PRINCIPLE 5. Respect infants and toddlers as worthy people. Don’t treat them as objects or cute little empty-headed people to be manipulated. The caregiver understands how important it is to respect even the youngest infant. She always talks to the babies to prepare them for what will happen; in fact, she never does anything to them without telling them first. She always thinks of them as people, that’s why she talks all the time. In her culture words are considered the ultimate way to communicate. A parent in her program who is of a different culture never tells her baby what she’s doing or why. In addition she “wears” her baby in the baby-carrier of her culture and never puts her down until she has to change her, or when she leaves. The caregiver has explained Principle 5 to the mother. The mother explained to her that in her culture they think babies should have very close contact at all time. It makes them feel secure, she says. In her culture they don’t talk to babies. Why should they? With all the body contact, communication is going on all the time: the ultimate is to communicate without words. That means you’re very close to someone when you can do that. She admits that the caregiver has a different idea about what babies need. The caregiver wants to be culturally responsive, but she thinks she needs to understand more about what the term ‘respect’ means to this mother.

1		Should the caregiver try to educate this parent to her way? Why or why not?
2		Does one perspective make more sense to you than the other? If yes, which one and why?
3		Do you feel yourself taking sides in this situation?
4		What are the issues in this situation, as you see them?
5		What does the idea of respecting babies mean to you? Related Web Links