Observation 4

I took my daughter and went to the Lake on the Hill this week.  I was observing two different families.  The first family was a mother, father, and 3 children.  It appeared that the ages of the children ranged from 4-9 years of age.  The father would take the youngest child with no life jacket or floating devices of any type to the deep end of the lake.  Even the father couldn’t touch the bottom. The looks of the face of the mother and others around were similar.  There was the look of shock, anger, and they appeared to be scared.  Not knowing what to do.  The father held the child and was helping the child swim.  I was very nervous and scared in watching this behavior.  The other two children were on the beach with their mom, she made sure she put their floating devices on them and gave them a very stern look and pointed her finger at them while explaining what they could and could not do. Others around shook their heads in disgust of the situation with both parents.  Eye rolling, shaking of the heads, sneer looks towards both parents. I noticed with this family the mixed message that the youngest didn’t have to obey water safety rules, which is a norm and they did.  Confusing yet?  It was to me.  The older two children had swimming lessons and you could tell by the way they swam in the water. 

The second family I observed was a mom with a child who appeared to be age 2.  She had put sunscreen on her child, put on her floating devices, and entered the water with her while holding her hand.  The little girls eyes were wide with excitement, and the mother had a huge smile on her face knowing she was making her little girl happy.  The mother didn’t go any further in the water than what the little girl wanted to go.  She accepted what her daughter told her.  She would sit down with her daughter and talk with her and explain things to her. The mother’s facial expressions showed her love and concern for her child.  The little girl facials expressions were of happiness, joy, excitement, and content. 

Features that I observed included:

Facial blanching- shock and stress of the young child with the father (mom and bystanders)

Disapproval cues- eye rolling, looks of scorn (bystanders)

Furrowed forehead- anxiety over the child and father, (mom and bystanders)

Eye blinking- increased blinking occurred with 4 out of the 6 people I watched observing the father and young child

Eye blocking- some didn’t want to see the father and the young child

Flashbulb eyes- the 2 year old and her mom

Eye gaze- 2 year old and mom