The Golden Age of Childhood:
The Elementary School Years
Copyright 2011 by Calvin A. Colarusso, M.D.
All rights reserved.
Smashwords Edition
True Nature Productions
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Developmental Tasks of Latency
- Conscience Formation: The Beacon of Morality
- The Emergence of the Capacity for Friendship
- The Elaboration of Sexual Identity and Friendship: "Boys Have Cooties"/"I Hate Girls"
School Days, School Days, Good Old Golden Rule Days
- Why the Nature and Form of Play Changes in Latency
INTRODUCTION
When I think of elementary school children, I see them at recess, roughhousing, balancing on jungle gyms, playing tag or kickball. I also imagine them doing cartwheels in gymnastic classes, proudly wearing their Little League uniforms, tearing around, chasing each other at a neighborhood park or quietly texting or playing video games, oblivious to their friends jumping on each other nearby.
When the recess bell rings, ending the organized chaos, as if by magic, the children stop what they’re doing, turn on a dime and line up in neat rows to re-enter the classroom where, for the most part, they sit quietly and do their work. What a difference from the negativism of toddlers and the adolescent resistance to conformity.
Elementary school kids are reasonable, relatively self-sufficient—they can feed, dress, go to the bathroom and shower by themselves—and they like and admire adults, particularly Mom and Dad! That’s why I call it the Golden Age of Childhood. Teachers love them. Coaches love them. Grandparents love them. Everybody loves them because they often act like well-behaved adults. In fact, they often behave better than many adults do and certainly better than the monsters they will become in a few years when puberty hits. If only we could freeze them in time when they’re nine! Alas, we can’t. So enjoy this Golden Age, this wonderful time of calm, while you can.
THE DEVELOPMENTAL TASKS OF LATENCY
The elementary school years are more formally called the Latency period of development because they occur between the frenetic activity and constant parental involvement of the preschool years and the tumultuous physical and psychological metamorphosis of adolescence. Like all development phases in both childhood and adulthood, there are certain developmental tasks and challenges in which children must be engaged. Latency may be thought of as a “work in progress,” a time when a series of new challenges are faced and mastered, resulting in a dramatic increase in physical, psychological, intellectual and social abilities. In the elementary school years those challenges revolve around increased freedom, capability and responsibility; internalizing a set of values and principles, broadening a sense of masculinity or femininity, forming friendships and learning new mental and physical skills.
Conscience Formation:
The Beacon of Morality
The conscience has a bad name, associated as it is with the restriction of thought and action and the feeling of guilt. The criticism is undeserved. The ability to think in terms of right and wrong during the elementary school years provides the personality with indispensable attributes of restraint, consideration for others, kindness and morality. When the child thinks and acts in harmony with the dictates of his or her conscience, he or she is flooded with a sense of approval and love from within. When the bounds of acceptable thought or behavior are breached, the instant response is guilt, that most uncomfortable of feelings.