Posted by Erinica on August 08, 2002 at 14:10:52:
In Reply to: babywise posted by jonvon on August 08, 2002 at 08:26:11:
On the same note of how abusive baby-wise can be:
The intelligence of some is often indicative of their level of communication and vice versa.
Perhaps this is most underrated in infants. First imagine growing at
lightning speed, coordinating your limbs to mobility, adjust to your surroundings,
walk, eat, sleep, the learning curve for those at the beginning of life
is astronomical. All within several months. The work accomplished within
4 years of college does not match the talent & motor skills it takes for a child to learn to walk.
The last thing this overwhelmed & superstimulated toddler needs is for it's parent to talk
to it with "baby talk".
Baby talk amongst other things is an abuse of parental right. It oversteps
the boundary of appropriateness. I, more than anyone would love to hear
a state of the union address in a funky jive slang. This would entertain me
and take the monotony out of the speech. Given the fact that I already
know the English language and can speek it natively and fluiently, slang tones
would not be too difficult for me to comprehend.
However, if I were to enter into a different culture with a different language
and had to be fluient in it within the first 18 months. I would not nearly
comprehend the inflections in tone of a cultural jargon. I would be muddled
and confused. Likewise this abuse of power is often exhibited in parents
who unententionally are trying to "entertain" their children. These parents
assume that their children are idiotic and numbsculled. The credit is lost
for the amount of achievement the child had gained and instead given a
krusty the klown level of class recognition. I feel it alienates the rights and
credit of the child and annoys the adults that have to hear this neglectful
and disrespectful tone of voice. Nonsensical and abusive. Yes. That is what baby
talk is.