After taking the time to listen to President Biden’s joint session of Congress to the United States of America, I began to think and reflect; that whilst one may hold a particular view – that of Republican, Democrat and so on, we may decide to take a moment to step-back and appreciate that we are watching history in the making, and respect that a man of 78 years young can stand in-front of congress and deliver this Presidential address worldwide. Thank you!
Of course as many of my readers will know that this does not mean that there was agreement upon all issues. I first wondered about the phrase: “Choose hope over fear.” In my view in-order to possess hope, one must be hopeful for something, thus connected to what one loves. Therefore, I tweeted: Choose Love Over Fear. But my choice of words do not negate the link between hope and love.
I appreciated President Biden’s child care plan, he mentioned tackling homelessness, poverty, and especially to raise the middle-class. These are important issues, as pockets of the population do feel that they have been ignored or left-out.
I thought about the child-care plan where President Biden says: “studies suggest” and questioned which studies? Especially as social science research is a scientific research field, that can be assimilated to any other kind of science. It can be argued that it is unethical to say studies suggest without the evidence. I am not sure how a Presidential address would differ to reading an academic paper that also include studies.
The brain of-course is an organ that loves and craves to be developed. When we feel hungry, we want to eat, the brain also craves “food,” thus; the phase: Thought for Food / Food For Thought. This is what I reflected upon with the child-care endorsement plan for pre-school. The needs of children in the younger years is complex, as there are are many theories that do exist. I often turn to Jean Piaget, Sigmund Freud and John Bowlby for theories of child development associated with attachment. I agree that a child / babies brain require stimulus for development. But I also recommend if parent / care-givers are able to take care of their children during the younger / early years, it is most desirable. Especially to form a secure base of attachment between parents / care-givers and children (Ainsworth, 1973). Which ultimately leads to a child’s understanding that a parent has goal, and will also take care of my needs (Parke et al., 2010, p. 224 – 225).
Whilst Mary Ainsworth’s theory of attachment for assessing attachment relations is successful, I also believe from my own experiences and observations as a parent that it is successful. I am profoundly grateful that I came across these pioneering theories from psychologists and child psychologists that allowed me as a mother to make informed decisions for my children, during the schooling years. Which also included tireless efforts of advocacy, for accessible and equal access to education for one of my children with diagnostic special needs.
It is with these thoughts that I would like to congratulate President Biden upon his first joint address to congress. It should also be noted that Biden’s families plan will add free pre-school for every 3-4 year old, which will actually ease a financial cost that many families may face. I also really like the idea of free community college, which sets an equitable layer to higher education access, if so a student desires to choose this path. I would also like to acknowledge that it is easy to lay out a plan, propose monetary aid, the efforts and effectiveness are derived from successful implementations and getting the aid / assistance to the people. Free education would excite me for sure!!! 😉
References:
Ainsworth, M.D. (1973). The Development of Infant-Mother Attachment. In B. Caldwell & H. Ricciuti (Eds.). Review of Child Development research (Vol. 3). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Parke, D. R., Gauvain, M. & Schmucker, A. M. (2010). Child Psychology, A Contemporary Viewpoint. McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Further Reading: ABC News | Full transcript: President Joe Biden delivers speech to joint session of Congress
Notes: These thoughts were originally hand-written on April 29th 2021. Please note that all views and opinions are my own and are informed by my own experiences and developed from my own learning. For anyone who is further interested in the theories of child-development I would recommend Chapter 3 | Emotional Development and Attachment and for Cognitive Development of Children Chapter 8 | Cognitive Development: Piaget and Vygotsky (2010). Thank You for your continued readership!
Image 1 – Link
My Thoughts To Share With Love & Kindness! 🙂
{HEART'S, FOREVER!} 
