Communication Research

  http://www.nannypro.com/blog/12-ways-to-help-your-child-gain-confidence/ Here�s a neat little list on ways to build confidence in a child, sent to me by the author, Sara Dawkins. Among the suggestions are: Encourage independence Praise the process, not the product Applaud safe risk taking Show unconditional love Be a self-confident role model Foster an �I can� attitude With just a little tweaking this list is relevant to a wide variety of topics we talk about in interpersonal communication, e.g., self-esteem, empowerment, relationship development. Nor is the list limited in application to children�much of it (again, with a little tweaking) can be applied to the workplace and the classroom.

  Yesterday, TCM ran Night and Day , the biopic of Cole Porter. In it Cary Grant plays the famed songwriter/composer Cole Porter and Alexis Smith plays his loving wife. Apart from whatever merits or lack of them that this movie possessed, it�s a great example of how gay people are robbed of their history. Cole Porter was gay but this is never shown; instead you see a heterosexual male deeply in love with his wife. It�s a good example of how the media�at least in the 40�s but into the 21 st century as well, contributed (along with political, religious, and social institutions) to deny gay people a legitimacy, a presence, a history.  Also yesterday, the New York Times ran an article on �Helping a Child to Come Out� ( http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/fashion/helping-a-gay-child-to-come-out.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 ), perhaps an indication of how much society has progressed, perhaps an indication of how little society has changed.        ...