Childhood Development

Hello. My name is Cartograph, and I am a Minor Attracted Person. I provide information regarding paedophilia, answer questions, counter arguments, and try to provide a place for people to come and discuss a taboo and oftentimes difficult topic.

Before I begin, let me apologize in advance for my voice. I'm not fully recovered, and that may be noticeable. Hopefully, it won't be too bad. Also, you may have noticed my new compass. This is thanks to Tex from the Juice Box Podcast. I'll leave a link to their channel below. With that done.... Today, I will be discussing:

Childhood Development

This is a very big topic. Bigger than I had assumed before I began my research. In this video, I'll be focusing on the emotional and intellectual development of children from birth until puberty. The purpose is to re-educate people on the capabilities of children. I likely won't bring Minor Attraction into this. That can happen in later videos.

Now, to the topic at hand. There are many ways you can measure the development of a child. Most commonly, the use of physical, mental, or emotional milestones is employed. This is the method I will use too. If it's good enough for many child psychologists and paediatricians, then it's good enough for me. However, in an effort to provide a full understanding, I think a glimpse at some of the other theories of childhood development is in order.

First up, Sigmund Freud's theory of Psychosexual development. Basically, Freud's obsession with sex led him to feel that certain sexual stages must be met while growing up, lest they affect adulthood.

From birth to one year is the oral stage. During this stage, kids do everything with their mouths. They eat, cry, suck on things, and basically do everything with their mouths.

From one year to three years is the anal stage. During this period, kids learn to control their bodies better, including potty training.
From 3 to 6 is the phallic stage. Kids learn the difference between boys and girls, and begin to have sexual feelings. Freud suggests that these are towards the mother specifically, in boys, and towards the father in girls, except that girls experience penis envy, rather than an incestuous desire.

From here until puberty is the latent stage. Sexual feelings are suppressed, and social aspects take precedent in the child's life.

The final stage is the genital stage. This is when a strong sexual desire for the opposite sex emerges, and it lasts for the rest of the child's life.

It should be fairly obvious why this is inaccurate. It's entirely based on the assumption of heterosexuality, and the power of sexual feelings. It also uses the debunked Oedipus complex to explain itself. Finally, it doesn't match up with observations of the sexual nature of children. It was interesting to read about, but with our current knowledge, no one should take it too seriously.

Next, I'll talk about Erik Erikson's theory of Psychosocial development. Erikson focuses on the concept of ego identity, which is constantly changing throughout our lives as we get new information, have new experiences, conquer challenges, or fail at our endeavours. At every stage we must resolve a conflict which serves as a turning point in our development. Reading through it, it really sounds like level-up theory, but applied to childhood development, and subsequent adulthood.

The first stage is Trust vs. Mistrust. This occurs within the first 18 months of life. Basically, a child must learn whether they can trust the people in their life, most likely their parents. This is the most important stage in a child's development. Good parenting leads to developing trust, poor parenting develops mistrust.

Next is Autonomy vs Shame and Doubt. This stage lasts until about 3 years old. Here kid's need to learn whether or not they are independently capable of achieving things, or if they need to rely on others for everything. The defining event of this stage is potty training.

After that, there's Initiative vs Guilt. Kids of preschool age learn whether they are good or bad by taking initiative in planning play and using their imagination. If encouraged, kids learn to be imaginative and active, whereas if they're dismissed they'll learn that their imaginings are embarrassing.

Between 6 and 11 is the fourth stage: Industry vs Inferiority. During this time, kids learn to take pride in their accomplishments, or learn that they probably won't succeed. This is when a child's self-confidence develops, or fails to.

The final stage of development prior to adulthood is Identity vs Confusion. During puberty, teens develop a sense of self and a place within the world. This is when they choose how they want to live. If they can't, then they feel lost and confused about life.

The main criticisms of this theory is that, despite apparently being applicable to the whole of one's life, it has a heavy emphasis on childhood. Also, Erikson suggested that the difference between the behaviour of boys and girls is due to possession of a penis, or lack thereof, which is in line with Freud's thoughts on the matter. Despite this, I still think this could be a valuable source of evaluating whether a child is developing in a healthy manner.

So now I'll get to the cognitive and emotional milestones of childhood development, and my thoughts on what a child is capable of at these stages. Reaching each milestone is a sign of healthy development, but it says little about an individual's potential.

Within the first few months of life, a baby should start to smile, be able to calm themselves briefly, and try to look at their parents. They should also be able to focus on faces, follow things that move in their field of vision, recognize people from a distance, and tell the difference between a different kinds of flavours. The fact that smiling develops so young suggests that it's an evolutionary trait, and the fact that it exists world-round regardless of culture confirms it. Infants this young can't handle much complex thought, and yet they can identify people they know and like. Having spent some time around children this young, I know that they can and do have preferences in people, even to the point of disliking individuals.
By six months, a child should smile spontaneously at people, enjoy playing games, respond to facial expression, and begin imitating them. They also let you know how they're feeling, either happy or sad, use hands and eyes together, such as when reaching for a toy, and recognize their own name. While they don't have the concept of choice, they can still make decisions at this age. Simple ones at least. They can let you know whether they like people or things, which I've seen brushed off as fussiness. In some cases, yes, that's what is happening, but I think there's more to those choices than we give babies credit for.

At nine months, a baby can express anger and fear in addition to happiness and sadness, be clingy with preferred people, and may even be scared of strangers. They know the difference between animate and inanimate objects, and look for things they see an older person hide. They also understand the word “no”, though can't use it themselves. Clearly they're developing a sense of permanence at this age, by realizing things out of sight haven't left reality. The understanding of the word no is interesting, as from my reading it develops independent of the word yes. In other words, they learn to respond properly to no before they learn to seek permission.

By 1 year old that object permanence has fully developed, and kids start trying to figure things out more kinetically. They can figure out how objects are used, like drinking from a cup, and can look at an object when it's named. They use gestures like head shaking or waving goodbye, can follow simple directions. The amount a child grows in one year is simply astounding. It's almost magical. They love learning too, which is sadly lost too often as they age. By being able to communicate with gestures and a few sounds, they can begin more two-way interactions akin to conversation, though not quite there. They'll definitely try, though, and it's the most adorable thing. They babble, which suggests to me that they understand that sounds can mean things, they just don't know which sounds mean what things.

Over the next year, kids learn to share and play simple pretend games, like feeding a doll. They start showing a semblance of empathy, not only by sharing, but also by offering to help by putting toys away. Unfortunately, this is also the time when they learn to show negative emotions as well, like frustration and anger, often in the form of tantrums. They should have a thorough grasp on the word “no”, including using it themselves. This is a great age for socialization. They start to realize they aren't the only people to feel things, so they want to help others feel good. They also know their own like and dislikes, desires and revulsions. The games they can come up with are great too, if you give them the freedom to think of them, and encourage them by engaging.

A quick note here is that I'm actually dropping a lot of the milestones listed in my sources, due to limitations on time, and a desire to not sound incredibly boring. If you're interested, I really do suggest that you look below in the description bar.

And I've run out of time. Too long on Freud and Erikson, I suppose. Oh well. Here's my opinions on the capabilities of the next few years.

3 year olds are awesome. I'm yet to meet one that doesn't want to learn how to read. They're really sweet, but can definitely be devious. Don't underestimate how much a three year old knows. They can and will push all the right buttons to get what they want, even if it's against the rules.

4 year olds are so creative. They draw objects that look like objects, instead of scribbles. They can also get kind of obsessive with their activities, or clingy with people they like, especially their friends. They can plan too, even if it's only simple.

From ages 5 to about 7-9 are so great, because you can actually hold conversations with them. Most of it involves them and their likes, and specific things that happen. You know, surface stuff, but nonetheless, with the right questions, you can almost see the cogs turning as they try to answer. And they way their face lights up when they do something well is something everyone should see. It's at this age I've observed the first talk of boyfriends and girlfriends, which is interesting.

Somewhere between 7 and 9, original thought develops. By this I mean that kids of this age can come up with a hypothetical situation, and apply logic and emotion to it. The first steps towards philosophy are found. My favourite conversations in my life have come from either myself at 8 years old talking with my grandfather about space, or speaking with an 8 year old about botany. Of course, with independent thought comes rebellion, as well as more intricate forms of peer-pressure. It can be a very scary time.

Puberty is next, and I'll say I'm definitely no expert. I'm a prepuberty MAP, so you'll forgive my ignorance. I think that pubescent kids prefer the company of their peers, as with them they can get a sense of who they are. Their identity is largely formed by how their personality interacts with the rest of their social sphere. By the time they are adults, they have a pretty good idea who they are, though many are less sure of how they fit in the world, which may be a cause of several mental illnesses prominent in this age group.

Well, I've got nothing more to add. If you enjoyed this video, or it gave you cause to think, please click that like button. If you want to see more, why not subscribe. And if you have an issue with my explanation, or you want to show support, please comment below. Until next time, always remember: If you're lost in the sexual landscape, make sure you have a moral compass, and consult your MAP.