Resilience allows us to pick ourselves back up after setbacks and gives us the courage to try again. Children need to learn resilience in order to get through life’s ups and downs and will benefit from the ability to bounce back after adversity or disappointment. As a parent, your primary role is to care for and nurture your child, yet it is also important to teach them how to face some problems independently and to give them the tools to help manage stress and keep calm under pressure. An independent school in London has shared the following advice for parents looking to help their child become more resilient.
Don’t Overprotect
Accommodating every need or worry your child faces actually only fuels their anxiety as they never learn to face adversity or overcome a problem. One example of this could be a child who is reluctant to try new food. By only serving them the meals they are uncomfortable with you aren't giving them the opportunity to push themselves out of their comfort zone. A little bit of discomfort isn't always a bad thing, once your child has overcome an obstacle they were apprehensive about they will learn that taking risks and trying new things isn't as daunting as they might have imagined.
Allow Them To Fail
Failure is never a nice thing, but learning to fail and try again anyway is a really important life skill. If you allow your child to win at every board game you play or score every goal in the back garden penalty shoot-out, the chances are they will take it pretty badly when things eventually don’t go their way. Teaching your child that they can’t win at everything all the time will help them to deal with failure better, meaning over time they will find it easier to move on after a setback.
Help Manage Emotions
Teaching a child to manage their emotions in a healthy way is an important foundation for building resilience. Allow your child to express their feelings and give them a sympathetic ear, but also establish what is an appropriate reaction and what isn’t. If your child tends to respond to upsets by throwing tantrums or lashing out, you should give them time to calm down and then try to put the situation into perspective and help them to look for solutions to the cause of their problem. This teaches them that even when things are tough, they can still look for ways to make things better.
*Collaborative post
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