are indeed alarming: “Why am I alive?” – says a little girl two years and a half old, “I don’t want to live
anymore” – a boy 5 years and a half old, “It isn’t worth studying, it makes you a misfit as an adult” – a girl 8
years old. It’s obvious the current society is often failing from offering a psychological secured frame for
2
Newly emerging needs of children, ICDI study resume, page 2
10
children that, therefore, feel confused 3.
We can go on with other examples of emerging needs such as situations related to health field (there is a
higher rate of obesity among children, not only teenagers and adults), education sphere (negative effects
caused by internet and video games addiction are already a fact in many countries), human relations sphere
(the relations on-line have gradually replaced the reality of face-to-face communication).
A very important step we make when we deal with NENs concept, especially when we see / hear news about
children, is not to consider these events out of ordinary. We should deal with them from emerging needs
point of view, so we can step forward into finding solutions of prevention and intervention rather than regard
them as media subjects, easily forgotten. Moreover, many subjects exposed by mass-media, involving children
and that could be included into NENs’ category, are presented from the viewpoint of guilty children. Children
involved in violent conflicts are often misjudged by the others, although, when it comes to children, the
circumstances and the causes of their actions are more than once thrown into the shade.
We often hear the adults, parents and teaching staff included, speaking about today’s children in the next
terms: they are “superficial”, “violent”, “they just want to have fun” and “they chat all day long”. Starting from
the presumption that all new behaviors of children are caused by environmental agents and by rapid changes
within the society, instead of labeling as many adults tend to, it will be easier for us to gradually find methods
to offer these children an alternative.
2.3. New needs, Old needs
1. Conventional needs
From the traditional point of view, needs are involved into the process of person’s development, in its whole
evolutionary process, but in relation to the social, economic and politic context of his life. We’d rather refer to
conventional needs as those found in Maslow’s outlook.
Maslow’s Pyramid 4
The manifestation of these needs offers us information about children’s health, education, nutrition habits,
work desire etc.
3
Source: http://www.impenderevero.com/en_nou/enfnou.html
4
Source : www.wikipedia.org
A feature of these needs is that if they persist and aren’t contended, then they may cause discomfort to
children, even if, in some social contexts, characterized by a succession of features, a part of them improves
and adjusts to the context. Another feature is that they are due to be fulfilled, in order to not affect the
psycho-physiological state of a human being. If these needs aren’t accomplished for a long period of time,
they can cause the perfidious appearance of emerging needs, those needs which are prevalently found on
both research studies agenda and political agenda (when they tend to become phenomenon).
Questions for the reader: Are conventional needs sources for emerging needs? At this level, where and how can
we interfere?
2. Hidden needs
These needs are hard noticed or measured, even by experts, because they can’t be read from child’s behavior.
Very often these needs are generated by dealing with hard situations, filled with negative social meanings like:
sexual abuse, emotional abuse, disability, domestic violence, slave trade. Shame, fear, emotional pressure or
perverting the meaning of adults’ actions are determining the child not to express his suffer, remaining a
prisoner of secret land or of Stockholm syndrome.
Some features of the child can lead to expressing in an indirect manner some of his needs. Introversion,
shyness, communication and social relationship difficulties can block even fundamental needs’ manifestation.
Are quite often the cases when some children don’t know how to ask or to refuse, they don’t know how to
signal discomfort or frustration states in a proper way. However, beyond all this delicate aspects, hidden
needs come to light in children games, more exactly in games themes and the parts children assume.
We think many of these hidden needs may be the source of some emerging needs’ expressing in
contemporary world, and the processes or the actions focused on preventive or curative actions must take
into account exploring areas that include hidden needs.
Questions for the reader: Can this kind of needs be identified easier? Why it would be necessary? Which may
be the consequences of the early identification of hidden needs?
3. Newly emerging needs (NEN)
We’ll approach emerging needs in this toolkit. There is no mechanism already tested to predict, measure, or
have an answer to them; still these needs create the premises of a major impact on quality life and child’s
development.
A holistic approach in relation to child’s development and his good wealth, urges us to pay attention at all
three levels of needs simultaneously, and not depending on the situation. We hope that we’ll be able to catch
these aspects at least partially in the toolkit’s pages, in order that more and more factors which can have
implications for improving children’s quality life, could have a sequel of minimal references and a new
approach on NEN concept.
Questions for the reader: What kind of elements would a child expert need to be able to identify NENs? What
about a parent?
12
2.4. Features of emerging needs
By trying to truly understand the meaning of NENs concept, we have emphasized one of the main features of
this bio – psycho – social reality. What we have mentioned before, the “new” thing about those needs is their
quality not to have been met in the society so far, or if they did, at the moment we are witness to a massive
increase of its frequency or at a different way in which they behave.
We have defined emerging needs as a group of new challenges, issues and chances that children and young
adults manage, with a huge importance and relevance for their development. They are new because they
aren’t presented in this way in the education handbook or books about child’s psychology. For that reason,
neither parents, nor teachers have the ability to recognize them when is the case and still less to relate to
them. Common frameworks prevent us to relate to this new phenomenon as one that defines itself, therefore
we consider it part of usual difficulties specific to children’s and young adults’ life: school attendance,
mortality, nutritional status, contacts with the police.
Several of these NENs are “universally new”; they have not been encountered by children anywhere in the
world before. The myriad challenges and opportunities created by information technology come to mind
here. The use of or access to mobile phones by ever-younger children provides new challenges almost
everywhere, not only in terms of health but also psychologically. Others are “contextually new”, namely they
are new to children in their own societies but may be common elsewhere. Television has been around in the
US for almost seventy years now, while Bhutan, the last nation on earth to get it, is still experimenting with it
after it was introduced on a limited scale in 1999 and where the impact on children is not seen as a blessing or
at any rate is hotly debated.
As a complex and diffuse phenomenon, emerging needs reach almost every dimension of life, and we’re going
to present next some examples following from the exploratory study carried out in Romania: health (physical
activities are replaced by virtual environment, drug consumption, alcohol and tobacco abuse, obesity in
children, mentally and emotional fragility), social medium (the deterioration of interpersonal communication
and replacing it with virtual communication, insufficient time spent between parents and their children,
aggressiveness, embracing fake values promoted by the media), personal development (children don’t
consider anymore that professional and material accomplishments are obtained through study and work,
material wishes and predilection for entertainment prevail, the creation of an alternative reality by spending
time online and in front of the TV, lack of abilities to make choices given the huge volume of information and
lack of discernment). However, they can’t be approached in a different manner – an issue that has
repercussions on health must be addressed as a whole, because the causes and implicitly the solutions reach
more ranges.
As you have noticed from the example of vitro fertilization and children’s predilection for internet, we can
deduce another feature of emerging needs, such as they are amplified and encouraged by technological
development and scientific progress. These are situations with positive effects upon human society,
supporting its development and evolution. On the other hand there are aspects with negative impact on
children’s and young adults’ life development and evolution, living in this kind of society. In the Netherlands,
for example, medical researchers have noticed a rapid and alarming increase in the number of children with
permanent hearing loss and in need of a hearing aid; they call them the “iPod generation” 5. In Germany
parents use to give children pills to enhance their school performance 6. We don’t know for sure how spread
this tendency is, because no one has named it and there haven’t been gathered enough information to know
5
Leidsch,Dagblad, 2006, quoted by Van Oudenhoven, Nico, Wazir, Rekha – “Newly Emerging Needs of Children –
an Exploration” (Garant, Antwerp, 2006)
6
Brabants, Dagblad, 1984, quoted by Van Oudenhoven, Nico, Wazir, Rekha – “Newly Emerging Needs of Children –
an Exploration” (Garant, Antwerp, 2006)
which is the situation we deal with and what would be the proper plan to intervene with. Thus we notice that
the emerging needs generate effects with a huge impact upon children’s and young adults’ development.
We observe from the examples presented hitherto, NEN reach almost every dimension of children’s life:
health (physical activities are replaced by virtual environment, drug consumption, alcohol and tobacco abuse,
obesity in children, mentally and emotional fragility), social medium (the deterioration of interpersonal
communication and replacing it with virtual communication, insufficient time spent between parents and their
children, aggressiveness, embracing fake values promoted by the media), personal development (children
don’t consider anymore that professional and material accomplishments are obtained through study and
work, material wishes and predilection for entertainment prevail, the creation of an alternative reality by
spending time online and in front of the TV, lack of abilities to make choices given the huge volume of
information and lack of discernment).
All these situations children are dealing with cause dysfunctional changes of attitudes and behaviors. Could
we wonder why don’t we have functional ways to address to these situations? A first explanation refer to the
complexity of these phenomena, emerging in more domains of life and involving different dimensions of
young adult’s life: family, his group of friends, access to the progresses of technology, the overall society.
It is very hard to identify causes and to place apart effects, and even harder to find ways to react efficiently in
a mixture so complicated of aspects with major impact upon child’s life. Thus we arrive at a second
explanation of children’s lack of adapting to the challenges in their life. It aims the quickness that everything
around them changes, the velocity this mixture of events changes its compositions and effects.
The main idea, the studies that started 15 years ago by the Dutch experts wants to underline, is that emerging
needs seem to present a high increase and, because of that, it’s hard to cope with them. One of the features
that make emerging needs unapproachable is the fact that they generate continuously through themselves,
other emerging needs. We can think about children born as a result of vitro insemination using the sperm of
an unknown donor, for example. Children born within such a family will encounter difficulties in connecting to
a real father, who participated only with genetic support at their conception. In this context, children’s
perception and understanding in relation to their parents’ role and purpose are brought forward one more
time.
Further on, we’ll enumerate some of the characteristics of emerging needs:
• a concept poorly defined
• they are novel, they hadn’t been met at previous generations of children and young adults or if they
were, there is an accelerated increase of their frequency or they express themselves in other ways
• they present both risks and threats and also opportunities for the overall development of young
adults and children
• it regards communities/social groups and not necessarily countries
• there haven’t been pointed out any prevention and intervention policies
• there is a weak understanding of both causes and effects medium and long term affecting children
and young adults
• there haven’t been shipshaped some clear methodologies of prediction (very important as specific
14
feature of emerging needs)
• they are “encouraged” and amplified by today’s technological development and scientific progress
• they generate effects with major impact on children and young adults development
• they determine dysfunctional changes of attitude and behavior
• they reach every dimension of life : health (physical activities are being replaced by virtual ones, drug
abuse, alcohol and tobacco, obesity tendencies, mental and emotional fragility, social dimension (the
deterioration of interpersonal communication and replacing it with virtual communication, parents
and children don’t spend enough time together, aggressiveness, endorsing the new values mass-
media promote), personal development (learning and working aren’t anymore conditions to make it
to the top, professionally speaking, the prevailing material and entertaining wishes, building an
alternative reality by spending time in front of television or the computer, lack of abilities to make
choices because of the great amount of information and absence of discrimination) – the exploratory
study “Emerging needs of children from Romania”.
• some of these needs are “universally novel”, it means that they hadn’t been met by children
anywhere in the world, for example mobile phones and their use by little children (health and
psychological impact) are a cause of concern for everybody worldwide, others are “contextually new”.
Questions for the reader: Did I understand which the features of emerging needs are? In what way this
information could help me?
2.5. The exploratory study carried out in Romania
In order to particularize the concept of NEN to Romania’s situation and to offer adequate solutions, CSDF
carried out in 2009 the exploratory study “Emerging needs of children in Romania”, from which we’re going to
reproduce further pieces of information. The study may be downloaded from www.copiisitineri.ro.
The qualitative study has consisted in press monitoring (analyzing news about children) and organizing focus-
groups and interviews that can support the description and the analysis of the prospect actors that were
directly involved – Romanian children and young adults – regarding emerging needs. There were carried out
the following:
- 14 focus-groups involving 299 children and teenagers, who come from both urban and rural areas
covering 7 counties and the city of Bucharest, from 6 development regions of the country (Nord –
East, South – East, South, South – West, West and Bucharest-Ilfov)
- Interviews structured with 24 experts (12 teaching staff, 10 representatives of NGOs which carry
out programs for young adults and children, one sociologist and one trainer) that aim to surprise
their subjective meanings, but also to become aware of new aspects concerning the emerging
needs they handle.
After structuring qualitative research’s results, the quantitative study consisted in a questionnaire filled online
by experts dealing with children. This questionnaire allowed the assessment of the most visible emerging
needs that children and young adults have from the adults’ point of view who may confirm or infirm the
existence of this kind of needs newly appeared among children.
The results of the study:
It comes out that roughly 90% among questionnaire respondents, consider younger generation much more
exposed to problems, needs and challenge in comparison with the older generation, while just 9% of them
have a different opinion, that this exposure isn’t quite significant.
The fact that we became aware of a series of changes that took place in nowadays children’s life style is a
starting point for those who are working in fields related to children’s service, to make other experts sensitive
to it and to elaborate intervention strategies with a curative or preventive aim.
Since the main objective of the toolkit is to support the identification and the address to emerging needs of
each one of you, and not to offer some “recipes” or results, especially when we have in mind a dynamic
concept that includes different needs from one group of children to another (we can give as an example the
negative tendencies of some rich teenagers from high school, that can be very different from those of
students living in a poor community) we’ll give a couple of information about the results of the study:
Emerging needs were grouped in three main domains: health, social, personal development. Each education
expert could choose three of most important tendencies named on a list.
Here are some negative tendencies about the health state of the current generation that experts have taken
into consideration as most important:
1. Physical activities replaced by the virtual environment (computer, TV.): 75.56% of the
respondents;
2. Drug, alcohol, tobacco consumption on the rise: 65.33%;
3. Tendency of obesity because of unhealthy nutrition : 45.78%;
4. Mental and emotional fragility: 43.11%.
The social area in children’s life includes the next negative tendencies:
1. The deterioration of interpersonal communication and replacing it with virtual communication:

55.56%;
2. Insufficient time spent between parents and their children (including the parents who work
abroad);
3. Increasing aggressiveness (physical, verbal abuse etc): 51.56%;
4. Embracing fake values and models promoted by the media: 50.67%.
Negative tendencies within personal development children’s area:
1. They don’t consider anymore that professional and material accomplishments are obtained
through study and work: 68.89%;
2. Their wishes focus on the material and entertainment possibilities; they are superficial: 55.56%;
3. They create an alternative reality by spending time online and in front of the TV: 47.11%;
16
4. They don’t know to make the right choice given the huge volume of information and the lack of
professional and educational counseling: 38. 67%.
Important aspects concerning the emerging needs of Romanian children, resulting from the hierarchy and
the priority of respondent’s answers:
Taking into account those listed before and furthermore the mixture of these negative tendencies (for
example, time-consuming in virtual area is found also in different shapes in all three areas: health, public area,
personal development), there were described three main domains which are representative for emerging
needs of Romanian children, such as:
1. “Real vs. virtual”: a major increase of virtual communication and time-consuming in front of the
TV, and implicitly less time spent by children in the real world.
2. “Everything precocious”: children begin to consume psychoactive substances (alcohol, tobacco,

drugs), at an earlier age and in higher quantities; the same has been noticed about starting their
sexual life. Access to information is uncontrolled and children can appeal to different source of
information at early ages.
3. “Contemporary values and role models”: nowadays models and values are simultaneously effects
and reasons of doubtful behaviors. Children are surrounded by new “models” and “values”,
promoted by mass-media, in comparison with the older generation.
There is further information about these three domains typical of today’s children within the exploratory
study “Emerging needs of children in Romania”.
Gathering data:
Although these three domains are already the overall features of today’s children, it is preferred that the
emerging needs of children to be addressed properly before things become general, by analyzing each and
every case, when we notice a strange behavior. Referring to this, we consider that studies and gathering data
have to be made on a regular basis.
There are no mechanisms or examples of systematic identification of emerging needs. For this project, data
gathering was made step by step.
The exploratory study has underlined features and general tendencies of today’s generation, throughout
interviews with experts, debates with children and questionnaires addressed to adults involved in children’s
education. It would be better the study’s results to be deeply analyzed in a sequential manner, observing the
local detailing of some behaviors, problems and, implicitly, emerging needs resulted, to find a detailed analysis
and specific solutions.
Another stage of collecting data took place after the sessions of local training. There were over 60 experts
involved in children’s education (teaching staff, psychologists), who participated to local training sessions with
the theme “Identifying and addressing emerging needs of children in Romania”. They provided us with case
studies regarding the issue of emerging needs from the communities in which they are working. Some of these
case studies are part of this study, as annexes.
Questions for the reader: Does this study bring something new to me? Am I discovering similarities to my
previous observations? Which would be the themes I might study thoroughly, among the results of this study?
Chapter 3: Childhood. Adult’s role. Tendencies and challenges 17
Chapter 3: Childhood. Adult’s role. Tendencies and challenges

In this chapter we’re going to provide some theoretical concepts about children and grown-ups. What are we
referring when we’re talking about “children”? Has the concept changed for years? And, more important, has
changed the way grown-ups regard children? Which are the new terms of reference? Also, which role has the
adult in child’s life? And, finally, which are the tendencies and challenges that children and adults deal with
nowadays?
3.1. The child – Child’s development theories
Since Antiquity there were concerns about human development, but there are three still influent philosophical
theories. Thomas Hobbes (1588 – 1689), an English philosopher, considered human nature as a form of selfish
co-operation and also, children and, generally speaking, the human being, vicious from birth. Therefore, he
has to be under control and disciplined by the parents, who should have absolute control and authority over
them. John Locke’s (1632 – 1704) and Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s (1712 – 1778) perspectives – both proponents
of the “education focused on the child” – are completely different. The child is neither good nor bad, but
“tabula rasa”, so he / she can be changed through education and environment. Being a child is one of the
stages in human development, and, with the right education, children can become rationale beings and
responsible adults (Locke). According to Rousseau, born children are kind and innocent, and the environment
should allow them to develop completely and genuinely. The notion applies only to boys, because the girls are
taught at an early age to be the shoulder to cry on and to bear stoically life’s injustices. Current prospects on
childhood are in a permanent “struggle” with these points of view.
During the second half of 19’s century, childhood has become a subject for the scientific research. The
theories that appeared back then were backed up by observations testable on children. Till then, childhood
study was reserved only to philosophers. Darwin, Freud, Vîgotsky, Piaget and Bowlby are entitled to “present”
their critical and scientific grounded contributions. Others like Key, Dewey, Kano, Montessori, Jebb and Spock
have enriched the knowledge about children through philosophical and pedagogical views.
Charles Darwin (1802 – 1882) was the first scientist to have studied childhood systematically, before devising
the evolutionistic theory. He tried experiments on his younger son, by comparing him from development point
of view, with his daughter and other species. On the basis of these inspections, he developed a theory
according to which, between human beings and animals would be many similarities, rather than differences.
His opinions about the innate – acquired element are still causing controversies (Oudenhoven & Wazir, 2006).
Ellen Karolina Maria Key (1849 – 1926) has militated with confidence and passion in favor of a healthy
education of children and, chiefly for involving mothers in their children’s lives. Though hers believes
regarding education had a strong religious substratum and quite hidebound, she has succeeded in having
influenced politicians and contemporary teachers (Dewey, Montessori and others) who took over her ideas.
Sigmund Freud (1856 – 1939) understands human development as the body’s changes that gratify the sexual
impulse. The mental system inhibits wishes, especially sexual and aggressive ones, which are kept within
systems of unconscious ideas. Unconscious conflicts connected to restrained wishes, tend to express
themselves through dreams, failures and symptoms. Younger children are thought to be easily moved and
much more responsive than in other previous periods, hence any other experience they will encounter at the
beginning, these will have permanent consequences (Schaffer, 2005). Towards the end of his life, he changed
his prospect about sexual relief, as a result of the negative impact he had on the public.
18
John Dewey (1859 – 1952), philosopher, psychologist and American educator, he was engaged in children’s
education issues. The starting point in education is represented by children’s instincts and abilities; this point
is considered like a process in life, and not just training for the future. Among his ideas, we mention: the
subjects must adapt to children’s interests and focused on them, not on homework; the learning becomes real
when the material becomes a problem for the child; homework must rely on his experience and it must be
given whenever he’s ready; the school experience has the role to develop an inquire spirit and to prepare him
for his future active involvement within the community.
Jigoro Kano (1860 – 1938), founder of Judo, a way to ensure human development. He was sure that in every
child lies a potential for study and the education has to be addressed also to poor people, because it is the
most valuable thing in the world. By educating a single person, all future generations will gain benefits.
Maria Montessori (1870 – 1952), Italian doctor and pedagogue, has created a special method of educating
children with ages between 1-5 years old. Since 1907, when she was named head manager of an institute of
kindergartens and crèches in a very poor area in Rome, she has been improving her ideas and her methods.
There she started consistently to put into practice her educational ideas, which became in time a veritable
educational method, Montessori’s method. The basic principle is self-studying and applying what we have
learned in a direct manner. She has proposed the creation of educational groups, supporting children to make
their own decisions, which they must respect, using rich, accessible and fun didactic tools, children must clean
and arrange the place where they work. She believed that mental deficiency isn’t a factor relating exclusively
to the child, but also to his environment.
Eglantyne Jebb (1876 – 1928), founder of Save the Children Fund U.K., was saying: “I think we must claim
certain rights for children and act for them to be universal recognized”. In 1923, she included children’s right
in a short and clear document, named the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which has been approved
unanimously in the General Assembly of Save the Children International Union. In 1924, the Convention was
adopted by the League of Nations. It came to be known as “The Declaration of Geneva”. The document
intended to make life safer for children many of them after World War I were facing difficult situations. This
document consisted of the following stipulations:
1. The child must be given the means requisite for its normal development, both materially and
spiritually.
2. The child that is hungry must be fed, the child that is sick must be nursed, the child that is
backward must be helped, the delinquent child must be reclaimed, and the orphan and the waif
must be sheltered and succored.
3. The child must be the first to receive relief in times of distress.
4. The child must be put in a position to earn a livelihood, and must be protected against every form
of exploitation.
5. The child must be brought up in the consciousness that its talents must be devoted to the service
of its fellow men. For the first time children’s rights became a concept within public international
law, this transforming into a reference point for the future legislative acts, in children’s rights field.
Lev Semyonovich Vîgotsky (1896 – 1934) considered human nature like a socio-cultural product. Children
don’t have to fabricate the world, they can gain from their parents’ wisdom and indeed they can’t avoid this
within the interactions with the others. So, cognitive development is above all a socio-cultural product,
integrating three aspects: cultural, interpersonal and individual. To explain the nature of interactive processes,
he proposes an essential concept – zone of proximal development, for the range of tasks that a child can
complete independently and those completed with the guidance and assistance of adults. The value of
Vîgotsky’s theory lies in the importance of the idea according to which children are seen in their socio-cultural
context and not treating them as isolated individuals. Nevertheless, are considered major limits the age
neglecting and children’s individuality, as factors that influence the development, on one hand, and on the
other ignoring emotional aspects in socio-cognitive development.
Jean Piaget (1896 – 1980), the most influential psychologist in the domain of developmental psychology,
developed the theory of cognitive development. Through detailed observations of children’s activities and
clinic interview, he reached the conclusion that every child passes, in his intellectual development, through
four stages: sensory-motor stage (from birth to age 2), preoperational stage (from ages 2 to 7), concrete
operational stage (from ages 7 to 11) and formal operational stage (from age 11 onwards). Transitions
between stages are influenced by children’s particular experiences and controlled by the maturing process.
Each new stage enriches the child’s cognitive understanding with an increasingly sophisticated awareness and
represents a complex way to explain reality. Although Piaget’s theory has brought many contributions within
the educational practice (the concept of being “able”, active involvement of the child in a stimulating
environment, interviewing children, using concrete materials etc), the theory was criticized, especially
regarding two aspects. The first refers to underestimating young children’s abilities, other scholars have
identified that children were successful earlier than Piaget had pointed out. The second issue refers to the
straight and linear perspective of thinking stages : like recent data have showed, changes within cognitive
functions occur less suddenly and in a not such general manner as the stage model of Piaget sustains.
Benjamin Spock (1903 – 1998), changed child’s breeding with his book, “The Common Sense Book of Baby and
Child Care” (1948), although, if we look closer, his advice are based upon subjective considerations,
suppositions, folklore and his experience of clinic cases (uncommon). The same stands for the so-called
experts and it should be no surprise the sudden changes that appear in their ideas about children’s raising. For
example, in 1930, strictness was stressed, to a high degree because of Truby King (1924), a pediatrician who
advised mothers to feed their children at sharp hours, not to respond when their child is crying to draw
attention. In 1950, as a result of Spock’s advice, things became more permissive. But, when he was accused of
student’s problems and the undesirable ways youngsters expressed in 1960, he also has changed his mind and
his ideas (Schaffer, 2005).
John Bowlby (1907 – 1990) and his theory about attachment, have influenced considerably the understanding
of early social development. According to the author, the attachment (long-standing emotional connection
with a certain individual) has both a biological function – surviving and a psychological one – achieving
security. This works only if both parents respond mutually to child’s behavior – from here emerges the
developing of a parental system of attachment, appeared during the evolution and which ascertains parents’
programming to respond to child’s signals. Bowlby’s hypothesis showed that the infant and young child should
experience a warm, intimate, and continuous relationship with his mother (or permanent mother substitute)
and that not to do so may have significant and irreversible mental health consequences. The critics of this
theory consider this connection is not stable: early experiences set the foundation, but later events can
change the course of development.
Philippe Ariès claims that the age of childhood, like we perceive today, in European cultures, is a modern
invention. Children were seen as grown-ups, as a smaller version, and to a certain extent, they were treated in
the same way. The paintings of Middle Eve represent them as little adults, the only difference was the size of
the body. Moreover, they were expected to behave the same as adults, when working or playing. The
biological age was not a distinctive mark, like now; however, what matter the most in crises moments were
the strength and the abilities which made the difference between children and made them capable of
supporting the family and the well-being of the society.
Only in 17’s and 18’s centuries, childhood has defined a social identity, a new one into the human biography;
children are kept more and more apart from the work world and they are receiving progressively the status of
different sub-cultural group. Thus, they have been described as children judging by their look and clothes,
although this happened at first only with the boys – “boys were the first specialized children” (Ariès, 1962).
20
Roughly speaking, the change came slowly – the child’s maltreatment in antique and medieval époque, their
employing in factories and mines (XIX’s century) but also the idea of children’s rights, more recently (The
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989).
3.2. The adult and his role in child’s life
Adults’ roles stand for a set of their own expectations in confront to children. The roles have been defined as
“a bunch of essential traits and social determined expectations, associated to social conditions” (Turner 1998).
What sort of roles can an adult fulfill in confront to a child? Further on, we’ll enumerate a range of desirable
roles, unfortunately not always accomplished. In practice, it’s difficult to keep apart these roles, because they
cross in many ways and situations.
• Role as a parent
What does it mean “to be a good parent”? How would we respond to that question if we remember the times
when the children were sacrificed in honor of the gods, not only it didn’t seem outrageous, but also was
considered a positive thing, or in some cultures parents decide in what conditions their daughter gets
married?
It’s difficult to define a good parent and to take upon the responsibility to assert before the family or the
community that a parent isn’t good enough. Perhaps an important quality of an adult and implicitly of a parent
would be the ability to perceive the child in a realistic way. One of the biggest mistakes an adult can commit is
not seeing his child as a child, with the regular stages of development, special needs, but to perceive him as a
human being mentally independent, who has mature reactions and needs. In many circumstances, parents are
too preoccupied with their interior world and their own needs to look after a child 7.
• Role as a teacher
The process of acquiring knowledge and understanding the surrounding world, by children, it’s a complex one,
that lasts many years, and it wouldn’t develop at its best without parents’ intervention in child’s process
education (formal, non-formal and informal). The task to choose from the whole cultural and experiencing
stock of information of mankind, those knowledge and experiences to transmit to children for the purpose of
turning them into an independent human being, into individuality, is due generally to adults, and especially to
teaching staff. The challenge for the adult-teacher lies not in leaving to children the information ready re-
made, but to set up a special frame for personal action, thought and self-discovering.
• Role as an expert with abilities in different fields

For the child, the adult is the person who knows things, who knows to do, to change, to improve and also to
behave according to the situation. The adult plays an expert role for the child, either in his field, or when he’s
busy with the household. Involving the child within the housekeeping or giving him different assignments,
under parent’s supervision and example, will make him more responsible, also will arouse child’s interest in
knowledge and train him with the abilities needed in everyday life.
• Role as a model and person teaching values

Nowadays it is being said more and more about crises of values in our society and especially in the family. The
adult is the person who, voluntary or not, has influence upon the child, when it comes to respecting or not the
norms and building their own value system. Rules include what common sense considers being either “right”
or “wrong”. The rules try to define what right and wrong means, they approximate more to ideals shared by a
group. If the norms induce individuals the conception that “this is the way they normally should behave”,
values stand for “in such a manner I hope or I wish to act”. A value can stand for a criterion determining
7
Source: http://www.copilul.ro/comunicare-copii/dezvoltarea-morala-la
copii/Problemele_adultilor_si_rolul_de_parinte-a5167.html
choosing an alternative among others. Children want to behave like successful adults around them. Do they
really appreciate the good, the beautiful, the truth, the justice, the tolerance, the deference? What sort of
message parents transmit nowadays to their children? What kind of values our children will embrace? …these
are the questions whose answers should concern us.
• Role as an adviser
The adult is the one who should stand by children’s side all the time, to help them overstep successfully any
difficult situation. Analyzing problems, searching alternatives, anticipating effects, taking upon responsibilities
are among those processes that each child must practice under a grown up supervision.
• Role as a spiritual supervisor

Every human being at a certain moment expresses questions (has doubts) on who we are, what are we doing
here and which way are we headed. Grown-ups have their role in helping children understand life and its main
events, to nurse them the wish to reflect and to discover their own meaning in life. Especially parents are
those who can influence the child the most choosing his own religion, very often imposing it.
• Role of supporting and cheer-up

Grown-ups engage in setting up the frame where the child may play and spend his time, they have to be sure
the children have easy access to resources, by stimulating their need to take part in different activities,
supporting him, congratulating him, lending a hand. It’s vital that children may rely on parent’s support. There
are also other ways by which parents can pursue their role to support and motivate their children: “training”
tenacity, endurance, setting down objectives, finding assets and means to reach them.
• Partnership role
Although the adults is superior by age, experience, education and strength to the child, is often required he
relates to him like he was a playmate or a co-worker. By developing some project within the partnership child-
adult or playing together, the relation between the grown-up and the child is becoming stronger and stronger
and thus they have many formative valences for the child.
• Normative role
Sometimes the adult is due to inform the child about what is right and wrong and how to act accordingly. It is
a common stage in child’s development, later on he / she will assume these external norms and rules imposed
by grown-ups.
• Protecting role
Assuring children’s fundamental rights (the right to life and care, to security, to education and health etc.) and
preventing whatever abuses on children are fundamental responsibilities for every adult.
Questions for the reader: In which of these roles do I find myself? What could I improve in these roles before
children?
3.3. Tendencies and challenges
In a world changing constantly, children deal with the same problems like their parents, but the last ones are
not prepared to give them the right answers at these issues. Recent researches reveal that puberty appears
earlier than usually. Children have unlimited access to different types of information, from an early age, and
they have to choose, become responsible and find out things meant not long ago to grown-ups. Traditional
mediators, the adults, have a lower and lower role in children’s life; children learn to solve their problems by
22
their own or asking for friend’s help; there are commercials addressing directly to them, and not to adults, like
it occurred in the past, and the list can go on.
We notice a range of tendencies and events involving children. The challenge consists in giving a meaning to
this simple, but clear collection of empirical information and in finding connections and convergences
between events seemingly different. Some of the information could be defined as causes or grounds of newly
emerging needs: world-wide tendencies such as demographic changes within nature’s family, its proportions
and span of life would belong to a single group. Similarly, global economy globalizing, a higher marketing of
life-styles, a higher use of newly technologies, the challenges of information era and environment and
atmospheric pollution are the causes of the new needs. Other inputs get into the category of wide social
processes, which are getting on and interact with some local features, offering a significant diversity. It’s a
complex ground. An obvious separation of “cause” and “effect” is neither possible, nor necessary, because we
focus explicitly on the results of these processes for children.
What we want to point out is that newly emerging needs seem to increase considerably and this makes
difficult the possibility to cope with them, not to mention to find the proper solution. It seems that too many
things are happening to children on different fronts. We are accustomed to other “explosions”, especially in
science and information technology field where things evolved faster than Bill Gates has predicted (Twist
2004). Still how ready are we, as adults, to change these challenges in opportunities and to find adequate
ways to address, as we discover these new changes together with our children? Further information about the
relationship child – adult can be read in „5.2 Intervention mechanism”.
Questions for the reader: Am I ready to understand the new tendencies of children’s behavior and to help
them? Which are the biggest challenges for me in relation with children? What information and new abilities
would I need in order to understand what is happening to our children and to find together the proper
solutions?
Chapter 4: Identifying newly emerging needs 23
Chapter 4: Identifying newly emerging needs
4.1. The importance of identifying and addressing newly emerging needs
The importance of identifying and addressing emerging needs is given not only by the necessity of finding
proper solutions immediately after these needs have been notified, but also by the necessity of taking
measures, which could stop or diminish the negative effects that some actions have upon children, including
prevention measures.
Emerging needs, as they are defined by ICDI experts, cover a wide range of needs, events, challenges,
situations, causes and effects. Therefore, without comparing these emerging needs with the general meaning
of the concept of „needs”, we can insert in NEN’s category, different situations affecting or involving children,
starting from an event reported in a newspaper (example : a 7 year old child thinks about suicidal) to a feature
following a survey (example : puberty appears earlier).
Still how do we succeed in indentifying correctly an emerging need, afterwards how do we analyze the
situation, the proper need, its effects and causes, so that in the end we can give the suitable solution? Who is
in the position to identify these emerging needs? Which are the means we can use for that purpose? How do
we analyze emerging needs? With whom and with what resources do we find and implement solutions, either
with an improving nature, or ideally speaking with a preventive one?
We believe that our project, from pointing out some of the emerging needs, to find adequate ways to address,
is not at all difficult as long as we proceed with little steps, from a correct identification to precise and local
solutions and later on building a plan which aims at approaching properly possible similar cases, in an
improving or predictive manner.
Emerging needs have not existed before at former generations, or if they have, they appear differently. The
first step is to identify them, and then comes the analysis and finding solutions. We should not get
discouraged because of the fact that we can’t transform solutions into educational policies, for example. The
change comes when we act even locally, even if it means intervening on an emerging need affecting only one
child.
Further on, we have in view to describe in detail how to identify and address to emerging needs, both micro
perspective, of an immediate settlement of a single need, and macro perspective, of involving more actors
(experts, parents), of using intervention mechanism, of expanding the local project to a regional or national
level.
Questions for the reader: Am I aware of cases which if they had been included in emerging needs category,
some situations involving children would have been resolved better?
24
4.2. What do we identify? The ameliorative and preventive role of identifying

newly emerging needs
Until now there isn’t a sequel of mechanism or proceedings, designed to adjust or at least to direct
identification activity – an intervention either with a preventive purpose, or with an improving - curative one
of some elements belonging to NENs.
Among the projects carried out in Romania, until this moment, we consider that the latest projects within the
domain of life skills can serve as a model, up to a point, to develop programs of special intervention for NEN.
The starting point in elaborating programs designed for intervention represents a good process of assessment
of children’s NEN needs. The identification of the causal system that leads to NEN’s appearance, offers us the
mainstream directions regarding the manner we can conceive prevention programs or, in some cases,
intervention programs or specific interventions.
Even though in the center of NENs identification process stands the development of today’s child, the key
factors that must be involved in this process are: the child himself, family, teachers, doctors and executives
from human medical service, social workers etc.
For each category, the type of methods and the resources used to identify NENs coming out will be adjusted
depending on the specific features of each one of them.
The reasons why it is important to identify NENs are either preventive or improving. Often, tardy identification
of some NENs can lead to a wide broadening at the level of a generation, catching unprepared experts to
prepare response reactions adequate to children’s need.
Preventive role of identification
Identifying NENs is a process that calls a sensitive and objective identifier to pay attention to evolutions and
changes all around the society, and at the same time the capacity to anticipate a sequel of tendencies that
could become specific trends of today’s children.
The experts’ ability to identify early a sequel of tendencies that could become emerging needs of children, is
getting more and more important in the context of today’s development rate In these circumstances is likely
to prevent the appearance of some elements vicious for children’s desirable evolution. If we could refer to
some aspects of nowadays real life, the impartial sensibility of parents or teachers will support the
identification of children’s behavioral changes and, at the same time, the system formed by contextual-causal
relations determining these transformations. A child who becomes more and more calm, he spends more and
more time playing with the adults, indicates a fatigue state of mind, he snatches a meal etc. He’s sending a
message to his parents: something is out of order. This type of behavioral changes together with others can
generate intervention programs with preventive goals, in such way that the signals sent by children could not
become stronger and then change into emerging needs, before adults can do anything.
Ameliorative role of identification:
It refers to the situation when NENs already exist, there can be created or there already have been created
precise criteria to identify them and classify, therefore it exists public conscience of their presence within the
society and from now on it’s necessary to conceive programs that may lead to preventing NEN’s worsening
consequences or a wider rise.
The improving process generated by NEN’s identification, implies and demands conceiving activities, programs
or projects destined to reduce or normalize the effects engendered by nowadays changes, so that personal
effects (at children’s level) could not generate into behaviours deeply inadaptable.
It would be better that the officials in charge of children’s well-being could identify as early as possible NENs
and they could respond in a adequate manner to the situational context for each and every child.
Questions for the reader: Which are the advantages of continually identifying emerging needs? Do I know any
example of situations where there should be taken also prevention measures and not only improving ones?
4.3. Who identifies?

All the members of human society have the responsibility to identify children’s needs that arises from our
nature as human beings, from expressing deeply profound values like: solidarity, compassion, cooperation,
etc. For example, some elements linked to real or seemingly consequences of physical abuse can be noticed
even by nonprofessionals, the same as atypical behaviors, inadaptable, self-destructive and anti-social.
Beyond the prospect relatively philosophic and idealistic, we consider that within the NENs identification,
experts working with children have a supreme role, more precise, we take into consideration different sorts of
experts like: pediatricians and medical assistants, educators, schoolmasters and teachers, social workers,
psychologists, but also other categories offering services for children, like hairdressers or salesmen, etc,
because we believe that these persons inclusive can take notice of behavioral changes regarding children,
besides parents or authorities.
For giving a hand to all the people interested in NENs, the case studies presented in this toolkit are offering
some examples of real life situations, on how experts have addressed to emerging needs. Like is being showed
in the case studies, the diversity of experts involved is influenced by every situation features and the
responsibility of identifying has to be taken upon depending on the situation. An element that cannot miss and
has our support, is a different perception and involvement of decision makers and public policy makers upon:
the unchanging challenges generated by society evolution and their effects on children’s life, facilitating some
action frameworks to render valuable individual experiences, complementary actions of different actors,
flexible interventions in order to act for children’s interests and to have them part of the process.
Irrespective of emerging needs’ type and how it’s approached, we can certainly say that parents and teachers,
key individuals, must be involved in this process.
If we refer to parents’ role in indentifying NENs, is important to highlight that in many situations their
perception on their own children is very subjective, parents tend in most of the cases to ignore uncommon
aspects of their children’s development and not to admit the reality. For example, when a child suffers from a
chronic disease or from a mental disorder, the parent needs sometimes even years to deal with the situation.
In this context, the real needs of the children are softened and concealed by parents who find difficult
accepting the situation. Thus, a child who was diagnosed with a hardly noticeable disorder of development
(autistic disorder) cannot benefit of recovering medical and psycho-educational assistance until the parent is
not sure about the diagnosis. The same has happened, and for sure happens, in the case of children infected
with HIV. Experts are familiar with situations when children infected with HIV, return at the hospital after a
few years from the moment when they have been diagnosed and even then their condition is serious, their
parents stand firm on their irrational positions. Beyond these concrete examples, parents should pay a lot of
attention to hardly perceptible changes, like NENs are. After all, the parent is the only person who spends a
considerable time in children’s company and therefore he can notice changes in his behavior, hitherto signals
that something “is going on” and that the adult should intervene.
26
What should each of us do when we notice an emerging need?
We mustn’t ignore that situation thinking that someone else is going to solve it and we must get into direct
touch with a person from child’s environment, anyone who might help him, unless we could be that person.
Questions for the reader: Would I need a special training to identify emerging needs?
4.4. At what level do we identify?
Identification domains of newly emerging needs are marked by the variable nature of the impact zones and
temporary persistence, thus we can remark the appearance of emerging needs at an individual level, but the
same phenomenon can be identified across world-wide communities – even globally, on the other hand we
can observe that some emerging needs are specific only for children of a certain age.
 Individual identification
Sometimes the signals of emerging needs are resulting from individuals’ level, spreading with a lower density
per number of inhabitants in a certain area. This sort of emerging needs is included in the category of
curiosities, arousing from time to time somebody’s interest, especially press’ interest (for example: homicide
cases committed by children, acts of vandalism or other actions with strongly media coverage).
According to Evenimentul de Botosani newspaper appeared on 7 October 2010, “Most crimes were committed
this year, in Botosani County, by children, teenagers. Ignored by society, school and family, they came to take
lives and they destroyed destinies. Even lawyers were terrified by such cruelty. The surroundings where these
children have grown up are full of poverty, lacking in education. Psychiatrists are talking about an ill domestic
environment”. The list of delinquencies committed by children goes on with: “On 14 November 2007, two
students were stabbed, as a result of a conflict burst out in the bus, in the sector 3 of the capital. The students
were returning home when they were attacked by a gang of hoodlum young men in bus nr. 253. On March 1st
2007, a student from Arts High School from the city of Craiova was stabbed in the park near his school. The
perpetrator was a boy 15 of age, who was studying at another high school from the city. A 16 year old pupil
from Arts and Crafts School in Ploiesti was stabbed on 7 March 2007 by another young man, of the same age,
in the school playground. The incident occurred in the break and the cause for it seems to have been an older
debt of the victim towards his aggressor. The aggressor was identified and he received a penal file. On 2
December 2005, a 17 year old pupil studying at the Central School of Bucharest was stabbed by her boyfriend,
within the same precincts of the school. The incident was apparently provoked by a quarrel between those two,
within the office of deputy manager” 8.
This sort of media coverage brings out the child in a bad light, being presented as the only one guilty of the
present situation and without pointing out different possible causes or solutions to improve the situation,
respectively problematic behaviors, all the more so as the victim’s and aggressor’s identity are in most cases
revealed.
Acts of violence committed by children are not the only ones to be put up as a pattern in the case of the
identification at personal level, but these are covered by the media because of their thrilling nature. This kind
of punctual identification can be made, for example, by teaching staff experts.
In other situations, the expressions linked to the appearance or the development of emerging needs are
completely unfamiliar to the general public, and sometimes, what is more serious than this, even the experts
from different medical or child development fields encounter difficulties in identifying NENs. Thus, some cases
like those of teen boys suffering of anorexia, children who become parents at 8-9 years old or teenagers living
8
http://www.realitatea.mobi/pages/article.aspx?id=116898&topicid=1
in the virtual world seldom happen and are extremely rare brought to general public’s notice.
To give an example of how these needs can be approached, the authors of the toolkit have included in the
chapter of case studies, the manner of address to individual needs like those of spending free time exclusively
within virtual world.
 Identifying within a restricted group
It occurs when at the level of some groups (usually subsidiary) are taking place a sequel of events with a strong
note of “contamination”. Emerging needs of some groups originate from a plurality of contextual features
which lead to other sorts of behaviors or adaptive responses towards a range of new situations (for example,
teenagers who practice street art “graffiti” or bikers, partisans of motor races – exploratory study 22/24).
Emerging needs appeared in a group are easier to notice thanks to the atypical nature of groups’ members
behavior.
NENs identification at a group level is facilitated also by population’s way of thinking, according to which the
phenomenon is spreading. In this case, the note of contamination that we were mentioning before, tends to
be converted into an element with an anxiety character and, therefore, is becoming more powerful. Analyzing
the consequence of this reality perception, we realize that potential NENs identifiers are already over-sensitive
and their attention is drove away to what is happening with the member of the group affected by NENs.
 Identifying within a community
The appearance of NENs at the levels of communities is closely connected to the specific features of that
community. That local peculiarity may result from the economic field, social features, factors of the medium
and especially because of cultural elements.
 Trends of today’s generation
Surprisingly or not, we are able to identify a range of newly emerging needs within a generation, by giving a
simple example as follows: if we should to be referring at the situation in Romania a couple of years ago, we
can identify the PRO generation, revealed around the middle of 90’s. This generation has shocked through
disinhibitions, the capacity to speak without any reserves, a manner of addressing from an equal position –
inclusively when they were addressing to an authority. As a cultural movement, this generation shocked due
to their atypical activities, including social activities, such as: traditional information / education sources were
replaced with media information almost exclusively or with simple lyrics of pop music (“Ola, ola e, macho man
/ Ola, ola e, sexy baby”; “This summer I’ll do everything that crosses my mind”). Broad masses of people were
gathering at the events organized by PRO generation, in public places or at home watching TV.
Another generational trend, this time “borrowed” from the global level, is “the emo”. The term “emo”
(coming from “emotional”) arises from music, at first “Emo” has been an element of hardcore punk, and their
fans were called “Emo” 9. The fans from Romania took over a series of elements concerning the philosophy of
loss, behavioural and clothes typologies, inducing affective feelings to depressed persons etc. Amid the
background of psychological fragilities and elements regarding changes specific to teenagers, some of the fans
of this cultural trend resorted even to autolytic actions. Certainly we can identify other trends specific to one
generation or another, still we can notice their fleeting nature (they didn’t last for long), beyond this feature,
their impact upon the society was significant, drawing attention upon some dysfunctions within the social
interactions and sometimes, by including new elements as general values.
9
http://www.kidz.ro/articol/Copil/1779/Generatia-Emo-pro-sau-contra.html
28
Questions for the reader: It’s really necessary to identify the range in which an emerging need expresses? Can I
find examples of emerging needs for each level?
4.5. Tools to identify newly emerging needs of children
4.5.1. How can we identify emerging needs

At every turn we come against behaviours, facts, problems, needs which intrigue us or leave us confused. To
find answers at certain behaviours, facts, issues, but especially to identify emerging needs in this case, we
need to use investigating and identifying methods, which we must arrange in order to get highly precise data.
One of the greatest aspects we must take into consideration when we talk about emerging needs of children
and young adults, is their identification, which means discovering behaviours, fact, problems, common needs
a person deal with or a group of persons of certain age at a certain moment, situation, and which may lead to
a real problem or phenomenon.
When we talk about identifying tools, we refer to those methods that help us assessing the necessity of our
intervention, such as:
- the decision whether a noticed aspect will transform into an emerging need or it’s specific issue of
a certain age/situation;
- measuring the proportions of the phenomenon, analyzing an as high as possible number of

children to check how many of them are affected by emerging needs;
- checking the perception of children or some actors about an emerging need (it it’s positive or
negative, what effects has);
- detailing problematic behaviors (for example: the average number of hours per day that a child
spends playing videogames, or a specific panel of sites accessed by children)
- gathering information referring to an emerging need, such as detailing behaviours by a large group
of children with concrete interests;
- the possibility that a group of children would embrace a certain sort of behaviour, could become
an emerging need because of the positive perception other children have against that particular
behaviour;
- similar situations from different times to verify the tendencies;
…. and the list could go on.
As experts, parents, family members or common citizens within a community, in order to identify very easy
the possible emerging needs children are dealing with, it would be better to use efficient methods that could
helps us gather realistic information.
Questions for the reader: When did I personally use research methods? Which one gives me the best chance to
identify these emerging needs? With which group would I use these methods?
4.5.2. Identifications methods
The best known and accessible methods and techniques of identifying children NENs are the questionnaire,
the interview and the observation. Thanks to them, we can grasp quite all opinions, emotions, children’s
behaviours, in such way that the transformation process would become easy to carry out and within
everybody’s reach.
1. THE QUESTIONNAIRE is a investigation instrument, even of identification, consisting in a whole / set of

written questions, possibly graphical images, ordered in a logical and psychological manner, which by being
managed by an expert or by ourselves, that is self-applying, could lead to a sequel of written answers given by
the respondents.
We can use it to get information referring to opinions, viewpoints, needs, children’s necessities, according to
the problem we are studying.
In order to gather information as relevant as possible, when we use this instrument in the process of
identifying children’s NENs, we must take into consideration the next aspects in drawing questions?
- when we identify emerging needs, we frame special questionnaires, namely over an only theme,
in this instance about children’s emerging needs, although there are questionnaires which
approach more themes, the so called omnibus questionnaires;
- the questionnaire should hold closed questions (with different options as answers pre-
established), or opened questions (with free answers), but also questions that have multiple
answers, ordered on a scale:
Example 1
It’s important for me to take lots of out-door exercises.
□ I totally agree □ I agree □ I don’t know □ I don’t agree □ I don’t agree at all
I find easier chatting than communicating face-to-face.

□ I totally agree □ I agree □ I don’t know □ I don’t agree □ I don’t agree at all
Example 2
It’s important for me to take lots of out-door exercises.
□ Always □ Often □ Sometimes □ Seldom □ Never
I manage to identify easily a NEN situation when I find one.

□ Always □ Often □ Sometimes □ Seldom □ Never
- Questionnaire should pursue a set of written questions, referring to different aspects of our problem;
- Questions must be clear, precise, with no figures of speech, they mustn’t be negative or tendentious (they
mustn’t imply the answer);
- The manner and the style these questions are laid down, must be adapted to the different groups they are
addressing to (students, parents, teaching staff, experts working with children or NGO’s volunteers, other
target groups) and to followed aims.
30
In order for a questionnaire to lead to the identification of children’s NENs, we must take into account the
next advice when we sketch it:
o we explain from the beginning the goal of the questionnaire;

o we explain clearly how to fill in and respond to the questions;
o we take into account the size of the questionnaire (shape, text, page layout);
o we express our thanks.
As a way to identify, the questionnaire allows gathering an increased number of relevant data (referring to
situations and opinions expressed by respondents).
2. THE INTERVIEW is a technique by which we get verbal information through questions and answers, from a
single person or more about a matter of interest.
More often, the interview represents a discussion between two persons: the interviewer and the interviewee.
This is the personal interview. We can use also the group interview, where the interviewer talks to the whole
group to get a collective answer to the problem brought forward.
Within NEN’s identification, we can use different kinds of interviews:

- Structured interview can be used in filling in a questionnaire and it may be taken based on a precise list
of elucidating questions;
- Peer interview established between individuals of the same status : two students, two teachers, two
parents;
- Focus-group - this technique implies a group of 10, maximum 15 people, representing certain groups
interested in our research issue;
- Interviewing a mixed group – could include students, professors, experts, leaders within the society,
leaders of students, research workers, trainers, volunteers etc. This sort of interview gives a great variety of
information, but it is really hard to be carried out and implies a special training of the interviewer or
specialized assistance;
- Debate (a structure formerly established) gives to participants the freedom to utter their opinion about a
subject; there is the possibility to use more methods which facilitate communication and interaction; it could
be used at a school form (Appendix 2 – A pattern debate with students).
Whatever sort of interview we choose for identifying NENs, we have to draw up a toolkit interview that sets
up further issues tackled within the talk focused upon the subjective experience of interviewees, but especially
questions.
Among the advantages of this technique, we remember:

- the flexibility, the possibility to get specific answers to each question;
- also people who don’t how to write or to read can give information, as well as those who feel protected
when they are speaking rather when they are writing;
- examining non-verbal behavior leads to an increase of the quantity and quality of information;
- we have to keep under control the order of questions, to receive accurate answers;
- the spontaneity of answers, because we know that the first reactions express subjects’ sensitiveness
more accurately than those emerged under a normative control;
- we have to be sure we get personal answers, without any interference;
- we have to be sure we get answers to all questions, therefore the volume of information increases;
- specifying the exact time and place of the discussion, to compare the information.
Also, referring to the interview, it’s important to:

o gain interviewee’s consent;
o explain from the beginning the aim and the length of the interview;
o respect the logical connection of questions written in the toolkit;
o express our gratitude.
The interview allows gathering information and detailed data about interviewees. It has the advantage that
besides information we still may identify specific opinions, feelings, conducts towards the given theme.
3. THE OBSERVATION represents the systematic perception of conducts, attitudes and interactions of those
directly involved, just when they are expressed, according to a plan set up before and with the aid of some
specific techniques of observation.
It’s the most accessible method to be able to identify emerging needs of children, by using either direct
observation or active observation (the observer involves in social activities of subjects to understand the
mechanism in which they express) depending on the investigation type.
At the same time the manner how data are recorded is very important, thus we can use the structured
observation, which implies a previous knowledge of the researched issue, which allows using a grid of
observation as an instrument to gather data and the unstructured observation, used when the researcher
doesn’t know the phenomenon meant to be achieved within the research project and when an instrument to
record information cannot be used.
Within this process the following are important:
- settling a clear goal in the process of identification;

- establishing the sort of observation we are going to use;
- identifying the tools necessary to a proper observation;
- assigning a plan according to which we develop the observation;
- setting down a fixed proceeding according to which:
- the observer could put down his remarks;
- he could compare and examine the results;
- he could make a resume according to which he selects the further manner of
intervention.
The observation refers to the systematic and premeditated examination of an event, behaviour, person or
group. Hence we must take into consideration several aspects when we identify children’s emerging needs:
Example for NEN’s identification:
Causes Behaviours (perceivable) Effects
The information gathered during the observation, can be put down using the observation card, as we showed
above, can be recorded with a tape-recorder or a video-recorder and last, but not least, the information can
be recorded after the observation has been accomplished.
The observer has to be as impartial as possible and detached by the issue and by the subjects under the
observation, otherwise we run the risk of getting wrong information.
The observation is not a simple method which gives us the image of reality at a certain time; it is more than
that, it’s a method that leads to the knowledge and understanding of this reality, to catching, but also to the
explanation of the situation observed.
Each method has its shortcomings. For this reason, it is advisable to use two or more methods, each one being
32
used to control or to add more material.

The tools used by the Romanian experts in detailing case-studies are varied, and are adapted to the specific of
the emerging need. They include: psycho-pedagogic observation, oral tests and proves, family talks, the
analyses of child’s marks, the analyses of children’s social relations, meetings with parents or children (case-
studies in the appendix).
Two instruments already used in emerging needs’ study, in Romania, can be found in the appendix of this
resource, such as:
Appendix 1 – Case-study model
Appendix 2 – Model of debate with children
Questions for the reader: Are there other methods I could use? Which are the emerging needs I wish to search
into? Where do I begin?
4.5.3. Identifying the causes determining emerging needs’ appearance
The intervention regarding emerging needs’ solution must be preceded by careful analyses of the factors
causing the appearance of these needs. An accurate evaluation of these causes allows putting down a detailed
plan including intervention measures, referring in most of the cases to activities that go beyond individual
possibilities of actions. Depending on the causes identified, the expert can determine the level of approach.
Thus, the intervention is made on the connection children – parents, at the level of class / school / community
or active involvement of children.
The analysis of case-studies reveals a range of causes that might cause emerging needs’ appearance. Even if
these causes are specific to every single need, we’re going to exemplify three categories of causes described
by the experts who draw up the case-studies, promoting emerging needs’ appearance:
- the influence of family (parents’ lack of time, lack of interest towards children, lack of information,
inappropriate nutrition, family’s income, domestic values, any kind of abuse)
- the influence of social environment (mass-media, internet, virtual or real social networks, the social-
demographic context, social inequalities, the system of values of the community/society)
- the influence of school (relations and communication with colleagues or teachers, adapting the scholar
curricula to children’s needs)
From the prospect cause – effect, the analysis of emerging needs must be studied thoroughly, to change the
proper cause.
Questions for the reader: If I notice the effect, how can I distinguish the real causes, to find the proper
solutions?
Chapter 5: Intervention – the proper approach of newly emerging needs 33
Chapter 5: Intervention – the proper approach of newly emerging needs
5.1. The necessity of intervention
Although the issues specific to NENs are regarded as curiosities, as an atypical phenomenon, or even as a
problem near to pathology, beyond being the main subject in the media, they are real and they urge more
attention from us. We find quite alarming that some pay attention to NENs issue only during media coverage
and afterwards skip it over, or leave it unresolved / unexamined. We can start from generalized situations,
such as: children living in towns, all around the globe, play in front of their houses alone and unwatched in
most of the cases. Proceeding, we wonder how young girls learn about contraceptive notions, basic
knowledge about sexuality, sexual life, responsibility within family life etc. Sometimes adults just notice some
events, without taking action. Here is an example:
“In Bacau, during the first months of this year, twice more teenagers gave birth than the last year. The young
girls had ages between 13-16 years old. Ancuta says: “I’m not married, I had been married and I went through
a divorce, I got pregnant, I was three months pregnant when I left him”. “I am a youngish girl, but what can I
do, life changes when you have a baby. I think I’m going to become more mature…”. Experts consider that
young mothers are still children, in charge of other children. Camelia Hriban, psychiatrist: “A 14-15 years old
person is immature from the emotional, affective and cognitive point of view, to give birth to a child. It is a lack
of responsibility, a lack of awareness of such an important event in a woman’s life”. Since the beginning of the
year, at the maternity from Bacau 76 minor girls have given birth 10.
In Suceava, another case from mass-media:
“Over 20% of the pregnant students kept the baby, giving up school and even family. During last year, 529 girl
students found out that they were pregnant after they had been visited by the doctor, and among them, were
18 girls under the age of 15. Because of the progressive pregnancy, they could not procure a miscarriage;
therefore 122 minor girls gave birth to the hospital. These girls usually choose to live tally with father’s child.
The statistics regarding pregnant minors, keep on with shocking, even if their number has decreased as
compared to 2007. According to data provided by the Office of Public Health (DSP) in 2008, after a
gynecological control la Gynecological Department within the County Hospital from Suceava, 529 students
found they were pregnant. Among these, 511 had ages between 15 and 19 years old, and 18 were under 15
years old. Compared to 2007 – when 620 pregnant girls have been “discovered”, with ages between 15 and 19
– a diminution of pregnant minors was recorded”. 11
This data reveals a change in 2008 compared to 2007’s situation, i.e. fewer cases of pregnant minor girls. Is
this an emerging need? Theoretically not, it is a generalized problem, in diminution. Still, if we take into
account the possibility these teenager girls be informed in due time, the initiatives and the projects carried out
to solve this problem – is this intervention enough? Does it show the anticipated results? In most of the cases,
referring to the issue of NENs, the experts should decide when an aspect linked to children and youngsters
becomes a general problem or when they cease to be an emerging problem, as they were addressed with the
proper solutions. At the same time, a more detailed analysis is without a doubt necessary than reading a
10
http://foto.newsin.ro/bacau-minore-na%C5%9Fteri-mame.php?cid=view&nid=7442553e-bc05-4ccb-a376-
ca90a73b1546&hid=video
11
http://www.obiectivdesuceava.ro
34
simple article in a newspaper, but usually mass-media offers enough signals on emerging needs.
Another field, abounding in critical information, is related to suicide attempts, consumption of psycho-active
substances…and unfortunately the list does not stop here, especially if we refer to actions with serious
consequences upon children and young adults concerned. Here is another example from 2008:
“About the end of last week, during a single watch, seven youngsters who had tried to kill themselves, have
been brought at Emergency Hospital Saint John from Iasi” 12.
By examining these examples, we consider that, beyond mass-media interest caused by such events, which
underline NENs, both children and the persons in charge of raising, educating and taking care of children’s
health need to become qualified to adapt and / or intervene in a responsible manner to nowadays’ challenges.
It would be better that for identified NEN there were possibilities to react on the spot and efficiently, but as
this thing doesn’t occur, we ascertain a larger and larger number of events caused by NENs.
The lack of perspective regarding a possible strategy of response to NENs, spreads them among children and
teenagers, and by being exposed frequently to this kind of situations, the sensitivity towards NEN’s issues
raised for discussion is getting lower and thus very soon a range of atypical and anomic behaviours will be
acceptable and considered normal.
If we had to look to the future and take into account the present situation, the scenario would present a
situation where most of the pupils from high school would have already had an abortion or at least a child, or,
on different levels of age, suicide attempts’ number could be so big to become even alarming or why not young
parents stucked in virtual reality will no longer represent a rarity. These are, of course, some scenarios. Yet,
they are part of the range of possible scripts ideated after a short analysis of some of the aspects we believe
aren’t addressed properly.
Questions for the reader: Do I know examples of intervention on problems related to NENs? There are already
situations of whom I am aware and that haven’t been addressed? Which may be the consequences if we don’t
intervene?
5.2. Intervention mechanism
5.2.1. What kind of support do we offer to our children? And especially how do we
offer them the support and attention they need?
Children depend on their parents, and if these aren’t there for them, things may take a bad turn. The presence
of a trustworthy adult, in a difficult situation the children deals with (for example: hanging with a suburb gang,
unwanted pregnancy as a teenager etc), makes the former more cooperative. The personal relationship
between the parent and the child matters a lot (the commitment on behalf of the parent, the personal
involvement of the teacher), and her presence is a predictive factor, scientifically proved, to resolve
successfully children’s issues (Bernard, 2004, Paulle, 2005) and to ensure a normal development. The study
embarked by Garrison and Christakis (2005) concerning the so-called educative / technological games
(educative video-games, educational soft, puzzle games) shows in a clear manner that they don’t develop at all
neither children’s IQ, nor cognitive abilities, but at the best they make them better in solving video-games,
puzzles etc. (it can be explained through the variety of human development – cognitive, socially, affective,
motive force; it is unequal, with moments of continuity or discontinuity, depending on the context and on the
domain). They proved to be the more inefficient the higher is the cost of child’s socio-affective development.
12
http://www.realitatea.net/sinuciderea--o-moda-printre-adolescenti--copilul-dumneavoastra-are-probleme-
emotionale_287987.html
Thus, on short term, one of the costs is the low interaction between parent and child; and on the long term a
higher and higher dependence of the children upon TV and internet.
Hence, parents, neighbours, teachers, human community in immediate proximity to the child, are traditional
mediators between children and the ‘world outside’. Therefore we get to Baumol’s paradox (1960): “The
more developed and the richest a society becomes, the most difficult it becomes to give the children the
attention they need”.
During the past years, we all have noticed the birth of various clubs, companies, programs supported by
different NGOs, taking over from parents the difficult task of interacting with children for a few hours per day,
of socializing, of teaching them a game, of helping with the homework. Given so many offers for children and
with parents ever busier, we created a new trend: “Quality time with your kid” or we ideated commercials
such as “How much time do you spend with your child?”. All these actually represent ways of counter-balance
the lack of time spend with your family and replacing it with periods of time that are short, active and focused
on a single activity (for example: the child builds with his parent a new toy, made of many pieces). But in order
to make sure that the relationship / connection is on the right track and to become stronger, are needed those
moments of interaction “of lower quality” (touch, discussion, shout, visual contact, visible and laud meetings,
the mere presence of the parent in his child’s room or near his room) and even longer periods of inactivity.
Only when there are long periods of interactions in time, we come to the conclusion that there is a certain
type of relation.
Even though for many centuries the children were brought up based on “the top to the bottom” “technology”,
the new tendency in the field promotes active interactions: parents discuss, negotiate, and make suggestions
to children and vice versa. They are guided by rules, regulations, agreements and not necessarily by affectivity
or irrational involvement (called “slight madness”), because it exists the possibility of conflicts between adults
and children for negotiating basic rights of children. Schuller (2001) considers that “post-modern society
doesn’t like children”; middle aged couples, those without children and old persons, request (they even put
pressure!) for services and facilities addressed to them and not to children, this happens in the context where
birthrate is on the decline in most of European countries. Instead of playgrounds for children, are build
commercial centers, parking areas, leisure areas for grown-ups. In the Dutch city of Almere, mammies aren’t
allowed to carry on with them the prams for baby when they take the bus, because they take too much space
and they waste time when people go on and out the bus (Koelewijn, 2002). Or, less and less children are born
at the end of the week to not disturb doctors during their spare time (NRC Handelsblad, 2002). The conflict
between adults and children is on the rise both in developed countries (here adults have children because “it’s
good, it’s nice to have them around you” and poor countries, where there is a different perception on the
child: he became from a future responsible adult, working for the family and taking care of his parents, “an
expensive responsibility” (Oudenhoven & Wazir, 2006).
Changing prospective upon life and especially on the values that are guiding us every day, is noticed at most of
children and youngsters from every corner of the world (Chernish’ study, 2005 on Russian groups of children;
Eason’s study, 2002, NRC Handelsblad, 2005, youngsters from the Netherlands and Great Britain). Nowadays
you are more appreciated if you come from a rich family, if you have high connection (how many times do we
hear such kind of expressing: “I’m a friend of X, the son of the storeowner…”, “My daughter has been practicing
horse racing from her infancy, she became a member of a group formed by the children of our business
partners…”), the skill to make large profits, charm, even some nationalities, to the prejudice of antique values:
a good school, academic superior results, honesty, respecting the law, the diligence and the commitment at
work, intelligence etc.
Today’s young adults have social and economical aspirations, but they want to make it to the top taking the
farthest way round. Therefore, their opinions regarding education and work are totally different from their
36
teachers’, national strategies’ and policies’, who consider at this time that investing in education,
qualifications and professional training are sure means to reach progress, prosperity and economical
development at collective level (Blair, 2005, Lee Hsien Loong, 2005). A question comes out of the blue: at the
present time, wouldn’t be perhaps better to work by your own, even without so much education, professional
qualifications, submission to law? Are we really entitled to blame them?! Is not our society itself the one which
pushes them toward a strategy of surviving, grounded on time-serving, manipulation, cheating, cunning,
dissimulation?! Could we demand to our children to make it in this world, guiding by traditional values like
fairness, work, education, respecting your fellow and the law? At the risk of seeming ridiculous, we believe
that is possible and we should support these values as a way of achievement! It’s true he must be gifted,
“equipped” with life skills to cope with the ups and downs of live, with challenges and newly emerging needs.
Instead of accepting these notions “to be opportunist”, to have high relations”, “to frequent the high society”,
we could educate our children in the spirit of maintaining a system of social support, a human network, an
optimistic and cheerful behaviour. This reclaims, from our part, the teachers, a responsibility: hard work, social
sense of duty and a solid educational background. Young adults cannot succeed without a strong and
permanent support, across all fields of society.
For sure today’s youngsters are more capable to work with the computer, to become financially independent
from early ages, to develop various social relations, but the school in the streets in not a school!
Let’s see how is supposed to look a social arrangement able of supporting the child against newly emerging
needs! As “ingredients”, according to Oudenhoven & Wazir, 2006, we would need dedicated adults as a key
element, a safe and healthy environment for all of us, values, affiliation to the social network. In this kind of
arrangement, children can absorb, can “digest” NENs, but they become able to make the right decisions, to
“reply” and to “answer back”. For example, for little children (0-2 years old) the “new world” includes the
maternity leave prolonged to look after the child; and for children from 3-4 years old, social centers of good
quality, integrated education (Waldfogel, 2004). In addition to this, we must mention the human chain of
adults (family, neighbours, and friends) ready to give a hand in solving the real problems and to remind
youngsters about their potential. In other words we would have “teachers working instead of young workers;
young workers teaching youngsters and working instead of teachers, family members becoming lawyers /
youngsters’ supporters, lawyers having supper in the middle of their family, friends showing hopes for their
friends” (Pittman, 2005).
The human chain of adults could be a manner to resolve Baumol’s paradox. It may be asked whether this chain
should be build voluntarily or as a duty (on this last question, there is the tendency to oblige citizens to involve
in actions of social service, in order to strengthen their commitment toward social causes (Benjaminse, 2005).
Obviously, the immediate and justified answer depends on voluntary work and on the sustainability reason.
An eloquent example is the American soccer: the strongest force of social cohesion from the country which
gathers, through leagues, in the same place, girls and boys, women and men, immigrants and autochthonous,
in every weekend; a proof of spontaneous engagement, shared, joint.
An example of understanding and addressing to newly emerging needs, at macroeconomic level, was offered
by Romania, China and other states of the former communist bloc, by developing the services of maternal
assistance as functional alternative to institutionalization (in our country, since 1997-1998). Even if, from the
economic-financial effectiveness point of view, the new structures of protection and social assistance are
more expensive – the necessary employees in familial houses must be paid, places supervised, different
services in recovery institutions, specific therapies, adequate educational services etc. – All these are worthy
and they justify the effort compared to the value and complexity of the social benefits for those who benefit
from. In this way has been created the frame of understanding and mutual acceptance between an ignored
child and one from a normal family and, implicitly, the last objective has been reached, essential for
addressing to this NEN: that social arrangement, social structure of support, with a complex range of human
interactions.
Our suggestions are not something new, they don’t have a different approach of the child, but they are
relevant for the way we manage the difficulties youngsters encounter. We cannot dissociate the child’s
cognitive development from the social one, the physic or emotional one, like we can’t treat differently
children’s education depending on the social context they grew in, the nutrition or their proper rights. So, it
becomes necessary for each and every young man, to approach these factors together, because they are in a
continuous interaction and they influence each other.
Is it a surprise that Sweden is the country that offers the safest environment for the child and the “friendliest
atmosphere for the mammies? In this country, they have regard for children’s right, without any concession or
allowance in what concerns quality. On the other hand, in countries like the Netherlands, the International
Convention on the Rights of the Child has a different approach, more subtle, to be in agreement with other
aspects, rights or requests of adults. For example, in the stores unhealthy food and alcohol are placed close to
the cash register, at the exit; no measure has been taken to solve children’s obesity; or “what for so many
playgrounds when there aren’t enough parking places…!”
In Latin America, dozens of children suffer from neurological permanent diseases as they swallow “Resistol”
glue, used in the shoe industry. The North-American producer denies the replacement of “toluene” with
another substance, in spite of the lower costs within that change: “We don’t sell it to children on the streets,
but to legal producers who work in shoe industry. We get worried if children or adults obtain it by illegal
process, but this isn’t our main concern” (Oudenhoven & Wazir, 2006). In other words, children are losing
another fight in confronting with big interests. This kind of examples can be found in many countries or
smaller communities.
That’s why the Masai tribe, an African tribe, well-known for the intelligence and the courage of its worriers, is
still using the old greeting „kasserian ingera?” / “how are your children?”. The answer given also by the
fighters without children is „sapati ingera!”/ “all children are doing fine!” (Oudenhoven & Wazir, 2006). How
much wisdom in a simple and elegant greeting! Life is beautiful when our children are fine, isn’t it? They are
the biggest concern for the community and every gesture and action undertaken by each member of the
society sends this message.
38
5.2.2. Intervention mechanisms
Although we have approached these tendencies in a differentiated manner on three different areas (health,
social, personal development) and we found them approached separately in many studies, articles and papers,
they are interdependent. Furthermore, the factors that lead to their appearance are common most of the
time and the intervention methodology which may be developed to diminish these negative tendencies must
be conceived in an integrated way. Persons working directly with children may observe these tendencies with
every single child they work with.
It is preferable that children’s emergent needs should be addressed in an adequate manner before they
generalize, treating every case separately the moment when a problematic behavior is identified.
However, when we speak of intervention in a normal society, every child should have his own „guardian
angel”, who is ultimately responsible to react rapidly and whose reaction must be adapted to the child’s
individual needs.
How should this thing happen?
Essentially this would be the major direction each one of you will embrace and involve into. Either the
intervention is made on an individual level (and here we have in view the parent, the tutor, the person to
whom the child is entrusted for upbringing, the educator, the teacher, the instructor, the coach, the
maintenance assistant, the psychologist, the doctor, the policeman, the priest or other experts interact to
children, as individualities playing a role in various stages of the child’s life), or on a level of alternative
structures (public and private services with a role in the child’s development, organizations of the civil society,
etc.) and public policies in the matter, what must have the precedence is the child’s interest and the
integration of the approach.
Children’s moral education, which helps them discriminate right from wrong and choose right, which inspires
them with the fundamental values, which teaches them to treat the people around them correctly, together
with the development of communication, relationship-building and socialization skills, which teaches children
to communicate in an assertive way, to respect and appreciate diversity, to work in teams, are some of the
most important measures in addressing these emergent needs: the need of values and models and the need
to communicate which becomes more and more important as the mass-media and the internet have an over-
increasing importance in the life of children and young people.
ICDI experts propose a series of recommendations as regards the intervention mechanism meant to identify
and react before the newly emergent needs of children:
 Development of a comprehensive vision

The development of a coherent policy about and for children, which should include objectives, strategies,
instruments, financial grants, targets and expected results. The Convention regarding Children’s Rights may
represent the operational framework for the development of a holistic vision on children.
 The child must be permanently the center of attention

Make sure that every activity oriented towards children is also beneficial for them (or at least it does not hurt
them!); a reference point on the governmental level must be developed so as to have specific responsibility
for children; all relevant national and local policies must assess their impact upon children.
 All interested / responsible factors must be involved

Children’s voice must be heard; the position of those who are closest to children, especially the parents, must
be listened to and respected; collaborate with nongovernmental organizations, professionals, research
community, media and private sector as well as with all the ministries.
 Children’s problems must be defined in clear and detailed terms

Include all the aspects which violate child’s integrity; prepare sufficiently precise working definitions so that
they may be used in practical contexts and research activities.
 Increased attention paid to preventive measures

Develop large-scale prevention programs, addressed to the entire population; identify risk factors; identify
response mechanisms and forms of positive direction.
 Raising the level of awareness as regards cultural influence and sensibility

Accept and respect cultural differences in your relationship with children; avoid using cultural barriers as an
excuse for your decision not to take action; consider that tradition and culture are complex and they also go
through changes; orient policies towards the inclusion of all ethnic and minority groups.
 Data collection in a consistent, systematic and rhythmic manner

Develop surveys on a regular basis on key indicators regarding the child’s development; use data to monitor
tendencies, impact of policies, establishment of priorities and allotment of resources, as well as for the public
information.
 Promotion of research determined by the demand

Define research questions based on problems included in the field of public policies; answer the needs
expressed by children and by the people that look after them and involve them where this is possible;
stimulate the research in these fields.
 Promotion of community action

Stimulate the activity of community groups and of parents’ groups; validate local initiatives; involve
community organizations.
In addition to this, there are other elements:

 public opinion’s awareness on NENs and not just presenting disparate media news. NENs are
presented frequently as PUNCTUAL EVENTS beyond the power of understanding and acceptance of a
group;
 a sort of approach trans and interdisciplinary. The causes leading to NENs are various and arise from
the huge changes within the society, changes that are taking place at various levels of the society,
under the influence of “bio-psycho-social” factors, but also economical or military;
 the preventive nature of the intervention. Usually NEN don’t express in a unique way, it was found
frequently an epidemic spreading of NENs (especially those specific to generation trends), and from
this prospective preventive activities can represent starting points for managing NENs;
 a network of support / action of people who act. NEN emerge from different causes, usually because
of a mixture of factors, and in this case the intervention becomes complex and the experts are
supported by gathering resources and examining the availability.
 we think globally, we act locally. Is important to have a global perspective relating to the causes of
NENs, but the way we’re going to conceive the intervention actions depends on the features of each
person involved in the process.
And the list could go on….
40
5.3. Available resources and specific responsibilities
It astonishes that, in spite of the fact that there are persons with a minimal knowledge regarding
child’s development, many atypical phenomena from children’s life are neglected and ignored by
institutions in charge.
At the moment, there are at least social advisers in every Romanian community, if not social workers,
or even Public Services of Social Working, when it comes to bigger communities (cities,
municipalities). Beside these experts, an important role is held by the teaching staff, in identifying the
needs and the problem children are dealing with.
Another institution important as a fulcrum and as a resource is the church, but also different NGOs.
Often, these resources from local community level don’t cooperate to identify or resolve a range of
problem the local communities handle with, many NENs becoming or remaining only local curiosities,
a debate subject for some member of the community.
Even if lately, within most of the school from Romania (schools from rural area including), were
established psycho-pedagogical consulting rooms, a lot of NEN’s aspects exceed the abilities of the
teachers working in this field, taking into account the number of schools they manage. At the same
time, teaching staff has a huge role in identifying and addressing to NENs.
Beyond this general and perhaps subjective presentation of current realities, we believe the
representatives of the former institutions can and should involve more into their communities’ life,
to acquire those abilities and competences mentioned before, of identification and even
intervention. It would be very useful if the persons in charge of raising, breeding and forming
children, could and would wish to get those competences remembered before, so that later on they
could signalize those cases to different experts (psycho-pedagogic, psychologist, psychiatrists, social
workers, pediatricians or gynecologists etc). A larger attention, for example, should be paid to
courses for parents, both to the persons who could teach and to parents.
We think beyond the first level, of identifying NEN, the intervention activity implies a proper
specialization to NEN’s expressing. Sometimes, for some domains / fields of intervention, even
preventive activities should be carried out by the qualified staff too, able to offer correct information,
and at the same time to include the features of the domain into the overall image of the society.
Depending on the problems of emerging needs, there is the possibility to intervene throughout
simple solutions, such as: projects and simple activities to promote healthy nutrition, with a double
role of prevention and intervention. These solutions can be put into practice by parents, teaching
staff, NGOs, locally, by school or by community. Another intervention type should be carried out at
national level, by a suitable approaching of the issue by mass-media and the qualified institutions, in
such a way that the public policies could include those identified aspects an possibly successfully
addressed locally – weather we are speaking about social, medical, educational policies.
The lack of resources can be replaced by developing a network of experts, who act in a pro-active
manner, each one in his domain, and also by fundraising for the punctual solving of some emerging
needs or just by promoting solutions and models of good methods already tested. We hope that you,
readers of this toolkit, will create these solutions and pattern, depending on the emerging needs
we’ll encounter.
Questions for the reader: Which persons should be involved in this intervention? How do you manage
an integrated approach, side by side with the persons you work with to address properly to the case?
Which are the necessary resources? Where do I find other options to necessary resources, if they are
missing?
5.4. Intervention models
Till now no methodology of intervention specific to emerging needs was experienced, nevertheless the
persons who work with children, either as experts in education, or psychologists or working at child
protection, have already a range of intervention scenarios for situations in which emerging needs may appear.
Further on, we sugesst a scenario of intervention which is addressing to an emerging need, and this scenario
looks thus:
• a special event concerning some particular behaviours of children is mentioned in the media, either in
a serious manner, or underlining the sensational, in a uncommon manner. Now and then other news
are following, questions addressed to politicians who could have spontaneous reactions, more experts
can be interviewed, etc.
• the issue mass-media draws attention upon is forgotten and other news emerge;
• if other similar situations are identified and the respective behaviours get enormous proportions,
becoming a phenomenon, is possible to witness supported and clear actions, usually realized only if
the phenomenon appears frequently and noticeable, but at that moment things may be too
developed.
One of our main advice is to build a model of rapid analysis including a political mechanism and intervention
mechanism, capable of pointing out new needs and to find the proper answers to their causes. These
mechanisms should assume a certain ‘shape’, local structures interconnected, accessible for other network
and including representatives of different social actors, children and youngsters inclusive. The main task of
these structures will consist in explaining the needs emerged and deciding what should be done next.
Another responsibility should be the developing of a tool, which could detect the needs at an early stage. We
are aware of some screening systems already running within consulting rooms or psycho=-pedagogic cabinets
in schools. Nowadays anywhere in the world there is a great variety of numbers, quantitative data,
measurable indicators or results of some processes with a particular impact on the process of detection and
observing specific elements of the various staged of development of humanity. Any organization that has
interests in social field, looks into analyzing trends, but however analysis focus on general things, not paying
attention to single and sporadic events, and, moreover they can not guarantee they will respond properly to
prevent or to manage an emerging need.
Each objective can be defined and presented to the general public through a single sentence we take a firm
stand: „x% of children are born healthy, but their mothers have HIV virus” or “x% of children have access to
secure playgrounds”. The success of such a strategy will certainly increase community’s involvement in
children’s and youngsters’ development, having as starting point the concrete realities these are living.
42
Nevertheless, the problems of children and young people don’t represent only the point of view of a single
group of parents, teachers or politicians, but of all the segments of society, which in a way or another will have
to build a partnership able to make these response mechanisms to work. At this time, there has already been
made a progress regarding nutrition for children, thus, some politicians, NGOs, mass-media representatives
and other actors like shoe industry have reached a joint agreement according to which skinny girls must not be
promoted anymore, while other groups draw attention upon unhealthy food, leading to obesity. For example,
in Spain and Italy skinny models are not allowed to display fashion clothes (Heckle 2007, Reuters 2007), while
the European Union forbids the ads urging on children to eat sweets (Madelin 2005), by encouraging fruits and
vegetables consumption. Sadly these initiatives are fewer and fewer and they will not be able to reach
concrete results, if there isn’t a joint effort of all the actors involved.
Ideally, there should be a network of adults, family and neighbours inclusive, ready to solve their children’s
problems, to remind them of their real potential and to connect them to real possibilities and opportunities of
development.
Formulating and proposing any model of intervention is as challenging in the context of former intervention
mechanism and under the pressure of a correct action, to child’s interest, as fast as possible and without
gaining from the advantages of some models or intervention methods on large scale whose results could be
estimated and measured in a objective manner.
The intervention of those working or in direct contact with children, persons who are in charge of child’s
protection and cure is essential (parents, educators / schoolmasters / teachers, advisers / scholar
psychologists, family doctors, etc). On the other hand, it is very important the involvement, the open out and
the awareness of decision makers and public opinion makers concerning: constant challenges generated by
the evolution of society and its effects upon children’s life, easing the appearance of frameworks capable of
valorizing individual experiences, the compatibility of various actors’ actions, the flexibility of interventions so
as to child’s interest remains fundamental and children could be part of the process.
Beyond its sensational nature, under which emerging needs draw mass media’s attention, the latter one can
transform into an essential actor within the process of becoming aware and influencing action model’s
acceptance and assimilation. This can ease the process of discovering and understanding of an emerging need.
The model of immediate and individual intervention of the actor involved into child’s life / education – in
this case we are not talking about the intervention as response to a need identified only upon a single child,
but rather about the model in which the driver that is addressing to a need is a person.
The majority of the case-studies we gathered, mirrors such a intervention, generated primary by : the hours
and the resources the involved actor is available for, his direct relationship with the child, subject of the
emerging need and the wish to attain immediate results, that could bring credit to the intervention. Also, the
lack of regular communication between relevant actors is significant or maybe lack of network or mechanism
of sharing and valorizing experiences which might simplify or ease the process, namely to increase the
confidence and the capacity of intervention of each and every actor.
Mechanism:
• a minute analysis of the causes that had generated or supported the appearance of emerging need
(methods: observation, questionnaire, talks / debates with a small group, etc). By detailing these
causes, it is possible to create a detailed and proper plan of measures of intervention, referring in
many situations to activities surpassing individual’s possibilities of action;
• actor’s immediate action (direct contact with children, talks with parents, involvement into
extracurricular activities, organizing support groups, etc.);
• others responsible actors’ involvement or interaction (family doctor, advisor, etc)
Advantages:
• in most of the cases, the immediate action implies some positive effects for children, by stopping the
aggravation of problems and the appearance of behavioural contagiousness phenomenon, specific to
this developmental stage – we avoid the appearance of mass phenomena;
• the social costs for handling the problem are much more reduced unless the intervention would be
delayed or undone.
Barriers (intervening precisely because of the small capacity to implement concrete measures):
• from the view of the necessity of an integrated intervention of various actors, we observe the lack of
functional networks of intervention and support for children. The necessity of relationship is essential
especially when there are aimed long and medium term actions;
• there is no mechanism of supervising and measuring to sustain the value and the efficiency of the
proposed model of intervention;
• interventions often have a punctual and symptomatic nature, as they never act at the level of deep
causes.
The model of intervention through networks and public policies: this model should be correlated with
individual intervention; local signals and researches at national level could be correlated and result in
measures applied in a centralized manner.
In Romania we can introduce a successful model connected to an efficient correlation of public policies with
NGO’s ones, the medical system and a certain type of clients (children at the beginning of this program): the
case of HIV-infected children. Thus, in 90’s, by making appeal to the support of civil society, national and
international institutions, but also under constant and repeated actions of parents, whose children were HIV
positive, a range of legislative acts has been adopted, destined to ease their access to free medication, and
also to beneficiate from material help on behalf of the state etc. Thanks to foundations like Romanian Angel
Appeal, in 98 - 99’s the efforts to create a network of a medical-psycho-social multidisciplinary assistance,
intensified and the network was later took over by public authorities. Although the prior model had a short
presentation, it could be a starting point and at the same time an inspiration source to start and afterwards
expand a successful and viable model that has fulfilled an acute need (at that time) of HIV infected children
and their families.
If politicians and decision makers working in education field, mental health or child protection involved in the
process of anticipating the community’s or country’s evolution, the chances that the possible intervention
could have success, would be on the rise. Often, experts’ views are very different from beliefs or perspectives
of those who make decisions connected to educational policies or policies that may have influence upon
children’s harmonious development. Because of this, it’s important that we identify the common aspects of all
the involved parties’ interests in such a way that the emerging perspective upon services in child’s interest
would have an integrative and coherent nature.
Even if the change of perspective regarding the approach of aspects relating to child’s raising and
development require time, effort, involvement, an active behaviour, we stoutly believe it can ensure the
access to a range of structures able to assure, in a period of time, the possibility of a quick and professional
reaction in such a way that the frequency and the intensity of atypical phenomena involving children, have a
dramatic diminution.
Questions for the reader: Are we capable of becoming more actively involved and volunteer to investigate and
handle NENs? How? When? Can be carried out in Romania efficient networks of experts who would work in
child’s interest? If the answer is „yes”, are we ready to become part of these networks? Can we influence even
a sequel of political decisions?
44
5.5. Intervention methods and possible plans of action
We are going to present some methods and possible plans of action for the case-studies in the
appendix of the toolkit. These are adapted to the context, to the specific emerging needs, the
number of children involved etc. They can be classified according to:
- the personal level (ex. a higher self-esteem)
- the family level (ex. special consulting from the doctor, school adviser)
- the school level / students’ collective (ex. psycho-pedagogical consulting, involving in school
activities / educational projects such as competitions)
- the local community level (ex. involvement of trade companies)
Between the general character of this toolkit and the concrete nature of the case-studies, we would
like to present an opinion about the measures that can be taken at general level for the broad mass
of children, in such a way that we prevent the appearance or the spreading of emerging needs.
We’re going to present three ideas which may help in preventing and acting upon some of the
existing or possible emerging needs in the present society. The actions adequate to the needs, can be
put into practice by any person involved in child’s life and in this aspect, there are already parents,
NGOs and teaching staff who have taken measures in this matter.
 Adults’ support
Lately it was discovered that children resolve more and more of their problems on their own or with
their friend’s help, without asking for adults’ advice – the traditional mediators (especially parents).
At the same time, there are marketing policies addressing directly to children, which implant wishes
sent further to parents. And last, but not least, changes are above parents’ comprehension, they
have less and less time to spend with their children, and because of that on many occasions they are
poorly trained to offer the necessary support to their children.
Hence, one of the efficient measures would be offering to the child a mature support. Is essential for
the child to interact and to have easy access to a stable and predictable adult, to whom he shares
his feelings and ideas. Normally, this person should be one of the parents.
 Involvement in the community
We are blaming children for not involving and for not being responsible; today’s children lose
confidence in the method of accomplishment through learning and are more and more interested in
ways of spending their time having fun and experiencing new things. We find them immature and
too young to make decisions. Many times, they create an alternative reality and they are less and less
connected to the real world. To what extent we try to make them responsible, to train them for the
real life, to offer them challenges to encourage their development?
It’s important to give social responsibilities to children; tasks they can fulfill, which develop their
abilities and for whom they would be considered responsible. Their gradual involvement within the
community by taking part to different projects and by having a say about decisions as far as they are
concerned, gives them stability and an anchor to be close to reality.
 The relation with the environment
Virtual space has a higher and higher importance in children’s life. School offers, most of the times,
unidirectional education, from the teacher to the student, and gives in percentages little time for the
child to experience by his own. Children are finding more and more difficult distinguish between
types of animals and plants, they are scared to leave the house (the “hikikomori” current, Japan). Or,
when they get out, they participate in extracurricular courses (they study a foreign language or they
learn how to play an instrument). We often pretend they learn about life, but they are living between
four walls. We receive an alarming signal from the increase of the number of children who grow in
rural areas and the overall change of our society in one of “consumers”: how do we show to our
children what life means? What makes us think they are going to become responsible adults?
Is important the children develop a habitual and intense relation with the nature: trees, water, earth,
animals, seasons, natural phenomenon. Nature itself is a school!
All these three action directions, together, can prevent many of emerging needs, just for the simple
fact we are offering to our children the knowledge, the abilities to mold their character, to make
fundamental decisions and not under the influence of environment, medium and mass-media.
46
Chapter 6: Conclusions 47
Chapter 6: Conclusions
What is Romania’s position on this path of developing an integrated and efficient intervention mechanism?
Can we take upon ourselves the task of supervising if the mechanism is functional? Can we determine those
in charge of child’s development to always try seeing beyond the immediate problem?
This is an exploratory toolkit, the first document of this kind ever created in Romania and worldwide. We can
hope it will gradually enrich with concrete results and long-term intervention planes, becoming a real
handbook to guide experts in investigating and addressing to NENs. We wanted to give a general approach to
this toolkit, in order that experts could have the freedom to observe, identify NENs and find specific solution
to cases they had identified.
We also tried not to offer too detailed examples, for the same reason, not to impose our opinions. We hope
we have succeed in making up a balance and thus to maintain a general nature, that would have not lead to
fixed ideas or „model” solutions.
Further on, we’ll reproduce two messages coming from the authors of NEN concept, from who we received an
excellent support and guidance and whose thoughts loom in this toolkit’s pages, after that we invite you to
read a collection of case-studies, the first steps towards identifying and addressing to NENs locally.
Thus, here are the messages of Nico van Oudenhoven and Rekha Wazir, the authors of the concept „emerging
needs”:
“Newly emerging needs of boys and girls: What now?

The beauty of the Leonardo da Vinci Multilateral Project – Innovation Transfer
“A critical juncture has been reached. We all know by now that our children face many challenges, threats,
opportunities and risks that are new for them and for which we don’t have much relevant experience to guide
us, let alone them, in dealing with these newly emerging needs. We, in this case, are the adults, in whatever
capacity we find ourselves: as teachers, as parents, educators, policy makers, but also as shopkeepers, as
office workers, farmers, or just as people who have lived some twenty years or more. Just by being adults, we
have the innate inclination as well as the moral obligation to be concerned about the wellbeing and healthy
development of the generation after us.
If it is possible at all, the intensity and range of the unknown will only accelerate. More than ever before, the
future is uncharted territory for these young people. During the last eighteen months, we got involved in
intensive discussions, sharing of emotions, policy and intervention ideas, experiences, networks and examples
of relevant practices took place in an effort to come to grips with this problematic. In this case, we were a
numbered group of people from the Netherlands, Romania and the Slovak Republic, coming from NGOs, CBOs,
national and local government, research institutions, the media and others who for some reason are
concerned about how our young people could best be supported in growing up.
The concept, or rather the quite vague and globally defined notion of “newly emerging needs”, has been
further explored and found additional relevance and meaning in the various local contexts of the participating
countries and possibly beyond. We have now a ‘toolkit’ which should be helpful in speeding identifying those
48
NENs, as we call them, and in establishing rapid reaction mechanisms on how to respond meaningfully to
them. In this way, this specific Leonardo Project has been a success and a beautiful one to boot.
It is obvious that we have reached a critical juncture. We have more or less achieved what we hoped to
accomplish when we set out on this venture and, pragmatically speaking, we could leave it at this and turn our
attention to other matters. But somehow, we feel that we should at least make a few more steps, lest the
movement we’ve created to fizzle out. In particular, we would like to make two recommendations, one
regarding possible research, the other on how we could create the kind of environment which would prepare
young boys and girls to deal in a more wholesome manner with NENs.
Further research?
In the original ‘mother text’ of Newly Emerging Needs of Children, six ‘domains’ of needs were listed; these
were the:
• Changing Concept of Childhood
• The Uneven Rise of Girl Power
• Bypassing of Traditional Mediators
• Fusion of Reality, Virtuality and the Impossible
• Accessing New Terrains, and
• Exposure to Global Lifestyles
We still feel that they are still relevant, but at the same time that so many newly developments have seen the
light after they were first mentioned. So, we are suggesting deepening the researches on this domain again, as
well as on the three domains underlined by the Romanian exploratory study:
- Real vs. Virtual
- Everything precocious
- Contemporary models and values
We are sincerely hoping that this ‘deepening’ will be carried out not only by professional researchers, but also
by a ‘hybrid’ selection of people: educators, parents, children, media specialists, community leaders.
An environment for boys and girls
During this project it became obvious that each newly emerging need would require its own specific
understanding and response. As there are hundreds and hundreds of these new needs, this seems almost an
impossible task. At the same time, the various discussions among ourselves and with parents and children, as
well as sorties in the literature, make us increasingly believe that many of the NENs could be answered to in
ways that make it easier for children to absorb the shocks of the newness and deal with them in a balanced
manner.
We believe that:
• It is important for children that they be given social responsibilities; tasks that fall within and
challenge their capabilities and for which they can be held accountable.
• It is essential that boys and girls have easy access to and relate well to an interested, solid,
predictable and stable adult, which whom they can share emotions and thoughts. Normally, this
person should be a parent, but could also be a neighbor, a teacher or a shopkeeper.
• It is crucial that children entertain a regular and intensive relationship with nature: trees, water,
sand, land, animals, but not the hamster in the bedroom or the kitten in the kitchen.
As it was said before, we ‘believe’ that these three terms will help children in weathering the storms which
NENs can create, avoiding the most damaging risks and availing themselves of the most promising
opportunities. The more we reflect on them, however, the more our believe moves into becoming a
conviction.
Thus, what now?
We can only hope that some of us at least, will carry the torch further and engage in the kind of research spelt
out above and help to create the kind of environment that we think our children should grow up in. Perhaps,
looking back at the work so far accomplished, we should say that we are confident that this will indeed
happen.”
Nico van Oudenhoven
“It gives me great pleasure to be speaking to you at the end of the Leonardo project on Newly Emerging Needs
of Children – a collaborative effort between the Children of Slovakia Foundation; and partners Civil Society
Development Foundation in Romania and my organization, International Child Development Initiatives in the
Netherlands.
Let me give you a bit of background about Newly Emerging Needs – or NENs as I will call them from now.
When we first started working on NENs in ICDI, it was a new and daring concept. A colleague at UNICEF, New
York said that it was like the ‘Star Trek’ of children’s issues. I remember we had to work hard to get people to
pay attention to NENs, leave alone to convince them about the relevance of NENs for research, policy and
action. We were regularly asked questions like: do new needs really exist? What is ‘new’ about them?
Shouldn’t we solve ‘old’ needs first? So, it is with some satisfaction that I stand here and speak to a group of
people who have been working intensively on this issue for the last two years. I would like to congratulate all
of you for taking what might have seemed like a futuristic concept and giving it concrete shape and reality in
the context of Slovakia.
So, what are newly emerging needs of children? Very simply, they are a group of events, threats, problems
and opportunities that are relevant to children’s overall development. They are ‘new’ in the sense that they
did not exist before in a particular society, or if they did, then there is a rapid increase or decrease in their
incidence or significance. In general, there are no well-developed mechanisms in society to signal them. There
is poor understanding of what causes them and of their impact on the overall development of children. Finally,
and importantly, there are no policy responses to them.
The most common causes of NENs include the challenges posed by globalization, the power of media and
information technology, demographic changes, environmental pollution, medical interventions, consume
culture and new modes of social communication. These processes, individually or combined, create a variety
50
of different situations, each of which may pose a unique challenge to children, create specific new needs and
demand special attention. They have profoundly shifted the way children interact with each other; they have
changed notions of self, group and belonging and created confusing, often exciting and sometimes dangerous
choices and decisions for children. Perhaps at no other time has the gap between generations been greater,
which means that children are even more on their own to negotiate these new spaces.
During our research we have observed that NENs affect boys and girls, rich and poor, urban and rural and
children in developed, developing and transition societies – although in different ways. Also, NENs are
occurring at earlier ages, they are more frequent and more intense. For example: children are sexually active
at earlier ages, they indulge in substance abuse, crime, violence, gambling at earlier ages and girls are
beginning to indulge in behaviours that were previously associated with boys. Also, NENs are being reported
far more frequently than when we first started working on them. In fact, you can hardly pick up a newspaper
or magazine or watch the news without coming across some example of NENs.
Having said this, it is important to locate NENs within the overall framework of children’s needs. Attention to
new needs does not imply that the ‘old’ needs, linked to poverty and underdevelopment, are no longer
important. Many children still live in poverty; child malnutrition remains a problem; a large number do not go
to school and countless others work from an early age. In large parts of the world, child abuse remains a
significant, but largely hidden, issue, as does childhood disability. Clearly, these issues are profoundly
important for children’s development and they rightly dominate the research and policy agenda. But the
changes that are sweeping the world are bringing in new challenges that cannot be ignored. Researchers,
policy makers and practitioners have to be flexible, forward looking and increasingly prepared for new and
unfamiliar situations that are not yet clearly formed but have the potential to become major threats for
children in the foreseeable future. Therefore, it is equally important to be able to look forward and assess the
new areas in which children are facing risks. In fact, a holistic approach to children’s wellbeing and
development requires us to pay attention to both old and new needs – continuously and simultaneously. We
have seen that things are moving so fast when children are involved, that we can no longer afford to solve old
needs first and then turn our attention to new needs.
In-depth research on countries and selected themes is a priority for improving our understanding of the
causes and implications of NENs. But research is not enough. It needs to be followed up with policies and
action. What we need are mechanisms that are capable of rapidly signaling and assessing new needs and
developing policy options and responses. The Leonardo project has enabled us to take the concept of NENs a
step further in this direction. We have been able to conduct in-depth research on NENs in Slovakia and
Romania and follow this up with training a core group of trainers who have in turn trained key individuals at
the local level. In this way, in both countries, we now have a network of individuals from a range of inter-
linked agencies who have internalized the concept of NENs and will be able to incorporate it in their daily work
with children. We expect this inter-connected network to form the framework for mutual learning,
information sharing and joint action on NENs in the future.
Another lasting legacy of the Leonardo project is the Intervention Toolkit, which will be a very practical, hands-
on guide for anyone wishing to conduct research on identifying and prioritizing NENs as well as developing
policies and interventions for dealing with them. This toolkit is written in a way that makes it accessible to a
range of professionals working with children. The relationship between theory and research on one side and
policy and practice on the other is fundamentally reflexive and interactive. And so it has been in our NEN
project. It has allowed us to convert innovative concepts into practical research questions that have been
tested at the field level. And, research from the field has been fed creatively into the framing of policy and
conceptualization of concrete interventions. Certainly, my colleagues and I at ICDI have learnt new lessons and
gained fresh insights from your work and from the challenges you have faced in operationalizing the NEN
project and we want to thank you for being our teachers in this regard.
Our chief challenge now is to go beyond the rhetoric and ensure that the discussion on children’s needs
remains relevant, ongoing and forward looking. In doing so I want to draw attention to what I think is an
important dimension. It is vital that we do not slip into a framework where NENs are perceived exclusively
with a negative sign – as threats, risks and dangers. Many of the new developments confronting us are double
edged, with risks and dangers on one side and opportunities for growth on the other. As professionals working
with children, it is our responsibility not to trap ourselves in the negativities, but to identify the potential that
change carries for enhancing the intellectual, emotional and developmental capabilities of children. I would
like to end by wishing you all good luck in this endeavor. I am sure the NEN project will continue long after the
Leonardo project ends!
Rekha Wazir
52
APPENDIX 53
APPENDIX
7.1. Case study model
1. TYPE
There could be taken into consideration two types of cases, such as:
- when we take into account a case affecting a large and very large number of people
- when we take into account individual cases or affecting only a few persons
2. DESCRIBING THE PROBLEM
a) Typology
It refers to the field where that problem arises: educational, social, internet and
technological, medical services etc.
b) Actors involved
The protagonist should be emphasized, and a minute stress should be lay on the persons
involved, directly or indirectly.
c) The context of their appearance.
When and which were the reasons of the issue.
d) Describing the situation
What has happened / is happening?
e) Which are the reasons that make us consider it an emerging need?
f) Possible risks
It refers to possible consequences / risks that can appear if this problem isn’t resolved.
3. INTERVENTION
a. What has been done for this problem to be solved?
b. Which are the actions recommended to resolve the emerging issue?
4. RESULTS
54
7.2. Debate with students for identifying NENs
TARGET GROUP: Children and young people V-XI forms

For children from I-IV forms, the pattern must be adjusted with methods / specific discussions (based
upon their hobbies / problems).
For young people over 17 years (XII term – college) questions must focus on: “What novel features
has the younger generation compared to yours? Which changes did you notice?”/
OBJECTIVE:
Putting down a list containing possible current emerging needs of children (challenges and problems
children are dealing with at the moment, fields of interest, visible differences between them and
older generations).
DEVELOPMENT:
I. 5 minutes – Introduction – Presentation of the project / NENs concept, how their
contribution will be useful within this project (in a manner adequate to their age)
10 minutes (optionally) – A story from the future (a hypothetical situation on how the
world will be looking in the future, like the beginning of the movie Idiocracy) / other story
with a meaning, depending on the age of participants, even by reading a piece of article
from a newspaper, something touching for children.
II. 10 minutes – The participants receive three post-its of different colours, and they are
asked to write the next answers:
Red: Which are the biggest problems they deal with / what they need from their parents,
school, society, media etc.
Green: Which things they find disturbing at their friends’ or other children’s behaviours.
Yellow: Which are their wishes for the future / personal aspirations?
10 minutes – Some of the post-its are read. They are discussed with the students.
III. 15 minutes – The participants are divided into groups of 4-5 and they debate upon the
main issues that divide the two generations. There are highlighted especially the negative
features and changes.
10 Minutes - Each group will state their position in front of the class. It would be better to
be given also concrete examples of behaviours and events.
MATERIALS NEEDED: Post-its
ADVICE FOR IMPLEMENTATION

The observer helps children / young people to express their ideas, by creating a positive environment
where all the ideas get accepted, subsequently other needful information for the research will be
selected. The debate and the exchange of views are encouraged, also the creative solutions. There
are no correct or wrong answers.
APPENDIX 55
7.3. Case-study: Obesity tendency and unhealthy nutrition of young students –

intervention plan
Professor Gheorghina Matache, Primary School, Nr. 2 “I.H.Radulescu”, Urziceni, Ialomita
PRESENTING THE PROBLEM

Lately, a higher increase of fat children has been noticed, with clear tendencies of obesity. Daily temptations,
encountered at every turn – as for nutrition – have a negative impact on their growth and development. An
empiric study, carried out among young students, has showed that in every class there are at least two obese
children and another 2-3 children with tendencies of obesity, taking into account that their families don’t have
weight problems.
FIELDS WHERE THIS PROBLEM APPEAR

Medical, social, educational.
ACTORS INVOLVED
Children, parents, grandparents, teaching staff and school advisers, medical staff.
POSSIBLE CAUSES OF OBESITY

a) one of the first causes, could be heredity;
b) parents obliged their children to eat amount quantities of food, to be sure the child satisfies his
appetite;
c) another cause emerges: parents, but also children, are not informed about the principles of a
healthy nutrition;
d) lack of time of parents / grandparents, they give to children money in order to buy whatever they
want and to not ask for attention or time from their parents; in a few words, parents buy their
personal peace of mind;
e) consumption of refined sweets;
f) consumption of fast-food products;
g) lack of exercises, sport, playing out-door, and a lot of time in front of the PC;
h) poverty leading to improper nutrition.
CONTEXT
People live in a hurry.
Time elapses rapidly.
Everything changes.
Population’s degree of poverty is on the rise.
A lot of people tend to be in fashion.
More and more food-stuffs appear, in very nice commercials and packages.
No one has enough time to make deep inquiries.
That is why, it’s not easy for a child to cope with daily temptations, appearing at every step, especially when
he lives in a medium less propitious for information and for maintaining special conditions for a good physical
and psychic development. To acquire this, there are needed information, support, exercise and practice.
WHICH ARE THE REASONS WE CONSIDER A PROBLEM EMERGING?

The situations described, are placed in NENs category because they represent a problem appeared quite
recently, in the context sketched before, as responses at situations of social and domestic vulnerability. In
addition, it may be possible that this problem would have appeared since child’s birth, without parents being,
and this situation to lead to obesity and other connected illnesses.
56
POSSIBLE RISKS
 a large number of obese children;
 rise of the number of children affected by illnesses connected to obesity (diabetes, heart diseases
etc.);
 children adapting with difficulty at social life and with little stress resistance;
 children taking low marks at school;
 anxious parents.
INTERVENTION PLAN
Care for health should have an important place in every individual’s activity, and people have the duty to
protect themselves from harmful elements appeared on the way.
Health education and sport should become more and more important in everyone’s life, both child and adult
and determine them to have a healthy lifestyle.
Therefore, must be imposed some intervention measures, such as:

 at school:
o health education classes;
o sport classes;
The sport teacher has to offer exercise with a low degree of difficulty, in order that
children don’t give up, he must cheer him up and laud him;
o lessons with school’s doctor and his assistant to teach children the rules of a healthy
nutrition;
o advising sessions for both parents and children;
o activities – game to establish some “healthy” menus;
o school competition concerning healthy nutrition, poster exhibition, a collection of
healthy food recipes;
o sportive competitions, trips;
 in the consulting room:
o medical examinations on a regular basis to check up the overall health and weight;
o giving brochures to inform parents and children;
o providing a special menu to persons which have weight problem;
o the supervision of the medical assistant;
o visits to the nutritionist;
 for parents:
o specialized consulting given by the doctor, or by school adviser;
o joint activities between parent and children: walks, playing out-door, making
homework, cooking;
o supporting the child.
EXPECTED RESULTS
- children accustomed to the most important hygiene rules, they are aware of the
importance of health, hygiene and sport in their life;
- informed parents;
- poster and drawing exhibition across the school’s halls, consulting rooms, sportive
clubs, cultural centers from the city;
- teaching staff involved in organizing community activities;
- a large number of visitors (parents, brothers/sisters, teachers);
- a smaller number of persons with obesity problems.
FINAL RESULTS
- a bigger preoccupation for reading the labels among parents and children;
- pay attention to daily menus;
- a large number of people visiting the exhibition;
APPENDIX 57
- children’s enrolment as members of sportive clubs;

- having regard to personal hygiene rules
o Example of activity carried out in the school and at county level
In order to have a larger number of children informed about the noxious role of unhealthy food,
we organized within our school a competition “Healthy and hale!” the VI’s edition already.
The competition includes a speed test, a healthy cross and making posters to urge people to eat
in a 7.4. Case-study:
health manner. TheUnhealthy nutrition
participants – intervention
are students planIV grade, and the younger ones
from III and
only send the drawing. After that, an exhibition is organized with all the papers received from
the county. The contest is very attractive, so the children are seriously involved into. They
receive awards such as diplomas, products of personal hygiene and healthy food (fruits).
7.4. Case-study: Unhealthy nutrition – intervention plan

Daniela Ungureanu, Perisoru Kindergarten, Calarasi
TYPE
The presented case is a general one. This new emerging need affects my group of children, but also other
children from other kindergartens, whatever their medium is.
DESCRIBING THE PROBLEM
- The typology of the problem:

My study covers the medical field and also some aspects of educational domain. I’m referring to this because
certain patterns of action have been developing since childhood and these children will bring up in the future
other generations and so on.
- Actors involved :
• children, parent, educators, teachers, instructors, doctors, school advisers, psychologists ;
• children between 3-7 years old, from Perisoru place (county of Calarasi);
• the parent of the children from my group;
• the kindergarten with a normal schedule Perisoru, the county of Calarasi.
- The context of appearance

I have been in charge of this group for two years. When they passed to the middle group, I have noticed they
were bringing a lot of unhealthy food, especially for a child. They ate very seldom a sandwich. At kindergarten,
children take the collation between 8.30-9.00, so it is the first meal for most of them, and we all know how
important breakfast is. This meal has to be healthy, rich in calories, in order to energize him for the rest of the
day, until next meal around 13.00
I think that this problem has appeared more than anything because of the parents. Until three years old, the
only contact of the child is with his family. Here they learn to eat healthy or not. Unfortunately, I noticed that
my children were coming with chips and sweets and a fey with sandwiches. Either parents didn’t have enough
time to prepare their packets, or they didn’t want anything but sweets, the reasons were various.
- Describing the situation

I noticed NENs’ presence at my children, I have discussed the issue with my colleagues and we came to the
conclusion that it isn’t the only case.
58
About 54% of the Romanian children consume products with too many calories and deal with serious
nutritional problems, such as lack of calcium, vitamin D and iron. The statistical data were gathered within
the MAMM study (Measuring the Contribution of Macro and Micro Nutrients at pre-scholar children), initiated
and sponsored by Danone Romania. The study was carried out under the guiding of Dr. Andrei Achimas, Pro-
Rector UMF “Iuliu Hateganu” from Cluj-Napoca and had as a primary objective the recording of the integral
nutritional contribution, at Romanian children. The study had the support of Romanian Society of Nutrition,
Romanian Society of Pediatrics and the Institute for Child’s and Mother’s Protection “Dr. Alfred Rusescu”.
According to the study, most of children between 3-6 years old have nutritional deficiencies, which may be
injurious for their health on the long term. About 93% of children have nutritional deficiencies regarding the
level of calcium, 99.7% (almost all the cases studied) of children are suffering from lack of vitamin D and as an
estimation 40% of children have a low level of iron. The daily prescribed dose is of 800 mg/day and 200 UI of
vitamin D. Vitamin D is essential for the consolidation of calcium in the organism. The child’s skeleton renews
in proportion of almost 100% every year, as compared to the adult’s with only 10% per year. If during this
process of renewal of human’s skeleton, the level of calcium is not on the rise, repercussions are likely to
appear. Moreover, a low level of iron may cause the appearance of iron induced anaemia at children.
Nutritionists and pediatricians prescribe a daily consume of more rations from the main groups of aliments.
According to the study, less than 20% of children eat fruits and vegetables on a daily basis, and only 27% of
them drink milk every day. Also, integral cereals are eaten daily by 12% of children, in the meanwhile sausages
are eaten by 23% of them. Dr. Adrian Georgescu, head manager of the Institute for Mother’s and Child’s
Protection, underlines the importance of consuming dairy produce and disproves the rumours that say that
milk could have negative effects upon child’s organism.
According to MAMM study’s results, 54% of children exceed the daily nutritional ration by 1800 calories, which
explains that obesity is on the rise. Children eat products rich in calories, but nutritionally poor.
- Which are the reasons that make us think that we are dealing with an emerging
need?
The described phenomenon is included in NENs because represents a state that if lasts for a long time, could
damage to the health and to the behavior or the child, both at kindergarten/school, and also outside.
- Possible risks
a) the medical level – nutritionists consider this nutrition style can determine the appearance of obesity in
children, even of diabetes type II, digestive disturbances and many other medical problems;
b) the socio-educational level – it came out that this nutritional style affects the academic results of the child,
and those are more restless, stubborn if they eat such kind of products.
INTERVENTION
 What has been done for solving the problem?
We have organized meetings with parents, whom we spoke about the importance of a healthy nutrition for
their children’s harmonious development, I have applied the method of my own example with children (I’ve
taken a sandwich or a fruit).
We have planned the project with the theme Let’s eat healthy, for four weeks:
 “I know how to eat healthy”
 “I love the fruits”
 “For me vitamins, from fresh vegetables”
 We say NO to fast-foods, chips and too many sweets”
APPENDIX 59
 Which are the actions suggested for such a problem?
As I will be the teacher of this group next year too, I intend to carry on the next activities, to acquire a better
result in the end:
• informing the parents regarding this issue within various programs;
• school advisers, psychologists, social workers working at the city hall, should attend meetings and
debate these problems;
• partnership kindergarten - school: exchange of views, opinions between pre-schoolers and students
within different meetings, debates with teachers and school masters;
• partnership within the health center from the locality – meeting with family doctor and medical
assistants;
• the International Day of Healthy Nutrition is going to be celebrated in kindergarten through
competitions, poems, games and instructive-educative activities, all bound by this present theme.
RESULTS
Until this moment we have achieved some results, but in my opinion, we have a long road before us and we
must highlight this issue, in order that children and their parents understand the importance of a correct
nutrition.
As a result of the actions mentioned before, I’m hoping for better results in the future. These changes will not
be extreme, nor will succeed from day to day. We have to show a lot of patience and understanding against
parents, because they are the key for the problem resolves in a favourable way.
7.5. Case Study: Unhealthy food habits

Prof. Ana-Maria Zăloagă, Technical College „Miron Costin”, Roman, Neamţ County
The twenty first century is defined by a continuous dynamics, generated by the ever varying needs of the
complex world we live in. Often situated in a conflictual state and, of course, in a globalization process, this
world records increasing trends of evolution which also attracts a series of phenomena which affects
children, youth and grown-ups, even in Romania.
Adapting to the new facts of reality is imperative; it is accelerated and imposed in the educational system also,
which represents a maximum concern factor that ensures the education and training of citizens, together with
elements concerning informal and non formal education. In other words, the Romanian school is subject to
changes, but these modifications are not necessary just for getting through to another political regime after
1989 or because of the adherence to the EU, but mostly for concrete aspects, for the immediate actualities of
the Romanian life. Parents working abroad, the increased rate of divorce, the great number of single-parent
families, a growing rate of child abandon, the multiplication of communication means and getting access to
information of any kind etc. consists in a series of new problems that citizens, young or old, have to deal with.
Through its trainers, the Romanian school must prove a real ability of foresight and proactive activity.
Teachers play a multiple role, representing for the student not just a guide in the mystic world of science or
art, but also a mediator between each pupil and the others around, counselor, advisor, friend, support etc. It is
necessary that the teachers are being trained in this way, because they have to be aware that the scholars
concerns are not related just to age, but also to the actual family position, to the present social framework and
a lot of new factors.
60
More and more often we hear or read about the increasing rate of violence among youth, about the use of
forbidden substances (alcohol, cigarettes, drugs), about the alarming number of sick children, about their
suicidal attempts, and the list of “problems” could go on.
Here is an activity implemented with the students from the school year 2009-2010 at the Technical School
“Miron Costin” from the city of Roman (Neamt county). The activity aimed at diminishing one of the
“problems” that can add to the list above mentioned: the change of unhealthy food habits of children, given
that this is often the main reason for obesity or for another physical problems of children. Generous entitled
“Food for the body, mind and soul”, this project was conducted within the Global Education Week (under the
motto “Food for all”) and aimed raising the awareness of students concerning one of the most serious
problems of the contemporary world: food.
Among the specific objectives of this activity, we include:

 forming of a responsible attitude towards food issues;
 awareness of the importance of food sources;
 management of food as a source of physical health;
 proposing solutions to improve the existing food resources, etc.
Certainly, the project has achieved other derivative goals, such as:
• teamwork skills development;
• improving communication skills of students;
• building up team spirit for the participant students;
• developing the skills to use mass media;
• training skills of analysis and synthesis of existing information, etc.
The activity has involved a large number of students, both secondary schools and from high school, which
raised the question of food (physical and spiritual) from multiple perspectives.
Thus, the final products made by students, the following were highlighted:
 the need of an ecological and highly responsible behaviour in preserving food sources provided by
the planet (through PowerPoint presentations Our Every Day Food and Earth, Food for the body
made by ninth-graders, leaflets, banners with the message SOS);
 the importance of a healthy diet, according to the specific area where we live (11th grade: they
made portfolios, videos, photos with traditional dishes from several nations with religious and
magical significance, assigned to them, the harvesting process , production of traditional food
ingredients, etc.);
 the quality of daily food and the dangers of an unhealthy diet - the sixth-graders and tenth-
graders, have developed portfolios where dishes and plates were put up in slogans: Good! and
Not so good!. Students have prepared, following the documentation, an analysis of caloric and
nutrient content of most often cooked food. Thus, highlighting the dangers of unhealthy food (fast
food, junk foods, fried foods, excess of food) was matched by offering healthy alternatives, as the
children gathered an impressive number of food recipes classified as being beneficial, healthy etc.
 The importance of models we choose in our lives (by providing some educational videos about the
lives of unfortunate children who have followed bad examples around them, ending up consuming
alcohol, drugs);
 cultivate healthy values at an early age - the eleventh graders sketched the play “Food for the
soul”, symbolic characters: Respect, Justice, Truth, Honesty, Shame, Honor, impersonated by the
children; they proposed and they managed to raise awareness in the public, drawing attention to
the primacy of moral values over the material ones;
 proper management of technical and information resources - twelfth grade students: have made
the PowerPoint presentation Food for the mind, posters and leaflets which showed the effects of
prolonged exposure to the TV / computer, of the incorrect or exaggerated usage of the phone,
APPENDIX 61
legal consequences of the use of the Internet without copyright compliance, etc.;
Students participating in the activity have received counseling from the coordinating teachers, but took their
own decisions regarding the selection of informative material. Thus, as long as the warning message about the
food came from students and also students were the target group, the reception was much easier naturally,
the subject of discussion was not imposed and rose the interest of most participants.
It was encouraging that participating students have chosen to present their colleagues the disadvantages of
unhealthy feeding behavior (and not only!), explaining and arguing scientifically high caloric food or the
content of harmful substances in some foods preferred by most children. Participants wanted to draw a
warning on the importance of food and on the fact that even the younger ones have to be aware of it.
The direct beneficiaries of this activity were the participant students, but indirectly, we estimate that the
project had an impact among the parents of the students involved, among school teachers, other students of
the school or other schools etc.
Through such extracurricular activities we can help prevent or diminish (solve) some problems of children,
parents, of the society we live in, whether it comes to feeding problems, communication malfunction or
violence, social behavior and others etc. Of course, the range of these activities can vary depending on the
specific area where the school is, the local context, the real needs of the target group.
It is important that each factor that contributes to the formation of young people (hence the school) adopts a
pro-active approach to prevent the emergence of major problems, to answer the emerging needs of children,
and this can be achieved through extracurricular activities which show a high degree of attractiveness and
involve a larger number of students than school activities.
7.6. Case Study: emotionally abused child

Emilia Dima, National College “Ștefan Velovan” Craiova, Dolj County
PROJECT MOTIVATION
More and more children are abused physically, psychologically or sexually by people they trust or who should
protect them. Every year the number of child abuse is increasing. The majority of reported abuse cases is
related to physical molestation and emotional abuse, followed by other forms of abuse. Most children who
are reclaiming such cases are male. The most commonly reported environment where abuses occurred,
according to recorded calls, is the family, followed by school, extended family, public space, the orphanage
and the family type houses. Statistics show that, depending on the criteria of the caller age category, 47% of
them were children.
Emotional or psychological abuse involves any verbal or nonverbal behaviour that produces a negative impact
on a person's emotions. In emotional abuse, a person seeks to undermine another person's personality and
the way of achievement extends from criticism, insults that give rise to feelings of inferiority, to manipulation.
The effects of emotional abuse are directly connected to the relationship between the victim and the
perpetrator. The closer the relationship is, even more devastating the effects are. Also, the intensity,
frequency and duration increase the effects of abuse on the psyche of children. The negative message of the
emotional abuse causes the ego to self destruct by destroying the emotional development of a positive self
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sense. Emotional abuse of children is defined as "constant negative messages". Even a single message of
rejection can cause long term adverse effects.
Serious effects of emotional abuse may be even psychological, in contradiction to what was previously
believed. Studies done on severely abused and abandoned children in Romania have revealed lesions in
certain parts of the brain. The repeated trauma has increased release of stress hormones which attacks and
destroys sensitive brain tissue of newly formed neurons. Areas of their brain responsible for emotion
management were 20% to 30% smaller than other children of the same age. It is logical to conclude that such
damage may result in any child suffering from abuse or abandonment. (Dr. Alice Miller - Childhood Trauma-
presented as a lecture to the YWHA, New York City, 1998).
Physical effects: speech problems, physical developmental delay, facial tics, messy feeding, drug
abuse, self-mutilation (fire, knives), suicidal intent, total suicide.
Behavioral effects: irritability, sleep disturbances, inability to believe in others, depression, age-
inappropriate behavior, deep sadness, behavior disturbance (sucking, bumping, rocking), assault,
theft, deception, self-mutilation, prostitution, engaging in risk behaviors, suicide intent, complete
suicide.
Emotional Effects: inability to control emotions and questioning religious issues.
Researchers have shown signs of emotional abuse that differ not only by age but in many cases by gender.
Contrasts are partly made because of the male and female parenting styles. Boys are taught that crying is not
masculine and showing anger or other physical behaviors are acceptable and girls are taught that anger is not
appropriate and that showing emotions is something feminine.
Given that children are a vulnerable category of society, being in adult care, more or less responsible for their
own behavior and regarding studies made on abused children, the alarming statistics and devastating effects
that emotional abuse has on the quality of life and health of children, it is necessary to have a draft guidance
for this category of persons, namely the emotionally abused children.
DEFINING THE PROBLEM
Abuse is any behavior that is intended to control and subjugate another human being through the use of fear,
humiliation, intimidation, guilt, coercion, manipulation, etc.
Emotional abuse is insulting the victim without the use of the elements of physical or sexual abuse,
manifested by emotional and psychological violence. Emotional abuse includes constant behaviour regarding
one person, behaviour that becomes a dominant element in the everyday life of the victim. Emotional abuse
can include any from verbal abuse and constant criticism to more subtle tactics such as repeated disapproval
or even refusing to be liked.
PROBLEM DESCRIPTION
Because emotional abuse attacks the child psyche and self development, victims of emotional abuse may
become convinced that they are unworthy to receive love and affection; they can believe that nobody could
ever want them. They remain in the abusive situation because they think they have nowhere else to go. Their
latest fear is that of being alone. Some forms of abuse are also the following:
1. Rejection - Parents who do not have the ability to relate with their children often show rejection
behavior. They transmit to their children the following message, in a variety of forms: "you're not
wanted". They can also tell them that they are unworthy. Children can become "the scapegoat" of the
family, being blamed for all the family problems.
APPENDIX 63
2. Ignoring - Adults are often unable to meet the needs of their children. They do not show attachment to
children or do not assure infant care, they do not show interest for expressing affection or do not
recognize the presence of children. Often parents are there physically, but not emotionally.
3. Bullying - Parents often criticize and punish children even when they should not, they prohibit
meetings with friends, they stop children from making new friends, they check the personal agenda,
daily schedule, the intimate correspondence or diary. They will comment on any activities, they destroy
some of their favorite things. Children may be threatened with death, mutilated or abandoned.
4. Isolation - A parent who abuses a child in isolation may not allow the child to engage in age-
appropriate activities, he can keep the child locked in his room, not exposing him to stimulation, or
stopping him from participating in extracurricular activities. Parents can ask children to sit in their room
after school hours until the next morning or they will restrict food portions.
5. Corruption - Parents allow children to use drugs or alcohol, to watch cruel behavior against animals, to
look at pornography and adult sexual acts, to witness or participate in criminal activities such as theft,
prostitution, gambling, etc.
6. Humiliation - Parents can mock children for showing normal emotions and have too high expectations
for their normal abilities. They can humiliate them in front of the family, relatives, friends and even
strangers, bring them to difficult situations.
Other types of abuse (physical, sexual) are often easily identifiable because the signs are visible, but emotional
abuse can be very difficult to diagnose. In some cases, an emotionally abused child will show signs of abuse.
For this reason, emotional abuse is the most difficult to identify and stop. This type of abuse leaves hidden
scars which manifests in many ways. Emotionally abused children often lack the courage to say this to others,
and if they get to the psychology cabinets they come with substitute problems rather than the real ones.
Insecurity, low self esteem, destructive behavior, acts of anger, poor development of basic skills, alcohol and
drug abuse, difficult forms of relationship, suicidal intention and suicide, can all be results of emotional abuse.
STUDIES THAT APPROACH SIMILAR ISSUES

The number of abused children in all forms is very high in Romania. A good example is the statistics made by
the organization Save the Children Romania, covering the 2005 annual report: 691 such cases, of which 378
were rape, 151 pedophilia, sexual perversions 62, 56 sexual corruption, 17 incest cases and other sexual
corruption numbered 27. It should also be noted that in Romania, the number of children sexually exploited
by international trafficking networks in the field is disturbingly high. The number recognized by the
organization Save the Romanian Children is 89, at least for 2005, but we will probably never know the real
number.
The saying "I gave birth to him, I'll kill him" really happens: 2005 meant an increase of cases of infanticide: 32
cases, in comparison to 25 cases in 2003 and 2004. We encountered a very high number of children exploited
through forced labor and / or begging, and what is worse is that the "relatives - guardian" of those children are
the ones who force them to do such activities. In 2003, only, the National Statistics Institute reported 70,000
cases of forced labor among children, for example.
THEORIES / EXPLANATORY MODEL

Comparative analysis of research results, conducted so far in Romania on child abuse in the family, reveals
certain regularities of manifestations and causes of this phenomenon. Common factors that appear in all tests
64
and can be considered causes of child abuse are: poverty, poor education and information, conflicts and
disintegration of families, alcoholism and related behavior.
In families where abuse is encountered, children grow up in an atmosphere in which their basic needs are
profoundly neglected and parental functions cannot be met. These abusive environments are similar to those
of real torture. Growing up in a coercive environment has profound effects on those who survive it. Such a
person will not be a well adjusted adult. Children that are constantly exposed to abuse will be significantly
affected in almost all areas of their development. It also develops ways to cope with situations for an
immediate solution; they will have difficulties relating to long-term relationships.
ASSESSING THE PROBLEM / PROBLEM OPERATIONALISATION

The problem of emotionally abused children lies in the fact that they manifest relating problems, inability to
believe in others, low self esteem, poor school performance, destructive behavior, acts of anger and
aggression, poor development of basic skills, insubordination, abuse of alcohol and drugs, sleep disorders, self-
mutilation, lies, deception, inability to control emotions, prostitution, depression, suicidal intentions, and even
suicide.
IDENTIFICATION OF POSSIBLE FACTORS THAT INITIATE AND DEVELOPE THE PROBLEM

Factors which initiate and develop the problem are the factors that directly produce symptoms. In the case of
emotional abuse there may be more, as we saw in the above descriptions which refer to:
- behaviours of abusers - rejecting children, ignoring them, terrorizing, isolating, corrupting, humiliating
together with deprivation, psychological manipulation, etc.
- abusive words - defamatory words, (stupid, bucket-head, you are good for nothing, you are not doing
anything right, etc.), obscene, threatening words.
- cognitions: I am good for nothing, nobody loves me, I am bad, etc.
IDENTIFYING THE FACTORS WHICH MAINTAIN AND ACTIVATE A PROBLEM

Maintenance factors and activating factors may be the problem of initiation and development of the problem
according to the intensity, duration and frequency which develops the problem more and more, leading to
worse symptoms.
Besides these factors, predisposing factors may exist, such as child temperament and their cognitions (nobody
needs me, nobody loves me, I am not capable of anything, I can not do anything right, I am not worthy to be
loved, I am stupid, I am ugly, etc.).
THE ACTUAL ACTION PLAN
− Formulating long-term objectives

− Developing self esteem
− Developing networking skills
− Developing trust in others
− Managing emotions
− Prevention of risk behavior
− Formulating specific objectives

− developing a sense of self-esteem and self confidence
− developing a sense of personal value
− knowing the relations between cognition, behavior and emotions
− developing the ability to cope with pressure and difficult situations
− correcting maladaptive cognitions
− improving communication with others
− recognizing and understanding emotions
− recognizing the impact of emotions on behavior and relations with others
APPENDIX 65
− recognizing risk behaviors

− knowing about the consequences of risk behaviors
− Intervention strategies
The activities run in this program for achieving the objectives, are:
Individual counseling
During counseling sessions, the counselor will create a relation based on trust, accountability, confidentiality
and respect. It will also create a safe atmosphere by giving his unconditional acceptance of the child, showing
interest in the problem presented, by showing empathy and congruence. He will identify the problems the
child is facing and he will make a list of problems, after which he will choose the easiest way to start in order
to ensure the success of the session and motivate the child to engage in the counseling process.
The counselor will use various techniques to ensure his success in counseling. He could use open questions to
facilitate communication with the advised child, he could listen in an active way, avoiding moralizing and
interruption of communication, he could also focus on messages sent by the child, using an appropriate tone
of voice and providing positive feedback to reinforce appropriate behavior. However, the counselor will adopt
a behavior congruent with his personal beliefs and values, which will improve the trust of the child.
In order to identify the problems of children and to assess the effectiveness of counseling, the counselor will
use the HELPING model. This model will identify health problems and emotions that the child experiences,
learning problems he faces, what the relations with those around him are, if there are any conflicts or
difficulties in communication, which is the child self-image, informational needs and motivational or
behavioral problems. Depending on the issues identified, for their resolution he will use various intervention
techniques.
For health issues the child will be sent to specialists for diagnosis and treatment, the counselor will monitor
whether or not the child follows the treatment as indicated, which are the factors that may arise and prevent
him from stopping the treatment, being near the child and supporting him every step of the way.
To increase the feeling of self-esteem, self confidence and sense of value, to change maladaptive cognitions,
the counselor will teach the child about the relations between cognition, behavior and emotion. He will use
the ABC model and make necessary cognitive restructuring. The child will learn that he is valuable regardless
of the words he has heard before, he will learn to properly assess and evaluate others correctly.
Counselors will use the "Johari's Window" method for self-awareness, which will help the child understand the
proportion of the information he has about himself, the ability to self-disclosure and how he is perceived by
others.
Creating specific situations

To increase self-esteem, in schools will be create situations where children have the opportunity to succeed,
to identify their strengths and to express them. In this sense, age-appropriate workshops will be organized for
painting, crafts, poker work, etc., children will be enrolled in sports clubs, foreign language clubs, computers
and other subjects.
Volunteering actions will be organized, involving abused children, actions taking place in homes for the elderly
and centers for children with disabilities. In this way children will be able to offer their help and gain a sense of
utility. It will also be an alternative to risky behaviors.
66
Role play
It will be used to develop communication skills and networking with others. In this sense, the child will be
placed in different roles, opposite to what he lives in real life. In this way he can see that some behaviors he
has not practiced are useful and have positive effects on relationships with others. He will learn various
techniques of communication such as: formulation and accurate transmission of messages, active listening,
etc.
Case study
To help them manage emotions, children in group counseling will be able to learn based on real cases, to
identify the types of emotions, to recognize them on themselves and on others, to learn about how they
appear and their effects.
INTERVENTION EVALUATION
The evaluation was based on initial indicators set during the initial assessment through observation and
questionnaires. The final evaluation aimed the existence of cognitions, emotions and behavior changes, at
children involved in the intervention program. Any change or improvement was attributed to the intervention
program.
Following the intervention of the counseling program, there were improvements in the functioning of
cognitive, emotional, behavioral and relational aspects of the children who participated in the program.
It was observed that children learned to have more trust in others, to have an accurate picture of themselves,
they learned that the world is not entirely an unsafe place. They also learned to control their negative
emotions, to recognize and talk about their feelings and they have learned to recognize risky behaviors and
their consequences.
7.7. Case Study: Intervention plan for learning difficulties

Prof. Ana Scrieciu School with classes I-VIII NUMBER. 143, fifth district, Bucharest
Modern psychology shows that many of the issues depend on how learning is approached from the first
moments. It is natural for any individual to experience learning difficulties. A stimulated child will not have
educational issues.
Children with difficulties are ultimately children like all the others, with feelings, needs and goals in life. They
certainly are not in class to make our lives bitter. Ultimately we, as teachers, aim to be an anchor for them.
Cooperation and concentration of all adults who surround the child it proved essential in several ways.
Establishing and maintaining coherency and similar requirements at school and at home, give the child the
required framework to work well. Thus, closely following (since entering the school) his evolution, we could
afford to get closer and closer to his needs. The support that we can provide will greatly help children to
adequately meet his obligations at school. Establishing a good communication flow between different people
who interact with him, a personalized intervention plan and the teacher's agenda are, in this case, the perfect
tools. These will corroborate all necessary and relevant details, appointments and tasks that will be carried
out.
For a child who has learning difficulties (of any kind),the fact that he feels accepted, guided, supported by an
important person in his eyes, encourages him to self-improve and to discover more quickly his potential.
Among the important factors we can mention: a safe and warm family environment, the child's ability to
create constructive contacts with those in his entourage, real recognition of his talents, dynamism in school
environment and access to various resources.
Here's an example of a practical intervention reflected in the following case study:

APPENDIX 67
GETTING FAMILIAR WITH THE CASE AND FORMULATING THE PROBLEM

D.E., a second degree student, 8 years old, has difficulties in maintaining attention and concentration. He is
uncertain in what he does and has trouble reading and writing. He is easily distracted and does not seem to
listen when spoken to. When receiving a task, he finds it difficult to carry it out and inadvertently makes
mistakes. During the collective activities, especially during educational games, the breaks, he is talking
excessively and has an inappropriately and agitated running, he is hardly waiting for his turn and he doesn't
respect the instructions agreed by all other children. He does not listen to his parents at home.
OBJECTIVES
⇒ to discover the causes that conduct to such behaviors;
⇒ to identify factors that trigger and maintain the behavior;
⇒ to make a proposal for an educational intervention plan.
PURCHASING INFORMATION
Documentation was done using various methods of knowledge: systematic observation, tests and oral tests,
discussions with the family, activity products analysis. By corroborating the information obtained from family
and school and after discussion with the educational counselor, the problem of this child has been outlined
(“Learning difficulties in socio-emotional and behavioral layout”).
ACTION PLAN
The intervention lies in the correlated activity of the team composed of the teacher, parent and the
educational advisor, acting based on a clearly defined strategy (following an initial assessment), recording
results, recording progress and regular observations.
Long-term Objectives
 systematic application of interactive learning methods, differentiated treatment and even
individualized;
 Programmed (one hour / week) meeting with the educational counselor in his cabinet
 Close supervision of the child in the family and extracurricular activities (visits, trips, shows, tours).
Specific objectives and modalities of intervention
 Arranging the classroom space plays an important role in solving this problem.
The pupil D.E. sits in the same bench with a calmer and more organized child, which will not distract him and,
preferably, in the first bench. Standards of behavior in the classroom should be established. These must be
written and displayed, mentioning what is allowed and what is not, what are the rules and taboos (rules that
can never be violated), together with very suggestive and attractive designs.
 Addressing ways to work with the teacher in order to prevent undesirable behaviors or situations:
I. the teacher relaxes the climate - she addresses students using their first name, calm, optimistic,
capturing their attention for learning, she is addressing clear and open questions, providing support
where needed;
II. the child is under continuous observation, in order to seize the moment when he loses interest in the
lesson (no attention) and warn him;
III. the teacher increases the number of praise when D.E. is attentive, responding well;
IV. the teacher has individual discussions with the student (during breaks, after hours) seeking to
ascertain whether he realizes that he is not paying attention and causing disorder, disturbing
colleagues, but also to find out which are his difficulties, what are his preferences and interests;
V. class discussions will be open, seeking to strengthen team spirit rather than class competition, and
allowing D.E. to be constantly drawn in the activities;
68
VI. group or team work is preferred, whenever a lesson's topic allows it, D.E. being part of a
homogeneous group, closely followed and supported by colleagues;
VII. whenever he is surprised acting positively, it has to be a real event, so he is strongly supported and
encouraged to continue;
VIII. for achieving the desired effect it is essential that the teacher reacts immediately with
encouragement after every good thing, as following:
 verbal consideration: a compliment, a kind word, a word of support. Examples:
"Perfect!", "Bravo, I am proud of you!", "You worked hard!", "Your idea is brilliant"
 nonverbal attentions: affective gestures (hand-making) or a signal to mimic complicity
(champion greeting, approval of the head accompanied by smiles, etc.).
 small material encouragements such as pictures for his collections (footballers,
cartoon heroes), decorative accessories or posters for his room, storybooks, etc.
Operated methods applied in the classroom

 Active-participatory methods: role playing, dramatizations, questioning, brainstorming, discovery
learning, in which the student is actively involved;
 Differentiated and even individualized treatment, in some moments of the educational program. At first
I thought that this will facilitate D.E. in comparison with the others. Giving explanations to other
children, they do not feel disadvantaged, but believe that in this manner they grant assistance to their
colleague, quickly realizing that it is more beneficial for them if they are not constantly bothered by
him.
 The implementation of the plan points in class consists of establishing behaviors (that the student must
comply) for which he will receive 1-2 points. Such behaviors are:
• he completed a task he started (a good read through, he made a correct transliteration)
• he met the teacher's requirements;
• he actively contributed in class (only by providing answers at request, listening to colleagues
responses without intervention);
• he remained seated;
• he got along with peers during breaks (without physical or verbal aggression).
The points table can be left on the student's bench or teacher's bench. In the first case the point will be given
immediately after the appropriate behavior, or in other cases, the teacher notes it, and points will be listed at
the end of the course, in the child's presence. If during the class, appears a behavior that should be rewarded
by one point, the teacher can signal this by a previously established gesture (some movement, approving nod,
smile of satisfaction). Lack of immediate positive feedback is a cause of failure of this method. The child will
give the educational adviser at each meeting, the account with the points obtained in class.
At the same time, in agreement with the parents and the educational adviser, during the weekend the parents
can reward the child (if he obtains at least 15 points) with a walk in the park, out to the movies, the Zoo or a
visit at a friend's house.
Throughout the educational process, whenever possible, it is recommended to address the student's self-
assessment, which has an important role in raising awareness of the mistakes he made or of the good results
he recorded.
The family has an important role in this intervention plan, therefore, together with the educational adviser,
both parents concluded certain rules that they should regard (for both child and parent):
1) to prepare a schedule (program) which contains daily time for relaxation, rest, for lessons, for play; if he
doesn't comply, the parent can give him the choice to follow it or not, assuming the necessary
consequences. Example: "You have to make a choice! you either make your lessons now, or go to sleep
tonight without seeing your favorite show on television");
APPENDIX 69
2) to choose together the best time to make the lessons, intense physical activity can relax him after a day
spent at school;
3) to identify the environment that best fits the needs of the child when doing his homework (with the
radio turned on or not), the space from where he can be supervised;
4) to minimize all factors that could confuse him when he does his homework;
5) to split into smaller steps the task of performing his homework (with relaxing breaks), to ensure that he
doesn't become impressed by their scale, smaller quantities are meant to encourage him;
6) to prepare the transition for doing homework in time; Example: "You have 15 minutes to play, because
then you have to do your homework";
7) drawing his attention more by using gestures and facial expressions than by using words that might not
express much for him;
8) to establish precise and stable places to find personal belongings; Example: notebooks for school in the
right drawer of the bureau, to the left are the books;
9) to perform a task that makes him usually happy (to put food and water to the parrot), to collect photos,
participate in the modern dance course organized in school;
10) to encourage the child by allowing privileges and satisfactory activities; Example: activities that reward
him - a friend stays at him overnight or he is being allowed to visit a friend, he goes to eat at
McDonald's, to the cinema, and the moment in which he has to go to sleep or to come from the
playground is being delayed.
Throughout the plan of intervention there changes, results and registered progress were monitored.
Evaluation was made permanently by the three stakeholders (teacher - parents - educational advisor) and
they made the necessary adjustments to readjust the problems.
Following these ongoing evaluations performed during a school midterm and final evaluation, the teacher, the
child, the parents and an educational adviser, found that the problem has diminished in intensity and school
performance has improved; but the process is difficult and complex and has features expressing age,
temperament, prior family experience of the child, and differences between overly permissive families
(especially before starting school ) and school program that involves competences and skills, rules of living
together in groups and certain restrictions.
The interference plan will be applied in the second half of the school year.
Bibliography:
Brill, I., Naomi – Centre de recherche de l’education specialise et de l’adaptation scolaire, „L’echec scolaire
n’est pas une fatalite”, Ed. ESF, Paris, 1973
Iucu, R.; Manolescu, M. – Education, Ed Bolintineanu Dimitrie Cultural Foundation, Bucharest, 2001
Dopfner, M., Schurmann, S.; Lehmkuhl, G. – Hyperactive and stubborn child, Editura R.T.S., Bucharest, 2000.
Vrăşmaş, E. – Children psychology with learning difficulties, Editura Credis, Bucharest, 2006.
70
7.8. Case Study: Computer and Internet Addiction

Delia Atena Milconiu, Halânga Agricultural School Group, Mehedinti County
THE TYPE
This case is a particular one, being provided by the Psychological and Pedagogical Assistance School, Cabinet
Halânga, Mehedinti County.
PROBLEM DESCRIPTION
- Problem typology
The presented life situation belongs to the virtual environment and addresses issues of computer and internet
addiction. In the presented case, the excessive use of the computer and internet has led to serious
implications regarding the medical field, psychological, social and professional.
- Involved actors
Direct: a) C.P., our subject, date of birth: 14/02/1990
Indirect:
b) the family of the individual;
c) Specialists: school psychologist, family physician, speech therapist, career counselor;
d) children and adolescents exposed to virtual temptations;
e) parents who do not prevent the emergence of computer addiction at their children.
Case history:
f) he lives in the DTS with his parents, and he is an only child;
g) he graduated the technological high school with difficulty, given that he failed three years in a row
because of class absences;
h) has a slight physical disability (congenital eyelid ptosis, meaning that can not voluntarily raise the
left eye);
i) he stutters when excited or when he initiates a conversation;
j) after graduating from high school he did not get a job, and he didn't continue his studies, refusing
to follow any course or training;
k) although he received several offers of employment as a computer operator, he declined due to
the fixed program and responsibilities;
l) his only current income is the social assistance for disabled sum (230 RON), which he supplements
with the money earned from the exchange of computer parts;
m) he is not married and has no stable relationship;
n) he has only virtual and "business friends";
o) both parents are retired due to illness
p) parents can't impose any rules about computer usage, because they are verbally humiliated;
q) computer addiction has not yet led our subject in the crime zone.
- Context of appearance
In our subject's case, the problem rose in 2005, when the family purchased the first computer with the original
purpose of creating the optimal learning conditions for the adolescent and help him at school. Later, the
young man started using the computer for video games and the Internet (chat rooms), spending increasingly
more time in the virtual world. At first, the young man found the games or browsing as a way to spend time
(1-2 hours per day) and parents were proud of the ease with which the offspring tooled along the keypad.
Later, after 12-13 hours spent daily on the computer, it became dangerous. Thus, a need has become a habit,
and this turned into addiction.
APPENDIX 71
We believe that the formation of our subject's computer addiction, was privileged and amplified by the
following factors:
- the presence of the computer with internet connection in the youngster's room;
- lack of a strict timetable for computer usage, established by his parents;
- ignoring the risk involved by the excessive use of the computer, by both the parents and the
subject;
- lack of involvement in enjoyable physical activity;
- physical disability of sight;
- the stammer, and the emotional vulnerability;
- poor communication and social skills;
- the lack of real friends and virtual success;
- prejudices of parents and their reluctance to consult a specialist when first acknowledging the
behavioral changes due to excessive computer use.
- Describing the situation

Overwhelmed, C.P.'s parents called a school psychologist to help their son solve the problem that lasted for
five years. Parents can no longer stand the behavior of their son, now aged 20 years, and they were concerned
about how much time he spent at the computer (over 12 hours daily), his virtual entourage, social isolation,
emotional instability (switching from depression to irritability) and the refusal to get a job.
- What are the reasons for which we consider it an emerging need?

Excessive usage of the computer (internet, video games) results in a computer addiction. Computer addiction
is considered a mental illness that induces computer dependency syndrome (Internet Addiction Disorder). This
control disorder of impulses is hardly recoverable, also being called the electronic drug addiction, because it
goes through the same stages as prohibited substances addiction. The presented case is part of the NEN
category because it is an issue relevant to the overall development of children and young people, it has not
been present at previous generations and it is experiencing a dramatic increase in terms of frequency.
- Potential risks
Medical:
- Fatigue;
- Insomnia;
- Dizziness;
- Eating disorders (he skips meals or eats junk food);
- Inactivity;
- Obesity;
- Pain (eyes, hands, stomach, back).
Psychological:
- association of computer addiction with other addictions: gambling, drinking, drug usage;
- depression, anxiety, fear;
- restlessness, irritability, aggressiveness;
- concentration disorder;
- running away from his/her own existence;
- disorders of thought and behavior.
Social:
• abandonment of social activities;
• ignoring family and real people;
72
• forming a false image of the world;

• loneliness and isolation that could lead to suicide;
• involvement in criminal acts;
• increased communication, adaptation and socialization problems.
INTERVENTION
- What has been done for solving the problem?

Parents contacted the school psychologist, who convinced the subject to come to the clinic for a routine
evaluation. After counseling, C.P. has agreed to contribute at drawing up an intervention plan in order to
improve his life situation.
- What are the recommended actions to solve the occurred problem?

In the strategy for solving the presented problem, it is indicated to involve, apart from parents and school
psychologist, the following specialists: family doctor, AJOFM/ career counselor, speech therapist and a
salesman. Here are the actions and responsibilities of each actor involved in the process:
♦ Parents:
 They will establish a clear set of rules related to computer usage, the time of the day and the
time spent at the computer (up to 2-3 hours per day);
 They will put the computer in the living room;
 They will learn to use the computer and the Internet;
 They will support the involvement of the youngster in fun and exciting activities, specific to his
personality (practicing a sport, bike rides, walks, physical activity, trips, meetings with friends,
etc).
♦ Psychologist:
 He will inform the young man about the psychological and social risks of excessive computer
use;
 He will provide individual counseling for three months, twice a week. Counseling sessions will
cover topics like: self-knowledge, knowledge of others, communication and relations skills,
emotional control, motivation techniques, parent relationship mediation.
 He will integrate him in a group of young people addicted to the computer, and he will follow
the evolution of the subject;
♦ The family doctor will provide:
 Informing on the medical consequences of computer addiction;
 Monthly medical evaluation.
♦ The career counselor provides:
 Identification of the professional interests of the subject;
 Guideline for choosing the right profession;
 Recommendation of courses of professional reinsertion;
 Putting him in connection with an IT salesman.
♦ The speech therapist plans:
 Testing and treatment of stuttering in adulthood.
♦ The Canvasser:
 Giving him a part-time job in IT, under supervision.
APPENDIX 73
RESULTS
In the case presented above, we can only discuss of probable results, as it is impossible to predict accurately
the consequences of these decisions and of the decisions made by the lead actor. In the situation where all
stakeholders will meet their commitments, we will discuss about a young man who has learned from his own
experience, the pleasure of being real and the pain of being virtual.
7.9. Case Study: Children are more violent

Primary school teacher Dorina Marin, School "Dimitrie Anghel", Corneşti, Miroslava, Iasi
THE PROBLEM
In today's society we are increasingly confronted with the phenomenon of school violence. To qualify a fact as
being violent means to deliver a value-judgment on that fact. Judgments correspond to social norms
determined by culture of a society, they can also be done depending on the values of a certain group, but at
the same time, the perception on violence of a student from a particular school may go unnoticed in the eyes
of students from another school. Also important is the fact that verbal abuse is not perceived in the same way
by students and teachers: students minimize it, while teachers overestimate it.
In the school environment we encounter two types of violence:

- objective violence, which are subjects of criminal law (crimes and offenses) and upon which one can
directly interfere; The police and Judiciary are bound, in this case, to work directly with schools;
- subjective violence, violence that is more subtle, attitudinal, and affecting the school climate. This
includes hostile attitudes, contempt, humiliation, insult, defiance, lack of politeness, absences from
courses, refusal to respond in class and to participate in activities or what some authors call “anti
school attitudes”. An extremely common form of violence in schools is verbal violence (bullying) that
verbal attacks and intimidation (physical pressure) exerted by threats, insults, humbling.
OBJECTIVES
a) Determining the causes;
b) Eliminating the causes;
c) Determining expectations;
CASE PRESENTATION - CURRENT SITUATION

- Children have problems in learning;
- Skipping school is an increasing behavior;
- The cases of dropping out of school rate are increasing;
- Conflict relations between colleagues are amplified;
- In some cases, violence is a mirror of the students’ loved ones, meaning parents and teachers.
PROCURING AND SYSTEMATIZING THE INFORMATION

Analysis of school activities
- The school results are poorer at the observed students;
- They accomplish their school tasks, but with great difficulty;
- Students are attracted by the activities of disadvantaged groups, in detriment of school and family;
- Violence is "a solution" that fits for any encountered problem.
74
Social relations
- Family - strained relations between parents, there are cases of domestic violence, divorce, death of
one parent;
- The father is violent, authoritarian, violent, he drinks alcohol, he doesn't have a stable job and
sometimes has extramarital affairs;
- The mother is overcame by financial problems, domestic activities, by educating the children, she is
affected by health problems, hyper-emotive, blazed;
- Older brothers are part of the rebel groups of adolescents, the power of imitation affecting a lot the
younger siblings;
- The group of friends has a similar behavior, belonging / not belonging to the group may affect the
safety of the student, violent behaviors are encouraged and appreciated;
- Classmates have a better financial situation that triggers the feeling of envy, helpless in equalizing the
other one, he avoids them because of verbal and physical violence they show.
DISCOVERY OF CAUSES
The influence of family environment

The family environment is the most important source of youth aggression. Many children who have an
aggressive profile come from dysfunctional families, they experienced their parents’ divorce and they are
living in single parent families. Family balance is disrupted also because of the job crisis, the unemployment
being a problem of many parents. Parents are faced with many material difficulties, but also psychological
ones, because they have the feeling of devaluation, of failure. Under these conditions, they are not or are less
available to their children.
On this background appear very serious family problems that are deeply affecting the children: family
violence, alcohol addiction, child abuse, negligence, plus important educational deficiency - lack of dialog,
affection, volatility in the requirements to the child (the transition from one extreme side to another, from
very tough restrictions to excessive permissiveness), the use of violent means to punish the child based on a
Romanian saying “beating is ripped from Heaven”.
There are parents - and not a few - who favor abusively their affective relation in the detriment of the
educational role that should be played by them with their children: they do not impose any bans, rules, they
cast few requirements and they are searching to avoid conflicts. This quasi-total absence of constraints
(outside school) will cause the student to adopt a refusal behavior to the demands of school teachers.
The influence of social environment

The social environment contains many sources of influence that induce, stimulate and maintain school
violence: the financial status, the weakness of social control mechanisms, social inequalities, the crisis of moral
values, the media, the failure of those responsible for educating young people, lack of cooperation between
the institutions involved in the educational process.
The economic and social situation causes some confusion among young people who start doubting the
effectiveness of school and of the utility of science. And this situation is magnified even more as students
found that school does not provide access to jobs. Traditional values conveyed in school - work, merit, effort -
are experiencing a noticeable erosion.
A social environment during crisis (the crisis of jobs, family crisis, crisis of values) profoundly affects the child's
personality development.
APPENDIX 75
The influence of school environment

Often communication is sided, meaning that the teacher is the one who allows and monopolizes
communication and the student remains a passive receiver. Communication between students in working
groups is quite limited, and the way students view the classroom life is hardly taken into account. The need for
expression and communication is a fundamental need of every individual, and school group are privileged
places of meeting those needs. Their lack of satisfaction inevitably leads to frustration that will be reduced by
aggressive behavior.
Other elements of teacher attitudes towards students may also generate conflict situations and violent
behavior of students. Some teachers adopt an attitude of contemptuous disregard for the students, combined
with their tendency to constantly assess them, using negative and derogatory terms.
F. Dubet says that the indifference of teachers is the most important expressions of disregard towards the
students. There are many students who suffer from these negative judgments of the teacher, because they
come to strengthen their own sense of doubt, discouragement, lack of self confidence. This negative attitude,
once internalized, can lead to some serious consequences in the behavioral plan: lack of communication,
passivity during the lesson, indifference, or, alternatively, disrupting lessons, developing hostile and instigating
attitudes.
Often, unconsciously, the teacher introduces disparities between the students also by the achieved
performances. Parkay and Stanford highlight some of these differentiating attitudes (1992: 349):
 The teacher gives less time to the students with more modest achievements:
* He gives them less time to think of an answer
* He pays less attention and rarely relates to them;
* He avoids using the most suitable training methods because they require more time;
 He has less patience with these students:
* He prefers to give the answer himself or appoint one of the good students instead of asking
supporting questions or reformulating the questions;
* He provides some sloppy and inconclusive feedback;
* He rarely calls for their answer;
 He ignores students with more modest achievements:
* He allocates them places far from his usual route through the class;
* He does not accept and/or use their ideas;
* He interacts with them in private rather than in public;
 He pays them little interest:
* He behaves less friendly with them, he rarely smiles to them;
* He rarely establishes eye contact with them;
* He gives them fewer nonverbal indicators of support, attention and understanding;
 He discriminates students with more modest achievements:
* He rarely awards them for their successes and more often criticizes their failures;
* He rarely demands anything from them;
* He marks and manages differently their tests and homework.
This teacher’s attitude, may determine the students' avoidance of activities, indifference to what happens in
class, absenteeism, refusal to do their homework, verbal violence with classmates and even teachers,
aggressive behavior.
76
FINDING SOLUTIONS
Preventing school violence

Pierre-Andre-Markiis Erkohen Doudin and Miriam (2000: 11-12) speak about three types of prevention that
the school can develop and which complement each other:
- primary prevention, which can be managed easily by each teacher and refers to adopting a positive
view concerning the development of each student, expressing confidence in their ability to succeed,
valuing student's effort. All these attitudes can reduce the risks of violence;
- a secondary prevention, which is based on the fact that school is a privileged observation point of the
intellectual and emotional development of students, and the teacher, through a careful observation, can
spot the effects of violence that the students have undergone outside the school environment. By
promoting the case of those students to professionals (school psychologist, social assistant) and to
qualified authorities, there can be adopted measures of aid and protection aiming to remove the causes of
abuse and to reduce somatic and mental disorders and behaviors induced by violence;
- tertiary prevention, refers to direct support for students who exhibit violent behaviors. Mentioning
positive expectations, developing a sense of community belonging, expressing concerns about the
situation they have and their integration into the group's activities, are protective factors that can be
performed within youth educational establishment. These measures can prevent chronic disorders caused
by violence and their possible transmission from one generation to another.
Practical methods of action:

On a personal level
• Developing self-confidence of students;
• Stimulating motivation of learning;
• Improving relations with classmates;
• psychotherapy sessions;
• redefining student's own value system.
At the level of the students' collective:

- Promoting the integration in a group;
- Adding value to the potential of each student;
- Increasing involvement in extracurricular activities, projects and educational programs.
At the level of the local community:

 Collaboration with the family and school counselor;
 Involving students in activities organized in collaboration with the local community: the town hall, the
library, the police, foundations and nongovernmental organizations;
FINAL RESULTS
 Increased self-confidence;
 Resolving identity crisis;
 Increased self-esteem;
 Integration in the community and positive relations with colleagues;
 Collaborative team tasks;
 Tempering and improving the family situation;
 Finding concrete solutions to crisis.
CONCLUSIONS
Violence in schools is an expression of violence in society; when violence occurs in school, it leads to further
consequences: alongside to injury, victimization, sometimes death, violence in school reduces the chances of
students to fully develop their personality and to acquire a quality education.
APPENDIX 77
In order to prepare the school for assuming the role of preventing and restraining violence, the first
investment must be made in training the teachers. We must recognize that both the initial training and
continuous training focus upon the work with “no problem” classrooms.
How to deal with difficult classes is a topic discussed too little. It requires specific training, in order to satisfy
requests of students "with problems". We cannot passively wait for problems to be solved on their own, more
so because, under an unstable family environment, tension, conflict, the school may constitute a second
chance for the student.
References:
Neamţu, C., Devianţa şcolară, Editura Polirom, Iaşi, 2003
Păun, E., Şcoala. Abordare sociopsihopedagogică, Editura Polirom, Iaşi, 1999
Preda, V., Delincvenţa juvenilă. O abordare multidisciplinară, Presa Universitară Clujeana, Cluj Napoca,
1981
Sălăvăstru D., Violenţa în mediul şcolar. Aspecte psihosociale, vol. Coordonat de Gilles Ferreol, Adrian
Neculau, Polirom, Iaşi, 2003
7.10. Case study: Choosing the academic field - individual action plan
Prof. Psychologist Liliana Bulgagiu, “Ştefan cel Mare“ High School, Hârlău, Iași
PROBLEM DESCRIPTION
C.A. is a student in 12th grade, human studies profile, specializing in philology. She is a good student,
conscientious, with multiple educational and extracurricular good results. She served for four years as
president of the Students Representative Council, initiating and coordinating many projects and educational
activities. In the 7th grade she was a national Olympic at the Olympic contest in civic culture, working (in all 8
years of high school) with the psychological cabinet, fact which ambitioned her and motivated her to want to
become a psychologist.
Meanwhile, in the 8th grade she had chosen mathematics-informatics specialization because she had very
good results at all study subjects, she wanted to remain with her former colleagues and that seemed (to her
and to her family) to be the best choice at the moment. Last year she transferred to philology, because she
was not enjoying mathematics any longer, because of the low grades, and because she wanted something else
although her school results were good and very good.
C.A. comes from a family with superior professional and social standards (her father is a priest, her mother a
nurse, both recognized by the local community), the parents always expecting more from her and from her
sister, a 9th grader. Now she is undecided, a little confused, and wishing to follow the Faculty of Psychology or
Public Relations, or the Pharmacy Faculty. The graduation exam is approaching, which she is not afraid of, she
prepares thoroughly for it but she fears, however, making a wrong academic choice that she might regret
afterwards.
DEFINING THE PROBLEM

The indecision when choosing the appropriate academic area fitting her own personality. We identified here
as an emerging need, the difficulty to establish priorities for academic and professional orientation, bad time
management, poor management of emotions generated by the large amount of information acquired in
school.
78
CLARIFICATION OF THE PROBLEM

C.A. already has a lot of information about national and county academic offer, about the job market,
scholarships offers (she came to the office with articles and excerpts from various sources). She knows her
cognitive, social and material potential, she knows she could face several areas, so it is very difficult to decide
to a single one.
Her motivational system is large, multiple, and the level of personal expectations, and of the professional
expectations, is high, even overwrought.
POSSIBLE CAUSES
Lack of school guidelines targeted to a small area of interest, since the 8th grade (it seems that even then she
was not fully satisfied with her choice), the wide range of activities she has been involved in, during the school
years (" being good at all of them"), the lack of an objective analysis of major interests, related to skills and
personality traits, postponing until the last year of high school the career decision (I'll see I am able to choose
at any time") and even the value system was sometimes too demanding and unrealistic (excessive confidence
in her own forces).
REAL CAUSES
The desire to pursue a successful career, demanded on the labor market, well paid, but according to what she
wants, to what she knows and to her personality structure.
PLAN OF INTERVENTION
Purpose: outline some realistic future career prospects

General goal:
- developing decision-making skills regarding a future career;
- support in implementing the plan of action for achieving the desired profession.
Specific Objective: During counseling sessions, C.A. will learn:
 To know her interests, skills, abilities, personality structure, value system,
 To accept herself as a unique identity,
 To explore the personal universe,
 To prioritize internal and external influences that occur in choosing the career,
 To uncover support staff in choosing her career,
 To analyze comparatively the academic options, in terms of advantages - disadvantages,
 To consciously decide on one option,
 To practice the skills of planning and organizing the steps aiming a particular objective,
 To establish a concrete action plan with deadlines and activities to be completed,
 To gain courage to act in a relatively narrow field of activity,
 To accept her personal decisions about career,
 To practice searching skills and finding skills for a job.
Steps in counseling
Step 1 - self-awareness, to define and clarify the problem
o Two meetings, with “Who am I?” exercises
 List of qualities
 Balloon of happiness
 Mind Map
 Skills list
 My secret dream
 Validation map
APPENDIX 79
o One session for testing interests, aptitudes, by Holland Questionnaire.

T.A, T.I., C.I.P
Step 2 - broadening the perspective, offering alternatives, orientation for a specific purpose, realistic,
measurable.
o 2 sessions through exercises such as:
 my individual compass (what I can do, what I could not do),
 my family's professional tree,
 analysis of each option according to the chart: profession, necessary qualities needed
knowledge, social advantages, disadvantages, opportunities for promotion, SWOT analysis,
 consultation of professional monographs, PSOs guides, presentations of academic offerings,
 how will my life be 10 years from now if I will be ...
 my choice is ...
Step 3 - Action Plan
o 1 session to determine the steps and activities to complete, short, medium and long term goals (steps,
obstacles, support staff, strategies, necessary skills and qualities);
o 1 group meeting for the acquisition of information on specific steps when searching for a job and job
employment (resume, letter of intent, attending an interview, the labor market at a national and
European level), brochures and leaflets consultation.
FINAL EVALUATION
Monitoring the performance of the proposed steps in the action plan, centralization of success in high school's
final exam, university admissions, her future evolution.
80
7.11. Case Study: Identity crisis - individual action plan

(Author's name is confidential)
PROBLEM DESCRIPTION
The student M.P. sixth grader, from a rural school, has deficiencies in adaptation and social integration, this
situation being reflected through an identity crisis and expressed aggression regarding the group of children
from school.
OBJECTIVES
a) determining the causes
b) removing the causes
c) proposal of an educational intervention project
CASE APPROACH
Presenting the case - the current situation

 Identity crisis
 conflict based relations with his classmates and teachers
Procuring and systematizing information

o Schoool activities analysis:
 school performance assessed as being above the average
 he / she fulfills his school tasks effortlessly
 he / she participates in class, he is not skipping classes
o Psycho-pedagogical observations
 intelligence is age-appropriate
 convergent thinking type
 written/oral language- quite rich in concepts, notions
 long-term, logical memory
 imagination - in general the reproductive kind
 ability to focus attention, there were no difficulties present at the level of the orientation,
selectivity and attention focusing
 will - he avoids taking major decisions, he has no patience
 extrinsic type of motivation
 verbal, sensory and motor skills - normal, age-appropriate
 affection-affective experiences that are externalized through emotional and behavioral
expressions, often considered undesirable for the group he lives in
 character - positive, combative, cooperative
o Medical problems
 Psychosomatic development is normal for his age.
o Social relations
 family - natural relationship between parents, mutual assistance, cooperation and
understanding for mutual support to get out of financial troubles
 mother is absent, gone abroad to work, helps her family financially and communicates by
telephone. She comes home once a year.
- she is slightly sensitive, emotional, quite affected by the period that his family is
crossing
- it appears that financial problems placed the child's issues on the second place
 the father tries to take the mother's place, but often the problems occurred lately have
started to put pressure on him
 he works in the city, and he has a stable job
 he is concerned with events that have appeared at his son's school
APPENDIX 81
 he is involved in educating his son, takes care of him

 brothers – does not have
 group of friends - he has friends just in the community he is living in, not in school (this is in
another village), a small number
 classmates - extremely strained relations, they have isolated him and insult him (based on the
simple fact that his mother went to work abroad).
History of the problem's evolution

a) The history of the problem
Problems have emerged with the mother's decision to work abroad. Student M.P. was in the fourth grade at
the school in his native village. By that time there were no problems adapting to school or strained social
relations. Villagers began to show their opinion regarding this case. Their opinions were made clear both in the
village and in their families and the children have adopted these points of view and they promoted them in
school.
b) The history of school development

No unusual problems, he has a normal evolution, he likes school.
c) The history of social relations

- I to V grades were at the school in his village
- good relations with other children in his class
- participated in the children's games during breaks
- cooperating in classes
- good relations with the schoolmistress
- teachers - quite tense relations
- in the fifth grade began the problems, frequent conflicts during breaks or when leaving the classroom
- frequent complaints addressed to the master teacher of the class and later to the school's board
- the decision to be moved from school on disciplinary bases
Discovering the causes

a) Flipping the student's value system leads to the identity crisis;
b) The lack of communication between the school and the family has deepened the wrong perception of
the cause. Thus, it was decided that in the sixth grade he should be moved to a nearby village school. The
school from where he left made recommendations which claimed that the student has severe behavioral
disorders, but did not accompany them by a contingency plan or actions taken in the past two years;
c) The conflict based state of the family and of the other villagers, the tension between them, undermine
the need for protection and safety of the child.
CONFIGURATION STATUS
M.P. was warned that he will be moved from this school too. Maybe the board was not the one that would do
this, but the other parents' pressure began to be felt, and the class master teacher warned him that this action
could be a possibility.
Following discussions with the student M.P. and his father, I found that all he wanted was to attend school in
peace, and follow a performance-oriented high school in town. His father wants his son to be encouraged and
treated like any other child from that school, he wants to be supported by the school's board without the
permanent threat that MP will be expelled from this school also. The father wants a psychological and
pedagogical support for his son, in order to overcome this crisis.
82
For the foreseeable future the student proposed to himself:
- to prepare carefully for obtaining good grades at the end of the school year
- to solve problems of relating with other children in the class
- to gain self-confidence
- to relate properly with school teachers
DEVELOPING ACTION STRATEGIES

• Operating at a personal level by:
o increasing his own forces
o motivation for interpersonal and non-conflictual relations
o changing student's attitudes towards his colleagues and the relations with them
o psycho-pedagogical counseling sessions
o changing the value system of the student
• Operating in the classroom:
o facilitate group integration
o requesting the student to achieve group activities
o participation in extracurricular activities: trips, entertainment programs
• Operating with all factors:
o parents, teachers, peers, environment.
DECISION MAKING AND DECISION SUPPORT

o Developing an educational intervention project
o Formulating a program for the future progress of the student (in terms of psycho-behavioral aspects).
Educational intervention project (common action plan involving school and family)
Purpose
♦ Increase family and school collaboration in order to resolve tense situations between the family and
community/parents of children from the class
♦ The student must be able to overcome the crisis of identity
♦ The student should be motivated to create positive relations with other children from the class
Objectives
• awareness among all parents regarding their responsibilities in educating their children, the need for
differentiated treatment of each child, regardless of the socio-economic status of their original family
• awareness among other children, raised by their parents, regarding the fact that the subject's family
has made its decisions by mutual agreement between its members, without affecting in any way the
community which they live in
• creating non-invasive behavioral attitudes (of parents in relation to their children) for a wider opening
towards them, encouraging positive thinking, finding non-aggressive methods of approaching and
resolving crisis situations.
• mutual understanding between parents - children – school
• stimulating motivation of parents and their involvement in resolving conflicts that arise between their
children
• development of M.P.'s self-confidence and improvement his self-image
• encouraging group integration by participating in common class actions
FORECASTING THE FUTURE OF THE STUDENT'S PROGRESS

Teaching Status
 maintaining the interest for learning
APPENDIX 83
 promoting class
Forecasting the development of personality
- developing self-confidence
- solving identity crisis
- regaining self-esteem
Social relations
 he will relate positively with peers, he will join the community
7.12. Case Study: Children whose parents are working abroad - intervention plan
Prof. Grety Irina Moroi, Bacău, Deputy Director of the School „Cancicov G.M.”, Bacau
The role played by the school is more important today than ever. Teachers have the responsability to educate
children and prepare them for life. Many schools faced during the last years, increasing departures of students
abroad, with their parent. School is becoming more and more poor and our goal is getting harder to achieve.
Without students the school would not exist! In school we develop the qualities and skills of each student,
helping them choose a profession for a better future. Parents are missing much from their childrens' lives,
communicating with them by cell phone, e-mail, less by fax, and often by packages left by international
transport drivers on their way.
In G.M. Cancicov School from Bacau, teachers M.G. , B.T. , the school counselor together with other teachers
and educators have conducted a study that aims to identify social and emotional states experienced by
students whose parents are working abroad for a longer or shorter period of time.
Problem: temporary or permanent abandonment of the family by parents going to work abroad.
Data collecting was done through the following methods:

1. questionnaire on the situation of pupils and their families;
2. Training for students between 12-14 years old;
3. round table with participation of guardians / legal representatives;
4. questionnaire for parents returning home on holiday.
Out of the total number of children enrolled in our school and kindergarten, based on the study we obtained
the following data (at 05/11/2007):
Total number of children: 66 (12 pre-scholars 54 scholars). Following the questioning of all children, the
following information was obtained:
1. Who is the person who left to work abroad

• 17 children - the mother
• 24 children – the father
• 13 children - both parents
2. Who takes care of the child

• The mother - 26 cases
• The father - 7 cases
• The grandparents - 18 cases
• Cousins - 3 cases
• Cousins and grandparents - 2 cases
84
• The aunt - 5 cases

• The father and grandmother - 4 cases
• A neighbor - 1 case
3. The places chosen by their parents to earn money more easily:

• Italy - 47 cases
• England - 6 cases
• Spain - 8 cases
• Hungary - 3 cases
• Guinea - 1 case
• Africa – 1 case of detached service
4. How does my family look (for prescholers)
STUDY OBJECTIVES
- Establishing the causes
- Reducing existent gaps
- Proposing an educational intervention project
Addressing situations from school
Presentation of the problem - the current situation (in general) of students enrolled in this study
- some problems in learning
- identity crisis and internalization of problems
- conflict relations with some colleagues
- hope for a better financial situation
Procuring and systematizing information
1. Analysis of school activities

b) lower grades at some study subjects
c) some students do not fulfill their tasks
APPENDIX 85
d) some students do not participate actively in class

e) greater interest in some study subjects
f) total disregard for other study subjects
2. Psycho-pedagogical comments:
a) intelligence is age-appropriate
b) written / oral language is rich enough
c) memory is different, at some students it is mechanical, at others it is not
d) imagination is, in general, very rich
e) attention - reduced capacity of concentration, generally younger students get tired more easily
f) lack of motivation in some children
g) the will is generally lacking, students do not take decisions easily, they feel the need to consult with
grandparents, relatives, school counselor and rarely with classmates
h) affection is usually directed towards a relative or a friend
3. Social Relations
Usually, these pupils are well integrated, they make friends their own age or older, they communicate pretty
well, they participate in extracurricular activities, excursions, camps, etc.
STATUS CONFIGURATION
The living conditions of children in these families are improving, but they face emotional distress - loneliness,
distrust, fear, missing parents, suffering:
The fact that parents left is
,,I am very sorry they had to go, I miss them very much and I differently influencing educational
would like to see them. When they will come home I will give performance of students.
them a strong hug and I will not let them leave again.“
Alexandra, 9 years old Some are overburdened with
,,Dear Dad, I'm impatiently waiting for you. I would like you to household chores (cleaning, caring
come sooner, because I miss you. Since you went away I only for siblings, paying bills, etc.), not
think of you and of the things we used to do together and my having enough time to study, others
tears are falling..’’ become less motivated to succeed
Florin, 14 years old in school, believing that their
parents will make it up to them.
There are children who have

achieved even with their ,,I have no time to learn to write my homework, because I am the only parents
being abroad, getting one takeing care of the house, I clean up, I cook, and how much time is school
diplomas and prizes in there after all this?’’ contests
or competitions (Simina, Crina, 14 years old 15
years- won first prize in the
county level and special mention at Inter-County level of the "P. Poni" Competition in Chemistry, Suceava and
she also won the Award of Excellence at the contest "Of hundreds of masts"; and Andrew, 15 years - won the
third prize at the county level of the same competition- during 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 school years ).
On the other hand, the successes are due to children's desire to reward the effort of their parents:
86
Most children are waiting for the day when „... in the bosom of
„Dear mother, dear father, my family we all gather at home with love and longing... „
I shortly await you Diana, 15 years old
To come back in the cpuntry To justify going abroad, some parents promise their children,
And never go away again” as a reward for their absence, the insurance of a decent future.
Alexandra, 11 years At the same time, some children say they will not accept to
old conclude such pacts :
„ My dear mother
I would like to see you once again Our school helps them through an intervention project for
For life is not so pretty social integration of children coming from these families.
With you so far away”
Oli ian 12 ears old The planned activities are carried out through the following
objectives:
♦ Improving the psycho-emotional life of children and young people by providing opportunities for social
integration.
♦ Developing the professional skills of „Mom, you must know that since you've left, I
specialists from various organizations and my brothers want to give up everything just to
working with children coming from make you come back. Money can also be made in
disintegrated families. our country, I didn't believe you would leave
♦ Community awareness on the issue of the again!’’
emergence of a new risk group - children from Crina, 14 years old
disintegrated families.
♦ Training parents in communication and child development.
♦ Promoting various forms of children participation in the community life and school..
♦ Creating support groups (among adolescents) for providing necessary information and emotional support
for this category of youth.
ACHIEVEMENTS
- classes involving parents on issues like "the universe of my childhood" or "a child grown up too early".
- round tables: "A better future for our children" where parents are invited together with grandparents,
teachers, guardians, legal representatives.
Currently, the project team is working on the leisure activities program for children, according to their needs
and interests.
Messages from children to parents who are abroad

,,Dear Mom,
How are you? Are you ok there where you are? When are you coming back into the country?
I am waiting for you at home impatiently.
Andrei, 10 years old
“Dear Mom and Dad, I'm well and healthy and I wish you the same. At school I'm pretty good,
but I want to come at you in 2-3 years from now. I love you very much! “
Cătălin, 11 years old
TEACHERS' MESSAGE, OUR MESSAGE

Before leaving, even for a short period of time, think about the children you leave behind. Put well in balance
the arguments that will determine you to leave.
At first, consult with children, parents, relatives, and then take the wisest decision.
APPENDIX 87
7.13. Communication Activity for Children - A story

Cristina Elena Georgescu, CJRAE Vaslui
THE STORY
Once somebody complained to a wise man, while discussing with him, that people are pretty tough by nature
and so insensitive, that they cannot understand his problems and feelings, and he cannot decide to tell them
about these problems.
Later, when they were already talking about other things, suddenly, the wise man stepped on the man's foot.
He paused a moment, but he continued his story, without pulling back his foot. Then the wise man pressed
even stronger on his foot. The man sighed, but he still didn't say anything about it. After some time, while the
wise man was still pressing his foot, the man could no longer resist and asked him with anger:
<<Wise man, why are you pressing on my foot? It hurts me very much! >>
<<Forgive me, the wise man replied hastily pulling back his foot. I didn't know that it bothers you, for you
preferred to say nothing. >>
BASED ON THE SHORT STORY, STUDENTS ANSWER SOME QUESTIONS:

- What message did you understand from the text? (The fact that in order to be understood and helped
they must express their opinions, say what they think, confess when they have a difficult problem; no
one can read minds to know what bothers them, what their concerns are, what worries them);
- If you were in front of the wise man, what sorrows would you talk about? (they can be written on a
large sheet of paper, while students name them);
- What are the causes? (they can be written on another sheet of paper, while students name the
causes);
- With who can you talk about them (given that a story like wise man is hard to find in reality) (they can
be written on another large sheet of paper, while students name them).
7.14. Teaching Game - How to use family photographs?

Horaţiu Suciu, ” Iulia Hașdeu” National College, Lugoj
It can be used in preventing / resolving issues such as:

- parents communicate less with children;
- children do not have real models;
- emotional fragility;
- time spent communicating online / interpersonal communication damage.
In the first phase children are asked to find some old family photos at home if possible during childhood /
adolescence / youth of their parents (grandparents). Children will need to present them in front of the class,
explaining who are the characters from the photos (mother-father, grandparents).
After this preliminary phase, children receive the task of finding stories in pictures. They must ask their
parents or grandparents at home, what is the history of these photographs: when they were made, where
they were made, who are the characters in the picture, which is the story of the photography.
In class, children must present the story related to one of these photos.
The exercise aims to strengthen ties between children, parents and grandparents, for it develops (sometimes
even restores) communication within the family, making the children know their parents as young people, not
88
just as their parents and persuading parents to remember their youth and to reassess their attitude towards
children.
7.15. Case Study: Computer games - intervention plan

Professor Emese Câmpean, National College "Petru Rares" Beclean, Bistrita Nasaud
TYPE: Computer games and their influence on the behavior of preschoolers.
PROBLEM DESCRIPITION
♦ Problem typology
It is a complex one because the ramifications of this behavior are reflected both on individual behavior, but
also on his family. Lack of communication and violence will have a negative impact on school environment
that will integrate the child later.
♦ Involved actors
The actors involved in this type of problem are children and parents, but this is an issue that will affect the
society where they live long term, as the child that develops a computer dependence will become more self-
contained, isolated and violent.
♦ Context of the emergence

How this problem occurs in the case of a preschool, we might ask. First, it's initially a few minutes spent on the
computer. After this, the pride parents feel when they see their child knowing how to use the computer
makes them increase the time spent with computer games, often without checking what the child is actually
playing (it is easy for them, during this time the parent can work something around the house and has the
impression that the little one is safe, for he sees him seated in the next room)
♦ Describing the situation

Games with guns - the ones that most boys prefer - whether real or virtual, raise moral questions concerning
the evolution of the psychic of children, researchers say, because the act of murderer becomes commonplace,
and devalues the concept of death.
Attention problems and hyperactivity, inability to learn, represent other problems that can be generated by
watching TV and playing computer games.
In addition, sociological studies show that violence on TV induces violence in the real world.
♦ What are the reasons for which we consider it an emerging need?

Starting from the definition, we find that we are dealing with a new problem, because the situation that it
generates is also a new, unknown context. The computer, one of the major inventions of the century, proved
to be both a friend and an enemy in developing children's personality.
It is an issue that may have the following effects with major impact on youth development:
• computer games make young people aggressive
• computer games delay real socialization.
• they harm the child and lower the pupils' academic performance
• the child may come into contact with age-inappropriate images
• computer addiction
APPENDIX 89
♦ Possible risks
• expansion of violence phenomena among school children
• communication problems, team networking- social issues
• increased obesity risk
INTERVENTION
• What was done in order to solve the problem?
Studies conducted in recent years attract attention to this phenomenon and try to find relevant solutions.
First, there was the need to introduce educational programs for parents, regarding this issue, an awareness of
the risk they unwittingly expose their children to.
This goal was achieved in particular by developing guidelines (ex. A parent's guide to internet safety HOW TO
KEEP YOUNG INTERNET USERS SAFE, developed by the Australian Government in 2007). This issue is
addressed especially in the specialty materials produced abroad, and less in Romania, a sign that for us it really
is a new problem, less researched.
• What are the recommended actions for addressing the occurred problem?
I believe that, in order to solve this issue, are necessary cooperative efforts between institutions and
organizations involved in children education.
First, the school should insist on carrying particular type of school programs for parents, like "Parent School",
within which to make an X-ray of the problem and come up with solutions, maybe it's too pretentious to say,
but to provide models of good practice.
In this respect, I think it would be useful for the school psychologist to work with doctors, NGO
representatives, to present concrete cases reached because this issue was not given enough importance.
Also, the school could take the initiative to organize more outdoors extracurricular activities, sports, creative
art, all kinds of activities that make pupils happy, develop their critical thinking and creativity and keep them
away from the danger of addiction.
Romanian school emphasizes the peer mediation too little, maybe this is an area that could be developed,
involving those who have had problems with addiction to computer games in educating colleagues.
At the same time, let's not forget that one of the main sources of information, documentation and
communication is the Internet. To avoid the transformation of simply using the computer into dependence,
we can engage students in internet activities very carefully monitored(for example, their involvement in
publishing a school newspaper - would use their knowledge of computer for editing, but they should explore
and search for topics in the real environment, not the virtual one). Also, we can engage them in a research on
this given subject, to allow them to discover the dangers they expose themselves to, and try to draw
conclusions for others.
RESULTS:
At Parent School activities I tried to make a warning alert over violence in online video games and to
acknowledge the parents of the dangers. At first I stimulated them to check, to find out what sites their
children access, to ask for guidance and help when they are overwhelmed by technology.
We give below a list of advice that I also gave the parents. Unfortunately it's only a first step that we made.
Concerning this issue, we have done too little in our schools. Extracurricular activities offered are often dull,
clubs, educational circles are almost nonexistent. So, it's pretty easy to have the PC game as a version, if you're
a student and you are not offered something else.
I think we should consider a prevention campaign, made in the most serious manner, involving as many
factors as possible (parents, teachers, doctor, counselor etc.) and, instead of banning, to offer alternatives.
90
Material for Parents’ School: Computer games and their influence on children
WHAT ARE computer games?

Computer games are a category of software, designed for fun.
TYPES OF COMPUTER GAMES:

- RTS (Real Time Strategy )
- RTT (Real Time Tactics)
- RPG (Role Playing Game)
- TBS (Turn Based Strategy)
- Simulators
- Action
- Adventure
- FPS (First Person Shooter)
- TPS (Third Person Shooter)
- MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online Game)
- Arcade
- Board/Card Games
WHAT SHOULD I KNOW ABOUT THE CONTENT OF A COMPUTER GAME FOR CHILDREN?
First you need to know about what is at stake, what characters are involved in it and what their reactions are.
Is their behavior according to what you think it is normal for your child to see? Are the elements that the game
is built on, too intense (ex. too much action) for the child? The only way you can detect this is if you play the
game first, from one end to another, and all the variants which it has. Classification of the games according to
the age of users can give you general information, but only you are able to decide if indeed the game is
according to the age of your child. Also, you should pay attention to advertising included by certain companies
in the computer or video games on the market. Commercial products such as cereals or sweets are processed
in such a game's characters. Pay attention to the message that characters send the child.
WHAT LIMITS SHOULD I IMPOSE FOR COMPUYTER AND VIDEO GAMES

When using technology it is good to have rules imposed by parents, but there is no magic number of minutes
allocated to the game. Parents need to assess children and their behavior before setting rules. If a computer
or video game induces an excited, violent behaviour then a rule must be established, banning the child to play
it before bed time. If you are worried to expose your child to a violent game for his age, don’t forget to
personally verify it before giving it to the child. Once you establish time limits and video or computer game
types, be sure that all the adults in the childs’ life know these rules and accept them.
WHEN DOES IT BECOME HARMFUL?

„Games become harmful when, because of them, we cannot accomplish our daily activities and they affect our
social life. Computer games effects could make us dependent of them. During the game, heart rate, pulse and
respiration rate increase and sweating occurs. Group games create the illusion of belonging part of a
community, players being given roles that will gradually be assimilated.”
Anca Domuţa
APPENDIX 91
Advantages of computer games Disadvantages of Computer Games

 Can be used to develop certain  Computer games make children aggressive
skills (ex. language learning)  Users of computer games "in reality tend to
 Improves coordination of imitate the gestures they make the characters' do
movements (coordination of eye - in the game"
hand), speed of response  Computer games can damage health - risk of
 Solving problems, developing obesity, photosensitivity
strategies - intellectual  Players are rewarded for violent acts they commit
development  Fatigue, decreased school performance
 Online multiplayer games are ways  Excessive computer use can lead to alienation of
of relating to others - the social the child, he may start to confuse the real world
dimension with the virtual world.
 The child practices attention,  In the virtual world, a character shot really never
memory, reasoning, imagination, dies while in the real world this is happening (such
visual intelligence, language a view is not unique to the computer, but also
 The need of affiliation - a child finds some violent cartoons induce a similar confusion
the computer a loyal companion between real and fictional life).
 Games can improve reading,  A child who always plays the computer gets lonely
writing, can encourage children to  Computer games can induce a state of
develop their creativity dependency.
 Constitutes a form of leisure fun  Games with guns, whether real or virtual, raises
 It helps the child to become moral issues of psychological development of
familiar with technology children:
 Contributes to increased confidence  Making people around targets
and self esteem of children  Trivializing killer act
 It is an environment for active, self-  Devaluation of the concept of death
oriented learning  Redirecting aggression
TIPS FOR PARENTS

1. A personal computer is better than a video game that uses the TV. The computer, in addition to games,
offers a great variety of educational programs for children or text editing programs. Some children will be
able to write at the keyboard before the hand becomes skillful enough to draw letters.
2. Choose carefully the games and programs. It is best to try them yourself before, for both quality and
types are very different. Choose games that promote problem solving, skill development, teamwork, and
which do not contain violence. Select age-appropriate games amending child development. In their choice
keep in mind the wishes of the child, but make sure that he will perform other activities (family, friends,
hobbies).
3. The solution is not total prohibition, but the correct dosage, especially since some games may be
beneficial. Explain why you object to certain games. Do not deny them, but try to make them understand
your objections
4. Involve in the game, play with him, especially if it is a new game, talk about game content and the feelings
that it creates.
5. Place the computer in the living room, not in the playroom, to be able to see how they play.
6. Set rules with your child for the time spent with video games, both at home and outside.
7. Carefully monitor all children’s Internet activities.
8. Warn your children about the dangers of internet contacts and relationships established during online
games.
9. Talk to other parents.
92
REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE A MODEL FOR YOUR CHILDREN, INCLUDING BY THE VIDEO GAMES YOU PLAY
AS AN ADULT.
ADVICE from a Psychologist - CHILD BENEFITS OF THE CONNECTION TO PC

• Limit the time your child spends in front of your computer, by engaging him in other fun activities;
• Talk to him whenever he uses the computer games, helping him to realize what he won, what he
developed and learned by playing;
• Discuss also what he lost if he did not win when playing a game and explain how to proceed. Thus we
develop capacity for analysis and we get a result from an activity which, at first glance, seems to have few
advantages;
• Try to get involved so that the activity turns into spending time in the family;
• Identify strategy games, development of learning a foreign language so as the computer becomes an
instrument of education, not just a fun factor;
• Use the child's request to use the computer more during a day or a period of time, accepting this as a
bonus or reward for something he did in another activity.
(Lector Dr. Georgeta Pânişoară)
ONLINE GAMES SITES - LESS VIOLENT SITES

www.forfun.ro
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/teletubbies/funandgames/
http://funschool.kaboose.com/
http://www.agkidzone.com/cb_games.action
http://atv.disney.go.com/playhouse/gobaby/index.html
A. http://www.fisherprice.com/fp.aspx?st=10&e=gamesLanding&mcat=game_infant,game_toddler,gam
e_preschool&site=us
B. http://www.egyszervolt.hu/
C. http://www.storiesfromtheweb.org/index.htm
Educational Software
- http://www.librarie.net/carti/62274/Vreau-sa-stiu-despre-animale-
REFERENCES
- http://www.revistafelicia.ro/da_Armele_de_jucarie,_un_pericol_pentru_micuti_1002727.htm
- http://www.supercarti.ro/carte/efectele_televiziunii_asupra_mintii_umane_si_despre_cresterea_copiilor_
in_lumea_de_azi___fata_nevazuta_a_televizorului___vol_1_.html
- http://www.childcareconsultants.org/_downloads/100%20Tips%20for%20Parents.pdf
- http://www.fbi.gov/publications/pguide/pguidee.htm
- http://www.thymos.ro/revista.php?id=33
- http://www.avantaje.ro/index.php?a=1263
- http://www.ziaruldeiasi.ro/cms/site/z_is/news/dependenti_din_clasa_intii_136873.html
APPENDIX 93
7.16. Case Study - overdemanding the child; Babies living in Timisoara learn English
before reaching the age of one year
Sorin Marinescu, Princess Margareta of Romania Foundation, Bucharest
PROBLEM DESCRIPTION
a) Problem typology
This case addresses the issue of increasing pressure for success that children experience. We customize this
study with a situation occurring in Timisoara where parents can enroll their children under one year of age at
an English language course. In Romania, the number of such cases is small (only in Timisoara there exists such
a program for learning English), but at international level there is a much higher number of cases, Timisoara
program being "imported" from Israel. Areas where this problem occurs: educational, social, medical.
b) Involved actors
- Children, youth, parents, teachers, educators, doctors, psychologists, school counselors
- Children aged under one year, living in Timisoara
- Parents who enroll their children at an English language course
- The institution providing the English program represented by C.A., aged 24, Timisoara
c) Context of the emergence

The British publication „This Is London” fired a warning signal last year in connection with the future
development of pupils in European schools. Normal growth of children is affected, according to British
specialists, by the strain at school, computer games and eating fast food. In this context, starting from very
early ages, pupils may fall into depression or other personality problems. Things could be more easily
overcome if there was a more balanced curriculum in schools, enabling young people moments of relaxation.
The curriculum experts believe that physical education classes should be paid special attention, for this would
allow the pupils moments of playing games and having fun, besides the opportunity to normally develop
physically.
In the present Romanian society it is fashionable for parents to give children as many extracurricular activities,
hoping that they will use them later in life. We live in a world where competition is becoming tougher, the
stress affecting more and more people. Thus, additional classes start at ages as young as possible and for as
many subjects as possible, children are overwhelmed by the hard subjects and their schedule becomes too
charged by the demands of teachers and their parents.
Children are attracted to competition, new challenges, wanting to show others what they are able, in the
playground as well as at school. As during the school years, the child is still dependent on the parents, he is
trying by all means to please and be praised by them.
Demanding parents may determine the child to perceive any situation as a genuine competition to be won.
There is nothing wrong with that, the only condition is not to exaggerate the scale of competition, because at
the lowest failure, the child will react negatively and deny his own possibilities.
Such reactions of the child can lead in time to particular physical and nervous strain. Children who do not feel
valued for what they are, but only for the results they obtain, have difficulties in forming a correct self-image.
We must teach children from early childhood, we cannot be winners all the time, and sometimes we lose. This
must also be understood by parents, who often handle their childrens' defeats even harder than the child.
We believe that the key players here are parents, babies aged under one year being totally dependent of them
in terms of bio-psycho-social support. What determines a parent to enroll their infant child in a course? At first
glance, the offers for early childhood education would be welcome and consistent with national policies.
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Are all parents that have enrolled children in the course, aware of the importance of stimulating and
systematic educational intervention at an early age? Empirically, we can affirm that the percentage of this
category of parents is very low.
We believe that the main reason why parents enroll their babies from less than a year, in English classes is
generated by social pressure on parents to have successful children.
Studies conducted at John Hopkins University, published in Parents’ Conceptions of Academic Success:
Internal and External Standards by Ablard (1996/1997), show that only 39% of children think they are
pressured by parents to be performing. This low percentage is explained by the fact that 99% of students
enrolled in the survey believe they can meet family expectations.
Other researches (Parents' Conceptions of Academic Success: Internal and External Standards by Ablard
1996/1997) show that 65% of the definitions of parents on children's school success is related to external
factors such as achieving higher performance than peers or obtaining socially recognized achievements such
as success in a prestigious university or getting a very well paid job. Although it has some advantages,
focusing on external standards in achieving performance can be a stressful situation for the children and gets
them used to the idea that success is important not to himself but to please others.
In this context of desiring to have the best children, the situation reached a state when we include a child less
than one year in an educational program for learning foreign languages.
d) The situation description
Babies from Timisoara, less than one year, starting from October 2009, have the opportunity to attend English
courses. R.C., a young woman of only 24 years, from Timisoara, has implemented in Romania the first system
for teaching a foreign language to children under one year, after a well known model in other countries, taken
from Israel (Adevarul Newspaper, 6th October 2009). The system suggests natural language learning,
repetition of words by hearing. Even if the "pupils" cannot speak, they associate certain gestures or
expressions with various objects, and for a year or two, they can speak English and Romanian as well.
Most of the time, parents project their own desires of the child, refusing him the right to choose what he likes
or what suits him. Overwork, as well as stress, give good results if used short term but lead to poor results in
the long term.
Extracurricular competitions- between performance and over demand

Romanian Students and teachers boast results in school and extracurricular national and international
competitions. But all these little competitions actually require a lot of time taken from students’ leisure time.
For schools and colleges, such contests mean points in the evaluation and sites asset in attracting new
students. With approval of the Ministry of Education, directors of schools and colleges are pushing students to
participate in all sorts of special competitions, remarking premature fatigue at children, since the age of 8-9
years.
Exams are not healthy

Stress before exams can lead to serious health disorders at children. It is therefore welcomed the European
perspective, for avoiding examinations before the age of sixteen.
Extra Tutorials
Children are traumatized by their parents since the 4th grade, by attending a lot of tutorials that increase
stress that the child cannot bear. The mentally weak and neurotic disrupt and reach trauma and intractable
depression before exams.
Children are taught to be responsible when they are still young

And, as if excessive loading schedule would not be enough, children are taught difficulty when young.
Although doctors recommend that the weight carried by a child shall not exceed 10% of its body weight, each
day the students carry pounds of books, stationery, sport equipment.
APPENDIX 95
Also, school strain decreases resistance to infection. Children tense, stressed by the overtime language
courses, music, ballet and sports are prone to illness. The child needs time to do what he/she wants, to relax
by playing outdoors if possible, not at the computer. Immunity depends on respecting children sleeping hours,
also. Children from 10 to 11 years should go to bed before 9 pm, and high school children and adolescents
before 10 pm. Children need to catch the first wave sleep, which starts at ten o’clock at night and it is an
immunity growth factor.
e) What are the reasons for which we consider it an emergent need?

Overuse of children is a condition that, if it continues long term, may affect behavior, social relationships and
health, both in school and beyond.
f) Possible risks / consequences

From a medical point of view
Psychiatrists say that over-demanding children leads to short-term neuroses and affects personality, reduces
motor skills and cognitive performance; others become anxious or depressed and apathetic. Also this leads to
deformations of the spine which, seen from behind, is S-shaped (scoliosis, kyphosis).
From a Socio-educational point of view

Long term over-demanding endangers the child’s career and success later in life; the child abused in this way
can't be easily integrated into groups of friends and will not be happy and when reaching adolescence he may
not do anything with pleasure.
Some of them have behavioral problems (running away from home, missing school, they begin to smoke,
drink), others try to adapt and succeed in this, more or less. Most such children are attracted to the street,
which educates them in its' own way.
For young children over-demanding can affect their intellectual development, and normality of emotions.
INTERVENTION
What was done to solve the problem?

Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports wants to increase curriculum’s flexibility. This would be extremely
welcome for small pupils that give up childhood games too quickly. For young children from the age of one
year there is an Early Education Curriculum that marks the education course of action for children aged
between 1 and 6 years. No regulations on children under one year exist, which opens the ground for initiatives
like the one in Timisoara.
What are the recommended actions to address the problem occurred?

a) Informing the parents about this issue in meetings of the Parents' School and Parent Committee, and the
parents participating in various parenting programs.
b) Create support groups for parents who have children in that situation, the participation in this group
aiming at exchanging information, emotional downloads of those overwhelmed by the emotional issues.
c) Participation of school counselors, psychologists, social workers, counselors, people who work in the
socio-human to meetings where these issues are discussed;
d) Develop regulations for education of children under one year old.
THINGS TO REMEMBER FOR PARENTS:

1. Do not nag him constantly with homework he must do, in order to avoid creating a feeling of rejection.
2. Talk to him about work or exams, trying to stimulate him to make an effective work program.
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3. Teach him how to learn, teach him confidence and pride on his ability to learn.
4. Praise him each time for common success, but do not overdo.
5. Help him overcome his failures explaining that he could learn from them.
6. Be close to him for helping when he is in need.
7. Help him turn the obligation of learning into the pleasure of discovering new things.
8. Be gentle / and understanding in any situation. Be patient with your child’s small mistakes or hesitations.
9. Be close to him when he feels the situation is too complicated and wants to quit.
10. Appreciate the successes and do not severely penalize failures.
11. Temper his ambition and direct him in a constructive way.
12. Educate his perseverance, without exaggeration and develop his competitive spirit.
RESULTS
Few parents have the desire to give a well adjusted adult to society, still able to dream, to enjoy a sunrise, feel
fulfilled apart from diplomas. One has to have the courage to give the child credit, trust him and invest time.
7.17. Case Study - proper diagnosis and supported intervention

Viorica Catana, Nr. 2 School with classes I-VIII Ulmeni
CASE PRESENTATION
CMC, born on 23.11.1986 in a family environment conducive to growth and development of a child with
healthy parents with higher education: the father, an engineer zootechnician, mother, a teacher in the home
county of Călăraşi. The family is formed out of three member and they live in a decent home.
Examination is made at 4 years and 6 months. Psychological evaluation was requested by the boy's mother,
which for about three years was going with her son from hospital to hospital. At age three, the child had
already made some medical checks and a provisional diagnosis - bilateral hearing loss on average. Mother's
fears were true but the diagnose was provisional as doctors said the boy is too young to be diagnosed
definitively.
The child was dependent on the mother even in the middle of other family members. His mother understood
him best, had patience with him, explained what was happening around.
The mother proposed the visit to a psychologist, wishing to exhaust all possibilities to correct diagnosis of her
son. The child is already addicted to his mother and he refuses to play, he gets angry when children call him
"deaf" or "dumb". Being the only child of the family, having all the necessary toys, he refuses to share them
with other children, and if they do not let him control the game, he calls the mother anywhere he cannot fend
for himself (or does not agree).
The psychologist hears the whole story and uses a series of tests to be convinced of the seriousness of the
situation in which the child and his family are.
The child receives a picture of a boat with a number of circles (lifebuoys), he is directed to count them, to
color them. The child is required to reproduce the image and then to draw a person out of straight lines. He is
being questioned about colors, sizes, thickness and the differences between them. He is left in a group of
children in order to see how well he integrates and cooperates. The child is given a bucket of "lego" objects to
handle and his insight is followed.
APPENDIX 97
EDUCATIONAL INTERVENION PROGRAM

The definitive diagnosis of bilateral moderate hearing loss, stuttering polymorphous, light mental retardation
below four years, problems with speech / language was ascertained after the special examination.
A new series of investigations starts in order to find possible causes of these deficiencies.
Childbirth (from what the mother said) occurred exactly on time, the child having 51 cm and 3.20 kg at birth
and a 10 mark. He was breastfed six months and then switched to cow milk with surplus food completely
appropriate to each life stage. Both the child and mother were followed by the dispensary midwife throughout
to mother's postnatal period with visits twice a week, the mother receiving all information necessary for the
harmonious growth and development of the child. The book „Mother and Child” was a big help to this young
family. No other special event took place during this period of the child's life, which would have influenced the
delay in development.
One of the arguments accepted by almost all doctors, has been the nuclear explosion of Chernobyl - even in
1986 when mother was pregnant a few months.
Behavioral definitions:
- expressive language deficiency, clearly demonstrated by the limited vocabulary, grammatical
errors and difficulty remembering common words and complex sentences adequate to the
mental development;
- comprehensive disorder manifested by difficulty in understanding words and simple
sentences, or certain types of words and spatial terms of location in space), or long sentences;
- learning problems and / or production of language, development that delay academic or
professional achievement, or social integration.
-
Long term objectives:
- reaching the speech and language identified in the Educational Plan Individual (EPI);
- improving expressive and receptive skills to the level of capacity;
- integration of the child in every school and extracurricular activities
- assuming the responsibilities imposed by parents raising and educating a child with CES;
- teaching parents to continue the work of specialists;
- teaching the child to overcome their infirmities;
- forming a social framework based on self-image according to reality;
Short term objectives:

- finding out the level of adaptation and development of the child in school;
- evaluation of speech / language to determine the acceptance of special education;
- psychological testing;
- verbal acceptance of special education services to interfere on deficiencies of speech /
language;
- acceptance and cooperation in treatment recommendations or interventions offered by the
speech therapist.
Intervention Strategy:
- referring clients to a speech therapy evaluation to determine the presence of deficiency, and
acceptance of special education services;
- attending a meeting on Individual Educational Plan with parents, teachers and speech
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therapist to determine the client's ability for special education services, designing educational
interventions, setting targets and delineation of emotional problems to be dealt with through
counseling;
- encouraging parents to maintain regular communication with teachers and speech therapists,
to facilitate the development of speech / language of the client;
- confronting, challenging parents on unrealistic and excessive pressure on the client in order to
make him "speak properly";
Therapeutic strategy:
Psychologist patient relationship is good, he communicates, he is energetic, he wants to reach the office
hoping that this will help him integrate more easily into groups of children in kindergarten and then in school.
The psychologist with warm voice, with simple questions and showing a maximum condition is approaching
him more and more, persuading the child to cooperate more effectively.
Mental level, slightly below the age average, requires the psychologist to find strategies to address the various
categories. The mental level, slightly below the age average, requires the psychologist to find strategies to
address the various categories. The state of mobilization during the meetings is positive, lowering to the end
of therapy. The interest is almost always pointed to the favorite games: pasell, lego, monkeys, coloring.
The maximum energy resources, an extremely energetic child but who wants to play alone or in the mothers’
sight, with his toys and not with other children.
After several sessions, often using the game, the psychologist found that in this case, the child has an
individual character during the game. He also notes that the speech is also reduced, imagination is minimal,
not being able to make the passage from concrete forms to the abstract ones.
In the memorizing process, the attended child doesn't seem deficient in this case. But his understanding has
been sluggish due to weak perceptions.
The Child's personality is still strong, he already appropriates behavior rules to both the environment and to
adults, distinguishing between what is good what is bad.
Following the psychological tests the child was exposed to, behind medical examinations, together with the
family, the psychologist decides that he must go and speak to a therapist. The child's diagnosis is established
definitively, recommending the integration of the child in approved school groups, needed medication, further
counseling sessions and speech therapy - that is considered a less developed nerve which prevents the child to
hear better. The fact that hearing is less developed makes the child's behavior like described above, and not
other more severe cases.
At the end of this case study I want to say that this is the beginning of a hard work with my son who is now 23
years old, is a student in Bucharest at the faculty of "Veterinary Medicine", daily frequency, non-paying tax, in
the fourth year of study and he is also a Law student at "Spiru Haret" collage, third year. He is a special child,
100% integrated in society, a child who any mother would like to have.
All this was possible with the support of doctors, educators, teachers, psychologist and family.
7.18. Case study: emotional fragility - methods of intervention

Angelica Ghinea, Professor of Pedagogy, at the Pedagogical School "Vasile Lupu", in Iasi
Usually this is manifested by low self-confidence, inability to make decisions, to analyze opportunities, to
explain their own moods and feelings. Often, children confuse emotions with feelings, their own perceptions
with objective reality and they take refuge in a world forged by them, which they believe is more secure.
APPENDIX 99
Causes and effects on children:

• School does not teach students how to speak and say "no" - this is an important issue and should be
treated accordingly. The students are "designed" several demands by many factors with which they
interact, regardless of the actual capabilities of the student, his preferences. As these requests were often
very "compulsory" students tend to honor even tasks that they do not adhere to and, thus, appear
frustration, breach of pride, self disappears and all the energy and all energy is directed toward tasks.
• Increasing the amount of information from which children may not be able to choose / filter essentials -
the school proposes numerous situations in which the student must learn. Most often, unfortunately, such
learning is mechanical. Also the volume of information is very high, which discourages the student,
especially since he/she has not developed yet, effective mechanisms for learning, installing a state of
spleen, which immediately shows its effects: apathy, vague goals, lack of interest, poor performance in
school. Without those mechanisms, the school material becomes an inert structure, inaccessible to the
student. It is clear that it will be difficult to choose fair sources of information, accurate and verifiable and
then to select the appropriate information enabling their selection criteria, critically processing it, and to
synthesize and filter out the essentials.
• Students give up easily, even when confronting with obvious temptations of the potential sources of
danger
• Students undertake irrational human relations that threaten their physical and mental integrity
• Lowers expectations
• Young people take refuge in all sorts of states, places, entourages, in pursuit of happiness
Motions for avoiding situations of emotional fragility:

• Developing firstly the communication field, intense socialization accomplished in every situation and very
early learning experiences (family) and training the experiences of teachers (kindergarten, school, non-
formal education factors).
• Explain the types and reasons of all human relationships (the child must know the types of human
relations and justice of being established, to better understand interactions with others, to understand
himself and to report correctly to his states, his feelings and others).
• Working individually (didactics adapt to the needs of children, implying the presence of a skilled teacher to
apprehend and correctly interpret signs and directing the student to build a good self-image); affective
pedagogy - working with the soul, in addition to what is done in feelings school-education.
• Adapting entertainment to current conditions, to the resources that children have at hand (fun to assume,
for example, handling techniques that are proven to have positive effects on various compartments of
pupils' personality, for example, a camera- not just that it helps to know the nature, but it develops the
spirit of observation, it forms a correct perception, it may stimulate a preference for certain issues, colors,
themes of reality etc, as it can also be a wonderful tool for leisure, entertainment - one can take pictures
at the swimming pool, during trips, etc.).
• Case Studies - different personalities - which should be able to give the possibility of weighing the
importance of enabling a material base, compared with a well developed personal information scheme
and a complex of skills and abilities to ensure success in socio-professional fields.
• Intelligent playing - playing is the predominant form of entertainment and therefore special attention
should be given to the background and objects used for it. One has to choose toys and objects to stimulate
the intelligence of children and to help them develop certain skills and capacities.
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7.19. Project on educational therapy of timidity- „The Courage Group”

Liliana Bulgagiu Psychologist – „Ştefan cel Mare” Theoretical High School, Hârlău, Iaşi
Let’s imagine life like a dance floor- the boys with opened shirts, showing their manly chest and girls wearing
tight dresses and running riot while dancing. For them life is a party. They are young, happy people, they have
self confidence, ready to feel loose, euphoric and enthusiastic on the dance floor. In contradiction to this
thrilling life style of those dancing, we can easily observe the calm and cold image of those standing outside of
the dance floor. They are the shy ones!
We can see them daily in class rooms, on the lobby, in the crowded yard of the high school, hiding their face
and living in the shadow of the daring, happy, talkative ones. Although the society is in a constant change and
modernization, and the value system of modern teenagers is based on nerve, courage, entrepreneurial spirit,
independence, we often find shy youngsters which don’t have the courage to be themselves, they depreciate
themselves, they have multiple difficulties in developing social relations, they have difficulties in expressing
their emotions, embracing a silent attitude, anonymity and underestimating themselves.
One can identify as being a primary emergent need, the emotional fragility, low self esteem, vulnerability and
real communication barriers with his/her own person or with others, bad self management.
During my experience as a Pedagogical Psychologist I encountered and worked with many shy youngsters that
had the courage to open the cabinets’ door and ask for help. During the group sessions they learnt together to
smile, to discuss, to firmly express their point of view, to make decisions, to have fun and most of all to
transform the thoughts about themselves (starting at the first meetings with: <>, and continuing with more positive feelings: <>).
The advanced project comes as a continuation of the 9 years worked at the pedagogical psychological
assistance cabinet from a high school, adding the fact that during the last three years I have worked with a
therapeutic group for decreasing timidity. The group members have been monitored even after the counseling
process: the constant, persevering ones recorded visible progress, measurable, while some of them left the
group accusing different reasons (lack of time, will deficit, rapid improvement).
Because they were not financed, the activities had been done only in the psychology cabinet, without
exceeding the local school space, focusing on scholar and family effective adaptation and developing
intra/interpersonal communication skills. It is also a support for this category of people, often neglected at
home and at school in quasi reasons.
The Goal
Development of social skills by forming a training group to educate timidity.
General Objectives
♦ Training of personal development for 12 shy youngsters.
♦ Educational counseling for young people, parents and teachers
♦ Identifying best practices in educational therapy for shy people
♦ Developing social skills of the target group.
FRAMEWORK OBJECTIVES
♦ Promoting a positive and realistic perspectives on the self image

♦ Self-awareness
♦ Exercise of an open, expressive, positive physical image
♦ Forming and developing effective communication techniques with himself and with others
♦ practicing positive and negative emotion expression
APPENDIX 101
♦ redefining the personal role within family, school, group of friends, society
♦ fostering teamwork and collegiality
♦ restructuring the self system of values
♦ learning techniques of argumenting and presenting their own thoughts
♦ finding a model of social normality which can guide their present and future work
TARGET GROUP
12 high school students (10th class, 15-16 years old), identified during the second Semester of the school year
2010/2011, with various forms of shyness.
EMERGING NEEDS OF THESE YOUTH

♦ Optimizing self-awareness
♦ Increasing self-confidence
♦ Successfully adapting and integrating in a group ( at home, school, with friends, in society) and
managing to create a personal entourage
♦ Spontaneous, uncensored expression of affective states, positive and negative
♦ Educating a cheerful, expressive smile
♦ Sympathy, empathy, acceptance of others with good and less good aspects
♦ Optimizing and developing effective communication skills (verbal, nonverbal, paraverbal)
♦ Stimulating creativity
♦ Adaptability to the unpredictable, unknown, new social contexts
♦ Flexibility in changing situations and in modern communication technologies.
METHODS USED TO IDENTIFY THESE NEEDS

♦ Systematic observation of individual behavior
♦ Consulting master teachers
♦ Review Questionnaire
♦ Objective assessment method
♦ Checklist
♦ Case Analysis
♦ Conversation (interview guide)
♦ Collective class discussions (collective advice)
♦ Self intimation - students who came to the psychologist by their own.
LIFE SKILLS THAT THE YOUNG WILL DEVELOP

1. Communication Ability
- to feel free to say what you think, what you see, what you feel, without becoming aggressive
- to speak in front of a crowd, being able to argue and explain
- to support contradictory, fair discussion without feeling inferior
- listening to others, demonstrating active listening
- to appropriately express in a non verbal and para-verbal manner
- to objectively refuse an unpleasant situation (power to say NO)
- provide and ask for feedback
- to present arguments favorable for opinions
- appropriate use of modern communication techniques (mail, Internet)
- being assertive, expressing feelings and thoughts without offending others, but also respecting the
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rights of others
- to practice body language - look, walk, attitude, clothing.
2.Ability to cooperate, collaborate and network with others
- to work in groups, assuming various roles
- to initiate dialogues, activities, actions
- to develop and maintain relationships with others
- to search for company and entourage when solving tasks
- to acquire „social magnetism”, being able to adapt to the new and to be sympathetic to others
- to prefer leisure in the company of others and not alone (trips, party, hiking).
3. Coping skills
- to replace the asocial mechanisms (isolation, avoidance) with positive responses
- to initiate exchange of information
- to creatively solve problems
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES
d) Activities with pupils
i. attracting pupils towards the cabinet by
o using non-formal activities (planning office, focus groups on various topics) - Sept. 2010
o initial psychological evaluation - Oct. 2010 by Timidity Diagnosing Methods
 Berger character questionnaire for emotion-E

 Eysenck Inventory for introversion-I
 Zimbardo Inventory,for shyness-T
 Objective assessment method - OAM
 Self perception shyness scale
 intimacy journal
 real - imaginary Self-portrait
 Checklist
 list of intimidating cases and people
 successes – failures List
 quality – flaws List.
 Compliments-injury list
 „Who am I?”
ii. personal development training (self-awareness, building self-image, positive thinking, effective ways of
relating) - 14 educational therapy sessions, Nov.2010 - March 2011.
o 1st MEETING – forming the group:
 self-presentation, the story of each member, frame knowledge
 self-perception of shyness (self-perception scale)
 psychotherapeutic contract
 Setting group rules and finding a code name for the group
Methods: creative exercise, relaxation techniques, dialogue, self-awareness exercise, therapeutic
metaphor, play therapy.
o 2 MEETING
nd
 Physical and mental disconnection

 Identifying mental and behavioral stereotypes („the movie of my life”-mental clichés are:
perfectionism, self aggressiveness, inferiority complex, overcompensation, anticipated
negative polarization „ I'm better alone than with my colleagues, they are all looking at me, it
never works out for me” etc.)
APPENDIX 103
 Listing of common stereotypes

Methods: relaxation techniques, systematic observation, self-disclosure, story-telling, creative
exercise
o 3rd MEETING
 real and imaginary self-portrait, list of qualities and flaws
 „Who am I?”
 List of personal and collective expectations
 Exhibition of self representing
Methods: exercise self / inter knowledge: Self Portrait, Do I know myself well?; conversation,
brainstorming, drawing
o 4th MEETING
 Educating oneself physically (body language) - non-verbal communication, walk, look, smile,
voice, position, movement, mimicry, gestures
 Adaptation of emotional expression to spoken message
 Practicing in front of the mirror in the office and home
Methods: The self model method, training, practicing body language, observation, self-
observation, role playing, challenge
o 5 , 6th MEETINGS
th
 Verbal language education, examples of conversation, dialogue, communication in various

situations at home, at school, with friends, strangers
 Initiation of concise, clear, authoritative dialogues, without preconceived ideas
 Role play, in the office and at home (discussions with the mother, with a teacher about a
grade, with a colleague about a movie, making public announcements, etc.)
Methods: The method of initiative, role play, therapeutic metaphor, the hats game, simulation,
self-evaluation, completion of individual records, observation, challenge
o 7th MEETINGS
 Listing compliments and injuries received over time
 Role-play - the victim and aggressor
 Transforming the injuries into compliments
 Transmission of compliments / messages to all members and to some known people
Methods: completion of individual sheets, role playing, communication exercises, simulation,
analysis of a character, direct instruction, challenge, positive impressions Chain
o 8th MEETINGS
 Educating counter reactions in a conflict situation
 Role-play in case of strife, practice domination of the dialogue, the arguments and the
responses they never offered
Methods: simulation, "why?" technique, argumentation, role-playing, negotiation game, direct
instruction, self-suggestion and relaxation exercises - positive thinking, therapeutic letter, anti-
stress exercise, music, jokes, etc.
o 9th MEETING
 Exercising the ability to say no
 Supporting their point of view to others, arguing
 Creating concrete situations of refusal
Methods: role playing, psychodrama, experiential learning method, debate, communication
game, negation method, simulation
o 10th MEEETING
 COLLABORATION - our common story, everybody contributes to the collective scenario on a
freely chosen topic
 Achieving a collective design- collective collage "Friendship Tree"
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Methods: art therapy, the collage technique, narrating, metaphor therapy, free drawing,
brainstorming, cooperative play, observation
o 11th MEETING
 Social Ego Education (interview) - each member is a reporter and interviewed on topics
freely chosen
 One can overcome the "space" of the group, leaving the secure area of the cabinet
 Each member is given grades by others in the group
Methods: simulation game, role play, practice, scale of observation, training, investigation,
challenge, interrogation
o 12th AND 13th MEETINGS
 The art of public speaking
 Developing an encouraging inner speech
 Practicing the - "I know I can!" speech
 Introducing and sustaining a discourse on various freely chosen topics with the guests-
teachers, friends and parents.
Methods: independent work, presentation of materials - verbal, nonverbal, paraverbal, role play,
the game of communication, body language exercise
o 14th MEETING - Self-evaluation and inter-evaluation - what has changed, what remained
 Final Evaluation Questionnaire
 Self-perception scale of shyness for controlling occurred changes
Methods: checklist, self observation, free discussion, non-standard methods, brainstorming
TRACKED INDICATORS
o For verbal, nonverbal, paraverbal communication:
 looking the partner in the eye with a smile
 strong voice, safe, open
 standing on a chair in the center of the room
 free emotional expression, inert, flexible
 verbal broad, detailed responses
 compliments, congratulations, positive messages transmitted through various ways -
classical and modern
 discussion with a neighbor, unknown persons, teacher, person of the opposite sex
 announcement in front of a group
 speech in front of friends
 recorded interview
 conference on a given theme
 refusal, expressions of disapproval for an activity, event or person
o For involvement and initiative:
 listing actions with specific tasks, at home, school, group
 effective participation in extracurricular activities and lessons
 organizing fun activities, a birthday party
 personal micro-recital
o For Cooperation - Collaboration
 going out in the world, large spaces, unknown
 achieving common collage
 organizing a cultural evening and meetings with parents, colleagues, friends
 teamwork to carry out given tasks(symposium, role play, story, etc.).
iii. Assigning the role - "Magic Night" - Dec.2010

 each group member has an original moment(poetry, music, dance, drawing, etc.) in an
outdoor setting, inviting three loved ones(from family, school, group of friends)
APPENDIX 105
 granting diplomas for getting out of the crowd!

Methods: Methods to stimulate creativity – drama-therapy, music therapy, art therapy, iner-
evaluation, personal portfolio.
iv. Outdoor activities -one day workshop: mid-term evaluation trip "Discovering Iasi" - visits to points of
maximum cultural and artistic attractions
 The known space of the cabinet, school, town, is exceeded trying to practice skills by
exploring reality. One would also pay attention to the following: the degree of
adaptation to different social situations, how the interrelationships proceed (verbal
language, nonverbal, paraverbal), everyday problem solving, spontaneity, etc.
Methods: Agora type exercise, group discussion, questioning, impressions questionnaire, the
list of issues, challenges, control grid
v. Debate contest "Techniques for effective communication. Communication jams”
 Each member of the treatment group will make a team with a classroom colleague and
together they will present a debate with a jury and an audience and as many methods
and techniques as possible, for optimizing communication intra/interpersonal - Feb.
2011
Methods: The method debate, case analysis, experiential learning, challenge, cooperative
play, investigation.
vi. Final Party

 Each member of the group will hold a cocktail party at home with his dear guest,
evaluating the body language, conversation, denial, dance, etc. - April. 2008
 Group party and evaluation of the project, granting customized honorary diplomas to
all members, colleagues, parents, teachers will be invited - "Optimistic alumni Ball" -
March 8, 2011
Methods: challenge, music therapy, self observation, key control, frequency analysis on
activities, project portfolio, the final report, SWOT analysis, presentation of project film, photo
exhibition
e) ACTIVITIES INVOLVING PARENTS

– directly advisory and psychological assistance services for parents of 12 children, in order to
seek the child's personality - permanently on request
Methods: biography conversation, interview guide, dialogue, exercise creativity, constructivist
counseling (mapping, lifeline, family tree, etc..).
– Joint workshop with children - "Portrait of my family temperamental" - in January. 2008
Methods: teamwork, problem-solving, design, presentation graphics, case analysis, role playing,
systematic observation.
f) THE IMPACT ON COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

– awareness of the school population to eliminate discrimination and prejudice (such as
"timidity is a disease"), encouraging equality and shy student support, involvement in
supporting it -collective advice throughout the program
106
– workshop on best practices, collecting best practices and implementation of a report to be

included in the guide and disseminated to other interested schools, offices CJAPP network-
March 2011
Methods: games to break the ice, problem-solving, group work, case studies, brainstorming,
completing the sheets, discussion, observation, free conversation
METHODS OF EVALUATION
Evaluation will be done in four stages as follows:
- initial assessment through: needs analysis, self-perception of shyness questionnaire, observation sheet,
interview guidelines, control grid
- ongoing assessment, intermediary by:
o activity reports for each action
o work products analysis
o participants self-evaluation in activity
o frequency analysis of the presence in activities
o photography exhibitions, drawings, collages
o receiving feedback
o Nonstandard methods
- final evaluation by:
o control grind
o self-perception of shyness questionnaire
o best practices guide
o final portfolio
o summaries and inventories of problems
o S.W.O.T. analysis
o workshop on non-formal analysis of "Optimistic alumni Ball"
o forming a team of "specialists" from the group members for the replicability of the project and
their involvement in the development of future activities,
o project film
- post-deployment assessment (after 3 months) by
o Comparative analysis of the results achieved by students involved in the project, who did not
participate directly in activities
o systematic observation of the specialists team, empowering them in initiating, designing and
carrying out activities for and with shy students
EXPECTED RESULTS
 At the PHYSICAL self level - forming a positive image of itself, training and aesthetics of its contours’
 At the self MENTAL level- psychoanalysis of false automatic thoughts, inferiority complex and positive self-
suggestion’
 At the self Behaviour level - gradual desensitization to intimidating situations and people, initiative in the
personal, academic, social planning’
 At the self SOCIAL level - communication training, dialogue, discussion of the contradictory, assertiveness,
refusal, creative group collaboration tasks, broadening the field of social relations,
 At the self SCHOOL level - better school integration, optimizing adaptation to the requirements and rigors
of school.
LONG TERM EFFECTS

- Non-academic and social adapting without tension, active involvement of shy students in the school's
educational life
- School Success, progress
APPENDIX 107
- Improving intergroup relations

- Training and educating a healthy, pro-social lifestyle
- Spontaneity development and creative problem solving in any field of activity - home, school, community
- The motivation for a better socio-professional status as a unique personality structure
- Achieving high standards in the personal, academic, professional fields- training an optimistic philosophy
of life
- Specify an initial educational and vocational options (educational path later).
DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES
During project kick-off:
• Articles and announcements at the cabinets’ pannel and at the information conference during kick-off
activities
• An announcement on the high school web-site
• Distributing the promotional materials in the school, at collective counseling sessions, during parents
meetings at Parent Club
During implementation:
• Analysis reports for each activity, presented in meetings of Student Associations and in the school
newspaper, announcements on the high school web-site
• Exhibition with images taken during the activities
• Informing seminars ( how much and how we realize what we proposed)
When ending the project:
• Final seminar of analysis- The Optimistic Graduates’ Ball

• S.W.O.T. analysis of the project ( negative aspects, positive, activity grades, performance and activism of
all participants)
7.20. Activity Project- Group counseling with parents

Daniela Luca, Ion Mincu Industrial School Group, Vaslui
The Object: Psychological and Pedagogical counseling

Area of intervention: Communication and social abilities
Type of activity: Parents group counseling
Allocated time: 60 minutes
Activity theme: Communication (destructive- constructive) parents- adolescents
Primary objective:
• Forming abilities / skills and attitudes that parents need in order to influence children’s behaviour in a
positive manner.
Operational objectives:
When ending the project, participants will be capable to:
A. Informative:
O1. differentiate constructive communication particularities from those of destructive communication;
108
O2. enumerate the forms of destructive communication and those of constructive communication;
O3. identify solutions for improving communication with children;
O4. freely express their opinions;
O5. identify the positive influences for developing communication competences of their children.
B. Forming:
O1. be aware of the necessity of active listening;
O2. valorize diversity in a positive manner;
O3. want to work together, with the form master/ advisor for identifying the most efficient communication
techniques;
O4. develop interactions within the group;
O5. active and interested participation at the events development.
RESOURCES:
a. procedural: heuristical conversation, „carousel” method, role playing, debate, argumentation,
explanation, facilitated conversation, observation, phrase addition;
b. material: flip-chart and flip-chart pages, work files, markers
c. organizational: frontal, individual, with groups
ACTIVITY DEPLOYMENT:
Lecture Allocated Psychologist professors’ Methods and Possible questions
Parents Activity
Moment time Activity techniques in discussions
- each person/
- insures the conditions parent receives
for a good activity; a name badge
2 minutes - presents on a flip- where he
Preparing chart page the rules writes the -explanation,
Moment that would be name he wants -conversation
respected during the to be adressed
activity; with during the
activity;
- each parent
- suggests, in order to
will present
facilitate interpersonal
him/herself and
Knowledge- knowledge, that each -„carousel”
at the same
inter 10 parent picks up a note method,
time, will
personal minutes from a bowl and -explanation,
answer the
knowledge answers at the question -conversation
question from
written on it (different
the note he/she
questions- annex 1)
picked;
- explains to the -in turns, each - Was it
participating parents participant easy/difficult to
Creating an
the relation between a should verbally - explanation answer these
emotional
possible situation- or mimic - verbal and request?
state of
feelings- behavior; transmit non-verbal - How difficult/easy
interest for 13
- gives the participants different communicati was it to imagine
the activity minutes
the chance to choose emotional on exercise the given situation?
(capturing
notes on which there states and „States and Wht did you feel? -
the
are written hypothetical mention the feelings”; - How do you
attention)
situations a parent can way he/she is consider this
experience (annex 2). acting. imagination
APPENDIX 109
exercise helped
you?
- presents as a role play -present the - How did you feel?
interpreted by a group bahviour of the - What was the
of three students, a two characters reaction of Dans’
parent-adolescent (mother and mother, in the
communication son) and states negative version?
situation ( the native both negative And in the positive
version and the positive aspects and version?
version), situation that positive aspects - role play, - How do you think
sights the behaviour of of parent- - observation, the situation ended
a student which comes adolescent - facilitated in both versions?
home from school very communication conversation, - What was not
nervous and a mother ; -debate, appropriate/ did not
Identifying
which reacts with - follow the PPT - explanation; function when the
the
anger/calm; material in an mother tried to
particulariti
-presents the forms of interactive discipline Dan?
es of
25 destructive manner and fill - From all of the role
destructive-
minutes communication, as a up the forms of played attitudes,
constructiv
PPT material and, constructive; which one is the
e
through analogy most appropriate
communica
discovers the forms of for efficient
tion
constructive children-adults
communication; relations?
- summarizes together - Does any
with the parents / connection between
participants, the forms this role play and
of destructive and some familiar
constructive situations/
communication (Annex discussions, exist?
4). - How do you
consider this
exercise helped
you?
- explains to the parents - each parent
why it is necessary to picks a note
achieve a final from the bowl
evaluation and offers and he fills out
parents/ participants a either the conversation,
Activity 10 bowl with notes, adding beginning of a explanation,
Evaluation minutes that each of them must sentence that phrase
pick one note (Annex 5) can e found on addiction.
the note, or
he/she answers
the question on
the note.
110
ANNEX 1- Interpersonal Knowledge

• State a pleasant memory from your childhood.
1. What reward (the most important) do you grant yourself?
2. How many children do you have? Of what age?
3. What would you do during a free day (with no obligations)?
4. Which was your favourite professor? Why?
5. Do you punish your children? Why? How?
6. Do you trust children?
7. If you had the chance to change your occupation, what would you choose? Why?
8. What kind of feelings do you have when coming to school? Why?
9. What are your children’s’ talents?
ANNEX 2 - „States and feelings”

1. On your birthday, you receive from your child a very nicely packed gift, you impatiently open it and
you find inside what you have wanted for a long time
- Outside it is already night time, and your child is running late without a reason. Finally he shows up.
- You find out that your daughter is keeping a diary in which she also wrote something bad about you.
- A neighbor comes at you and complains about the fact that your son has beaten his child.
- Your son/ daughter comes and shows you a paper she/he got a very small grade on.
- Your son/daughter wants to tell you something uncomfortable, but he/she hesitates and you want to
know what it is about.
- Your son/daughter has cleaned his/her room without being told by someone.
- Your son brings you a bouquet made out of your favourite flowers.
- Your daughter asked permission to go at a party with an entourage you don’t know.
- In your child’s room is a friend that won’t go home, although you told them it is late.
ANNEX 3 – Role play scenario
- Negative version-
Character: the narrator, Dan, his mother
One day, Dan, a student at the city high school, came home shouting:
<>
You could tell the anger on his face; he threw his books on the floor and shouted one more time:
<>
His mother was shocked by this behaviour. She entered the room full of anger:
<<Dan, she called, I am ashamed of you! This is not a proper way to speak about a professor!>>
<>
<<Enough! I will not allow you to speak in this manner anymore!>> The mother shouted even louder.
<<And what can you do about it?>> The boy inflamed.
<> (then she hits him)
Dan started to yell:
<>
- Hating people is not good, and I should punish you and beat you because you called someone stupid-
especially you teacher. Immediately pack the books you threw all around the room!>>
At this moment Dan was filled with anger. He went out of the room and he slammed the door behind him.
- Positive version –
One day, Dan a student at the city high school, came home shouting:
<>
APPENDIX 111
You could tell the anger on his face; he threw his books on the floor and shouted one more time:
<>
His mother did not agree with his behaviour. He had always taught him to respect the adults and not to
call people „stupid”. But she realized that there was a hidden reason for this attitude and she started
searching for it. Look at what happened next:
<<Oh..., she said, but you are really upset!>>
<<Of course I am, Dan answered back. This professor made a fool of me in front of the whole class. >>
<<You got angry because you were offended in front of your friends, is that right? >>
<<Yes, that’s right. Dan’s face started to relax, while he was packing the books he threw on the floor. I
don’t understand why she picked exactly me. It wasn’t my fault. And I tried to tell her, but she just
wouldn’t listen. >>
 The forms of
 The forms of destructive communication are very numerous, the
constructive
most frequent in families, are the following:
communication, are:
a) tact- involves a) the double message – it is possible when a parent might
„sincerity, open communicate concomitantly using different channels, using different
communication, codes; it appears when two different messages are transmitted through
respect for other two different channels at the same time, the contradictions between
members and concern messages creating discomfort, ambiguity and lack of security;
not to hurt them”(S. b) posing the others in a defensive position- it appears when the
Wahlroos, 1983) and speaker is assuming a superior attitude or when he/she is adopting a
needs empathy prosecutor role. The speaker may auto-assess as being more intelligent,
towards thoughts, more informed concerning a specific subject or life in general, or he/she
feelings and might try to hide in this way his/her sense of insecurity. He/she does not
motivational stated of consider this as being a mistake in any way. The person put in defensive is
others, in order to find concentrating so much on the message and on his/her supposed
the best moment for inferiority, that his/her first reaction will be of self defense. His/her degree
discussing certain of receptivity to the „superior” person will diminish as he/she is not being
aspects; respected as he/she should be. (J.R. Strong, 1983; J.R. Gibb, 1973);
b) Comfort and physical c) supergeneralization and absolutist assertions might be destructive.
caress- represent the most Supergeneralization appears when we make assertions that are too
primitive manner of general, When constructing an absolutist sentence we often use words
getting contact with like: „always”, „all the time” or „never”. Absolutist observations are
someone (it has an especially destructive when they criticize and accuse. (S. Wahlroos, 1983).
important socialization The child-adolescent must be treated with sincerity and respect, and his
and affective function ); flaws can be communicated without using an accusing tone.
c) leveling opinions, d) mind reading is a frequent source of misunderstandings in parent-
points of view and child relations, that appears when parents „read” or „guess” the child’s
asperities- it may be mind. They make assumptions regarding what children think, feel and how
accomplished through they react based only on these assumptions. These interpretations of the
open expression of parent are, usually, wrong. People change and, that’s the reason why, in
feelings and desires, close relations, the process of gathering information about what the child
without being followed by is thinking or feeling must be sustained. Sometimes parents who practice
a defensive action; „mind reading”, can reach an ultimate point where they deny the child’s
d) verification feed-back feelings thinking that they understand them better than him/her.
- it demonstrates that the e) throwing out warnings at children refer at those confrontations
person has actively that can take a form of blaming, attack and criticism intentionally hurting
listened to the forwarded or punishing someone. They encourage the negative giving and receiving
112
message; it is used when of attacks and hurting. These negative expressions increase the level of
the listener wants to verify anger and encourage mutual avoidance. Fury is „a normal emotion that
if the the message must be externalized, but not by throwing out an illegitimate warning at
transmitted by the your partner, by attacking or serious accusing. (S.Wahlroos, 1983, p.96)
speaker was correctly Usually, throwing out warnings involves labelling the child, as a whole, in a
understood (opinions, negative manner.
feelings, needs); f) lecture communication is common at parents which have the
e) „ turning the other tendency to soliloquize without allowing the child to interfere, to add any
cheek as well”- the parent information. The persons who have this tendency quickly skip from one
must realize a honest subject to another, without any pause or interception. They practically
evaluation of his/her own become impossible to interrupt, and because they are so preoccupied of
behaviour, in order to what they say, they ignore the verbal and non-verbal messages the child is
determine how much did transmitting.
he/she contribute at the
dissatisfaction of other
members.
Parent-child communication gains real value, permitting a good way of working and obtaining family
satisfaction, only than the means of constructive communication become more predominant than the
destructive communication.
ANNEX 5- Evaluation of Activities
 What did you like most of today’s activity?

 What made you smile? Maybe even laugh sometimes?
 Which word would best describe today’s whole activity?
 How did you feel today?
 Now I feel....
 The best thing in this activity was...
 One thing I really liked was...
 Which are the most important things you learnt today?
 I did not like....
I suggest....
REFERENCES 113
REFERENCES
• Baumol, William J. (1960) Òn the Social Rate of Discount`, American Economic Review, 58(5).
• Benjaminse, Paul (2005) `Voer een brede sociale dienstplicht în om de betrokkenheid bij de samenlving te
vergroten` (Introduce a wide compulsory social service to increase the involvement în society), NRC
Handelsbland, 23 April.
• Bernard, Bonnie (2004) Resilience, What We Have Learned. San Francisco: WestEd.
• Blair, Tony (2005) Èurope is Falling Behind`, Newsweek, December 2005-February 2006, pp. 26-27.
• Chernish, Michael (2005) `Social Mobility Patterns and Life Strategies of Young People în Contemporary
Russia`, în Horowitz, Kotik-Friedgut and Hoffman.
• Eason, Gary (2005) `Fewer boys managed the `three Rs`, BBC News, 30 October.
• Garrison, Michelle M. and Dimitri A. Christakis (2005) À Teacher în the Living Room? Educaţional Media
for Babies, Toddlers and Preschoolers`, Washington, DC: The Henri Kaiser Family Foundation.
• Koelewijn, Rinskje (2002) `Laat ze maar een draagzak nemen` (Let them take a carryng bag), NRC
Handelsblad, 6 August.
• Lee Hsien Loong (2005) `The Singapore Way`, Newsweek, December 2005-February 2006, pp. 32-33.
• NRC Handelsblad (2002b) `Mindr zondags-kinderen, meer zomerkinderen` (Fewer Sunday children, more
summer children), 6 August.
• NRC Handelsblad (2005d) `Niveau scholieren gedaald` (Level of pupils has gone down), 26 October.
• Paulle, Bowen (2005) Anxiety and intimidation în the Bronx and the Bijlmer, an ethnographic comparison
of two schools. Amsterdam: Dutch University Press.
• Pittman, Karin (2005) `Quality Counts`, Forum Focus 2(1), Washington, DC: The Forum for Youth
Investment.
• Sculler, Alexander (2001) `De dood van het gezin` (The death of the family), NRC Handelsblad, 8
September.
• Waldfogel, Jane (2004) `Social Mobility, Life Chances, and the Early Years`, CASE paper 88, November.
• Ariès, P. (1962). Centuries of Childhood (Secole de copilărie). Harmondsworth: Penguin.
• Schaffer, R. H. (2005). Introducere în psihologia copilului, Editura ASCR, Cluj-Napoca.
• Oudenhoven, N. & Wazir, R. (2006). Newly Emerging Needs of Children. An Exploration. Antwerp-
Apeldoorn. Garant Publishers.
• Source: http://www.impenderevero.com/en_nou/enfnou.html
• Source: www.wikipedia.org
• Source: http://www.copilul.ro/comunicare-copii/dezvoltarea-morala-la-
copii/Problemele_adultilor_si_rolul_de_parinte-a5167.html
• http://www.kidz.ro/articol/Copil/1779/Generatia-Emo-pro-sau-contra.html
• http://foto.newsin.ro/bacau-minore-na%C5%9Fteri-mame.php?cid=view&nid=7442553e-bc05-4ccb-a376-
ca90a73b1546&hid=video
• http://www.obiectivdesuceava.ro
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• http://www.realitatea.mobi/pages/article.aspx?id=116898&topicid=1

Identifying and Addressing Newly Emerging Needs of Children in Romania-Intervention Toolkit

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Identifying and Addressing Newly

Emerging Needs of Children in Romania

Identifying and Addressing Newly Emerging Needs of Children in

Partners in the project:

Financed by Leonardo da Vinci – Transfer of Innovation program

Civil Society Development Foundation

People that contributed to this study

National trainers in the emerging needs field:

Casa Studies’ Authors:

Foreword – A Toolkit on Newly Emerging Needs of Children

Bucharest, Romania Leiden, The Netherlands

Chapter 1: Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 5

5.5. Intervention methods and possible plans of action ............................................................................. 44

1.1. The document’s purpose and context of appearance

1.2. To whom is this toolkit addressed? The structure of the toolkit

Through this toolkit, we have referred to:

Chapter 2: What are newly emerging needs?

2.1. The appearance of NENs concept

2.2. Defining emerging needs

children that, therefore, feel confused 3.

2.3. New needs, Old needs

3. Newly emerging needs (NEN)

2.4. Features of emerging needs

Further on, we’ll enumerate some of the characteristics of emerging needs:

• a concept poorly defined

• it regards communities/social groups and not necessarily countries

feature of emerging needs)

• they determine dysfunctional changes of attitude and behavior

2.5. The exploratory study carried out in Romania

The results of the study:

2. Drug, alcohol, tobacco consumption on the rise: 65.33%;

3. Tendency of obesity because of unhealthy nutrition : 45.78%;

4. Mental and emotional fragility: 43.11%.

1. The deterioration of interpersonal communication and replacing it with virtual communication:

3. Increasing aggressiveness (physical, verbal abuse etc): 51.56%;

4. Embracing fake values and models promoted by the media: 50.67%.

Negative tendencies within personal development children’s area:

2. “Everything precocious”: children begin to consume psychoactive substances (alcohol, tobacco,

Chapter 3: Childhood. Adult’s role. Tendencies and challenges

3.1. The child – Child’s development theories

3.2. The adult and his role in child’s life

• Role as an expert with abilities in different fields

• Role as a model and person teaching values

• Role as a spiritual supervisor

• Role of supporting and cheer-up

3.3. Tendencies and challenges

Chapter 4: Identifying newly emerging needs

4.1. The importance of identifying and addressing newly emerging needs

4.2. What do we identify? The ameliorative and preventive role of identifying

Preventive role of identification

Ameliorative role of identification:

4.3. Who identifies?

What should each of us do when we notice an emerging need?

4.4. At what level do we identify?

 Identifying within a restricted group

 Identifying within a community

 Trends of today’s generation

4.5. Tools to identify newly emerging needs of children

4.5.1. How can we identify emerging needs

- measuring the proportions of the phenomenon, analyzing an as high as possible number of

- similar situations from different times to verify the tendencies;

…. and the list could go on.

4.5.2. Identifications methods