Love Language

It is said that the most basic need of any human being is feeling been loved. Love language can be expressed in different forms- physical touch, words of affirmation, quality time and gifts. I think of all, physical touch is the most powerful one and produces the greatest impact.

Studies had shown that those rats that had been licked and groomed by their mothers did better at finding their way through mazes. They were better able to control stress responses. The rats were also found to be more sociable and curious. In fact, they were able to live longer than the rest. When we translate these into human version, which means it makes sense for the mothers to hug, kiss and read to their babies. On the other hand, children from poor households often grow up under constant stress as the families struggle to survive most of the time. This makes them hard to thrive in school or succeed in the workforce.

My tutoring experience seems to support the above observations. Children from dysfunctional homes tend to be quiet, yet snap easily, impatient, lack of discipline, confidence and focus. How can we help these people to break the poverty cycle then? Many governments tend to take the easy ways out, such as giving grocery vouchers or put these people under welfare initiatives. The better ways seem to be providing early childhood education and parenting programs to this group of people.