What do you understand by the term ‘Labels‘; other than that we have them on our clothes and other products?
What I understand by the term ‘Label‘ is that it is a way of describing behavior or characteristics of a person in just one word such as shy, active, outgoing, bossy, timid, difficult and so on.
Why do people label others?
On daily basis our brain processes so much information that it starts looking for easier ways to store it. It is convenient to sum up a person, place, or thing and know what to expect in neatly packaged words, called Labels.
Types of Labels:
Labels can be broadly classified into 2 types :-
1. Neutral Labels – Highlighting positive behavior
2. Bad Labels – Highlighting negative behavior
Creative, smart, mature are examples of good positive labels.
Hyper, timid, aggressive, irresponsible are examples of bad negative labels.
Some labels are important and cannot be done away with as it helps the person to get help at the right time. Such as autistic, alcoholic, drug addiction, psychotic, and so on. These are also called DIAGNOSTIC LABELS.
[su_box title=”A word of Caution:” style=”glass” title_color=”#ffffff”]Before labeling anyone under this category, please get the proper assessment done by an Expert in the field. It is imperative to get to the reason/cause as to why is an adult or child behaving the way he / she is. [/su_box]
Is it right to label people?
My view on it is that one has to be very cautious before taking words out of mouth, here it means labeling people. Every word one uses has the power to create a label either positive or negative.
By labeling we are telling the person what the world expects from him / her ALL THE TIME.
Kids especially behave and take these labels seriously.
Let us understand this with the help of a real time example:
A parent kept on saying this to her daughter from a very young age that you are so mature. I am proud to see you behave with such maturity. When that child was of around 20-21 years of age, she took such an amateurish decision that everyone was shocked.
Why? Why did she do that?
Because she did not want to fail that label of being Mature, being able to take right decisions on her own. She did not want to fail in the eyes of her parents, relatives, friends…
Thus, when someone points out the opposite of what the person has been hearing all the time, it comes with a dose of disappointment. Too many expectations in the form of labels may weigh down children or even adults around.
Even positive labels may stop people to explore other areas of their interest or what they are good at because either they do not want to lose their label (good/positive ones) or feel they are not capable enough to perform better (because of negative labels).
[su_quote]”Use labels for things and not people” Kavita Yadav[/su_quote]
If you would like to know the difference between Describing Correct Behavior and Labeling Behavior, you are cordially invited to join me in my upcoming workshop called ABC – Art of Bringing up Children on 15th July, 2017 at Hotel Lemon Tree, Aerocity.
Please visit the link below to know the detail and register:
https://www.facebook.com/1913865285569235/
Happy Parenting!!!