Parents have the right to choose what exactly to wear to the child in kindergarten. However, it is worth considering not only the comfort and convenience of the baby, but also the appearance: it must not only be neat, but also not have a negative impact on other children with clothing details and accessories.
Employees of the Institute of Education of the Russian Academy of Education told, what requirements for the clothes of pupils can be made by the kindergarten, how to resolve possible conflicts on this issue between parents and the teacher. For example, some of the children in the group wear clothes with images of aggressive, scary characters. This should not be allowed, because other children may be frightened.
Ethics and freedom
According to Anna Teplova, Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, leading researcher at the Institute of Education, the issue of clothing for a child in kindergarten is associated with a number of adult problems. One of them is ethical.
If a child is frightened by an aggressive image on the T-shirt of one of the children in the group, adults will try to protect the frightened child and remove the frightening object. In the case when parents refuse to accept the feelings of other children and continue to bring their child in frightening clothes, the problem of ethics and responsibility of adults arises. It is possible that the baby likes his monster so much that it is easier for parents to allow him to wear his image than to argue and insist on his own.
Another problem is the misunderstanding of freedom. Adults defend their right to freedom to choose clothes for the child, regardless of the requests of educators and psychologists. This indicates the immaturity of the parents, their inability to see the problem from the outside. Their personal freedom is more significant than the freedom of others.
Clean and comfortable: what should be children’s clothing
The question of the dress code, about what toys you can take with you to the garden, always arises. If consensus is reached fairly quickly with toys, then the decision with clothes is more difficult.
In some countries – in particular, in Brazil – they introduce a common form for preschoolers. In kindergartens in Russia, they are limited only by the hygiene and convenience of children. However, modern preschoolers are not deprived of the space of informational aggression.
Today, any popular toy, cartoon character is accompanied by a sales industry. They are depicted on clothes, stationery, accessories. This creates a certain “information background”. The character’s stories influence the baby’s consciousness, which can be called hidden aggression.
If a child has a ball with the image of Winnie the Pooh, then he kicks a toy with his favorite hero. So, according to the expert, children’s products may cause hidden aggression in a child.
The image of the monster Huggi Waggi
Huggy Waggi is a character in the 2021 Poppy Playtime computer game, a strange blue creature with a disproportionate head and a sharp-toothed smile. Such a toy blurs not yet formed ideas about good and evil, about beauty and ugliness. The expert states that because of this, growing up, the child will not learn to distinguish between true aggression in people and will be drawn to them.
The aggression of Huggy Waggi is evidenced by sharp teeth, claws, bulging eyes – these elements are always perceived as a source of danger. Therefore, educators and psychologists do not recommend offering children toys with images of monsters. The consequences of a negative impact will not be immediately noticeable – on the behavior of the victim, for example. The child tries to accept this image as safe, friendly, to justify it. This is devastating for the psyche of the baby.
It is also dangerous to confuse the ideas of good and evil that the character evokes. A child develops a conflict from mixing these basic concepts: “good evil” or “evil good”, “charming killer”, “affectionate villain”. It destroys a healthy mind. It is quite difficult for a preschooler to understand that this is irony or a joke. He perceives such an object as an incongruous combination approved by adults, his spiritual and moral attitudes begin to be perceived as false.
What to do if your child likes scary toys
When adults understand that an aggressive toy or its image on a favorite T-shirt deforms the child’s psyche, they should talk to the baby. It is important to explain who the monster is. You should try to replace it with another popular, but not aggressive toy. It is important to form the ability to think critically from an early age, the ability to resist the general negative influence.
Anna Teplova considers it important to explain to a child that a favorite character can scare other children. Normally, a preschooler is capable of empathy and care. If parents explain the origin of the image, its history, then the baby will easily understand that this toy scares other children.
When adults like a toy or they don’t understand “what’s scary about it,” it’s important for the teacher to tell them that most preschoolers are quite impressionable; that the toy can provoke anxiety, nervous breakdowns and sleep disturbances. In addition, the choice of toys and clothes for kindergarten is not just a limitation, it is a factor in the emotional health and well-being of others.
