For activity number two, I decided to do my observations of other people at Glenn Park in River Falls. I do not often go to the park so I thought that it would be a nice place to go since the weather was just right. When going to the park, I went with a friend and her nieces so I did not only receive visual observations from sitting in one place but interacting with the kids as they played, which I feel allowed for both the parents and kids to see me as just someone else spending time with kids. The importance of this would be so I did not seem like some creepy person just hanging out at the park watching kids and parents play.
The way the parents interact with their own kids is one of the easiest observations to make since it was one of the most predominating interactions at park. When walking up to the playground equipment one thing that I noticed was most the parents there were just sitting back watching their kids play since they were the only ones there. Shortly after we got to the equipment a few other parents came with their kids. As more people seemed to come, the closer and more protecting the parents seemed to get to their kids instead of just sitting back watching. An interesting thing that I noticed was a parent who was on her cell phone speaking in a language that I was unfamiliar with, while doing so she wasn’t really paying attention to her child playing.
The parents’ interactions with each other were an interesting thing to take note of. While keeping distance between each other they hardly even acknowledged each other aside for a smile when their kids would get close to each other, they would look up at each other to see the other’s reaction and almost gage the situation. Although the parents rarely interacted with each other they would occasionally interact with the other kids but only if the kids came up and talked to them first. Interactions would consist of asking their ages, names or simple minuet details like those. While the parents rarely interacted with the kids, the kids would more often interact with each other but only if their parents were not standing or playing with them. It was quite interesting watching the kids play with each other because they seemed very cautious of each other. Their initial interactions were to go up to each other and just look at one another until one would run off to play then the other would chase after.
There seemed to be many unwritten rules when it comes to kids at parks and interacting with kids that are not yours. If one was to go up to someone else’s kids at the park they would probably have cops called on them epically if they were there by themselves. Even though the parents rarely paid attention to each other they would always assess the situation when other people would come up with their kids to use the equipment.
Although there was little diversity, if this was in another country do you think parents would be more likely to be passive about their kids playing with other kids? How about the parents interacting with each other, would it be just subtle glances or do you think they would be more likely to actually have interactions with one another?
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If it were a different country, I think that parents would be somewhat different. I am not familiar with many different country's because I have not traveled very far. I will say that as long as the country that someone is looking at is is similar to our country, the parents behavior will be similar to ours. However, I think that many other countries allow their children to run around on their own when they should be providing a bit more supervision. Many other countries do so because they are busy caring for their elderly, doing the daily tasks that need finishing, and/or preparing the meal. Many children in other countries are sent to work to earn money for the family while they are still young so the parents are not able to watch them. In these countries, parents interact with each other only when they need something from them. I think that otherwise, it is mostly just glances and polite small talk.
ReplyDeleteI think if this happened in a different country, there would be children at the park without the parents there for supervision. I'm not familiar with many other cultures, but as Megan mentioned earlier, it appears that many countries have their kids grow up faster. In developing countries the duties for survival are vast and important, so the children must help out. Also, a smaller village would require less supervision than a large city.
ReplyDeleteAt a play ground in a different country, I think many parents would talk and their children would play like they do here. I don't think it would be too much different. A park seems to be a place of innocence and many people are there to have a good time with their children. I think in another counrty people would act pretty much the same way.
ReplyDeleteI think every country has their own unwritten rules about children. Children are a difficult topic because many parents want to shelter them and keep them away from harm. Personal space and public situations are key for these types of interactions. Many cultures are much more strict about exposing their children, but on the flip side, many countries want their kids to be able to make decisions for themselves and do their own thing. I think the same thing goes for the parents. It really depends on the country.
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