Abstract
M.Ed.
This study has been devoted to an investigation into a phenomenon called "separation anxiety", which manifests in some children who enter into nursery school at a very young age. The principal aim of the said investigation has been to identify possible causes for this anxiety in a bid to formulate guidelines for the parents of children suffering from this form of anxiety. An unfortunate trend in the modern-day workplace is the expectation that mothers resume their duties all too soon after the birth of their babies. In order to provide in the subsequent clamant need for child care, nursery schools and day-care centres have been obliged progressively to provide such care for ever-younger children; in fact, from as young as three months. In doing so, both parents and teachers/facilitators are confronted with the oft-times Herculean task of having to deal with a toddler who experiences anxiety upon
being separated from his/her mother/father. Parents (and teachers/facilitators alike) are often left feeling utterly helpless and frustrated at being unable to allay the child's fears and anxiety. An important first step, however, is to make parents and teachers/facilitators understand that the nursery school represents, in a very real sense, the baby or toddler's first separation from the safety and security of his/her family and home environment. In view of the above postulation of the research problem, this study has commenced with the establishment of a theoretical framework within which to explore the emotional, physical and intellectual development of the young child. The said theoretical framework has subsequently been further enhanced by a study of relevant anxieties that the young child may experience.. For this purpose, an in-depth discussion has been undertaken on
relevant literature on separation anxiety.
The results of the research have been as follows:
Parents need more detailed information on the emotional, physical and intellectual
development of their children.
Mothers need to be supported in their dual role of working and of being the primary
educator at home.
Fathers are largely absent from the education of their children.
A traumatic experience, such as hospitalisation, could serve as a contributing factor
to the anxiety a young child exhibits when separated from its mother.
The choice of nursery school and the resident teachers/facilitators could play a
deciding part in the way in which toddlers perceive their separation from their parents.