A Child is...

When I first saw the book Introducing Child Psychology: A Practical Guide, I knew I would love it.  I am very interested in the thoughts that run through the minds of children.  The innocence and complexity of a Child fascinates me, thus I chose this book to learn more about the future generation.
This book written by Dr. Kairen Cullen is truly interesting, even though I am only two chapters in.

In Chapter 2 What is a Child? she notes that before we can understand the psychology of a child and how to help them, we must first define a child.  We could define them the dictionary way, that a child is the amount of age lived, however that looks over the maturity and growth one can experience under the age of 18. (Cullen, 4)  Ms. Cullen advised to ask others what they define a child as and do so ourselves.  "The logical starting point is to define what is meant by the term 'child'...By the end of the day you will probably have noted quite a few different points." (Cullen, 4)  I was very impressed by this suggestion so I proceeded to ask 3 people in my life how they define a child.

I asked my mother, Rebecca Kerin 41, my father, Gardner Kerin 43, and my brother, Matthew Kerin 13.  Below I am defining my definition of a child and the people mentioned are as well.  This chapter was extremely interesting to me and helped me further my understanding of the variety in which people think about and refer to children.

 My definition was that a child is someone who is physically and mentally not able to care for themselves.  Rebecca said "A child is someone who is under the age of 18.  Matthew Kerin said "A child is a new presence in this world." And Gardner Kerin said "A child is someone who is not yet mature enough to care for themselves."

What do you define a child as, is it just numbers or is there another deeper definition?


                           CULLEN, KAIREN. INTRODUCING CHILD PSYCHOLOGY: a Practical Guide. ICON BOOKS LTD, 2018.