Did you hug your parents growing up?: Why physical touch is important in child development.

 

There is something I have come to learn about some of my agemates or people born in the 80s and the 90s especially in the village set up. There are some adults right now who say they have never hugged their mother or father. 

Why is that? Parents then had no time for such affectionate touch. When it came to parent child relationships, it was all work or beatings (especially the bitter parents). 

What does this expose a child to later in life as adults? Some adults may grow to be less attracted to physically connecting with others for they never experienced it in childhood. 

Others may live the rest of their life yearning for physical touch from other adults. If they do not get it, they might feel rejected as the absence of touch is a form of rejection to them. 

There are those people who still see hugging and giving your kids pecks is a thing of the west. 

As a Matter of fact, it is a need to children. Infants navigate the world around them through touch. An infant will cry when no one is holding her/him for they feel abandoned. When a person picks them up, they stop crying. Why is that? Touch brings a sense of safety to children. 

Children feel loved when they are often hugged by their parents. They develop self confidence and a positive outlook in life. 

If you fail to give your child a hug, do not go wild when they become adolescents and your daughter start looking for such touches somewhere else. 

Did your parents give you hugs when you were growing up? 

Have you ever hugged your parents? 

Are you hugging your kids now?

©Joyce Mwai

Writer/ Parenting Coach/ Teenage Mentor