Section 6: Tested Metaphors

Metaphors are an important tool for framing

The following metaphors have been shown to be effective for talking to Australian audiences about child brain development, parenting, and adolescence. 

Brain Builder Metaphors

The Brain Story metaphors were developed by our partners at Alberta Family Wellness Initiative (AFWI) as part of the core brain story. The following images and video provide an excellent overview of the metaphors – we encourage you to jump in and start using them today. 

For more information about the Brain Story and how to use these metaphors visit the Alberta Family Wellness Initiative website.  

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The first metaphor in the Brain Story is Brain Architecture. Much like a house, brains are built over time. They are built from the bottom up and just like a house they require a sturdy foundation to support all future development. The process of building the brain is done through what is called a Serve and Return dynamic between a child and a caregiver…

The process of building the brain is done through what is called a Serve and Return dynamic between a child and a caregiver. Babies and children develop through back-and-forth interactions with caregivers, like in a game of tennis. Scientists now know that the influences of genes and experience interact to shape the developing brain. The active ingredient is the ‘serve and return’ relationships that babies have with their parents and other caregivers in their communities.

A significant factor that undermines the brain’s foundation is Toxic Stress, which includes experiences like abuse and neglect. Toxic Stress makes the foundation of the house less sturdy, less stable, and the child more vulnerable.

Air Traffic Control is the child’s ability to regulate their mental airspace by planning, organizing, paying attention, and prioritizing their activities in order to avoid a crash – these skills are known as executive function and self-regulation.

The brain also has a Reward Dial, which regulates our motivation to seek out rewarding and pleasurable experiences, and our responses to such experiences. When the brain is exposed to experiences like toxic stress, it can cause this reward dial to disregulate.

Our final metaphor brings together all the topics of the brain story to explain resilience. Resilience is our ability to adapt and remain healthy in the face of adversity. Rather than being an innate characteristic, resilience is an ability that can be strengthened or weakened over time in response to our experiences. Find out more about using this metaphor at the Alberta Family Wellness Initiative. 

Bringing it all together in the Brain Story

Science tells us that the experiences we have in the first years of our lives actually affect the physical architecture of the developing brain.

This means that brains aren’t just born, they’re also built over time based on our experiences. 

Just as a house needs a sturdy foundation to support the walls and roof, a brain needs a good to support our future development.

Positive interactions between young children and their caregivers literally build the architecture of the developing brain.

Building a sturdy foundation in the earliest years provides a good base for a lifetime of good mental function and better overall health. 

So just how is a solid brain foundation built and maintained in a developing child?

One way is through what brain experts call serve and return interactions. 

Imagine a tennis match between a caregiver and a child but instead of hitting a ball back and forth across a net various forms of communication pass between the two from eye contact to touch, from singing to simple games like peekaboo. 

These interactions repeated throughout a young person’s developing years are the bricks that build a healthy foundation for all future development. 

But another kind of childhood experience shapes brain development too and that’s stress. Good kinds of stress like meeting new people or studying for a test are healthy for development because they prepare kids to cope with future challenges. 

Another kind of stress called toxic stress is bad for brain development. 

If a child is exposed to serious ongoing hardships like abuse and neglect and he has no other caregiver in his life to provide support, the basic structures of his developing

brain may be damaged.

Without a sturdy foundation to properly support future development, he is at risk for a lifetime of health problems, development issues, even an addiction.

It’s possible to fix some of the damage of toxic stress later on but it’s easier, more effective and less expensive to build solid brain architecture in the first place.

One of the things that sturdy brain architecture supports is the development of basic emotional and social skills. 

An important group of skills which scientists call executive function and self-regulation can be thought of like Air Traffic Control in the child’s mental air space.

Think of a young child’s brain as the control tower at a busy airport. All those planes landing and taking off and all of the support systems on the ground simultaneously demand the controller’s attention to avoid a crash. 

It’s the same with a young child learning to pay attention plan ahead and remember and follow lots of rules. Like all of us, kids have to react to things happening in the world around them while also dealing with worries, temptations, and obligations on their minds.

As these demands for attention pile up, air traffic control control helps a child regulate the flow of information, prioritize tasks and, above all, find ways to manage stress and avoid mental collisions along the way.

Having this ability is a necessity for positive and level mental health. Developing effective Air Traffic Control, overcoming toxic stress, and building solid brain architecture are things kids can’t do on their own. 

And since strong societies are made up of healthy contributing individuals, it’s up to us as a community to make sure all young people have the kinds of nurturing experiences they need for positive development. 

To build better futures we need to build better brains.

DOWNLOAD

'We are brain builders' flyer

2-page leaflet outlining the 6 Brain Builder metaphors and related Thriving Queensland Kids Partnership projects. 

_FINAL Metaphors brochure for TAE Conference
_FINAL Metaphors brochure for TAE Conference

Navigating Waters Metaphor

This metaphor was developed for Australian audiences as part of the Parenting Research Centre’s work on how to talk about parenting. Raising children can be like navigating at sea (where choppy waters are challenges like health, money and relationship problems, and so on), but lighthouses can help (where lighthouses are community, supports, services and so on). Watch the video below or find out more at the FrameWorks Institute.

Raising children is like sailing.

For healthy development, children need an even keel.

But things like stress, health problems and financial difficulties can make it harder for parents to navigate family life and provide this even keel.

Just like how we build lighthouses and safe harbours to guide and protect boats during heavy storms, we can help parents by providing the support and understanding they need during the first 1000 days of life, which are so key to children’s lifelong health and wellbeing.

This support during difficult times will make for smoother sailing and help all children in Australia to thrive.

For more information on child development and parenting in the early years, visit the Australian parenting website raisingchildren.net.au

Adolescence as a time of exploration and discovery

During adolescence, we explore the world around us, mapping out the terrain so we can find our path to adulthood. This is a time of trial and error as we pursue new experiences and different ways of expressing ourselves. That’s why we need to create environments where all adolescents have room to take positive risks and discover who they are and what they want for their future. Learn more about the use of this metaphor with the Discovery Metaphor Card

Discovery metaphor

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