Podcast Episode Focuses on Building Kindness and Resilience in Children
In this day and age, it is more challenging than ever to raise children who are kind, resilient, and prepared to handle whatever life throws at them.
From navigating big feelings and social stress to constantly evolving technology and the growing need for independence, helping children to build coping skills, stay connected, and develop confidence requires patience, practice, and repeated conversations from caregivers.
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In the latest Thriving Kids podcast, Dave Anderson, PhD - the Child Mind Institute’s senior psychologist and vice president of public engagement and education - joins Melinda Wenner Moyer, an award-winning journalist and the author of “Hello Cruel World: Science-Backed Strategies for Raising Terrific Kids in Terrifying Times.”
The podcast’s discussion focuses on how to support children in building the core skills needed to thrive in realistic and sustainable ways without falling into fear-based or perfection-driven parenting.
Some of the topics discussed include:
How listening - not lecturing - can strengthen the parent-child connection
Why caregivers should have ongoing conversations with children about tech, media, and money
What it looks like to be an “autonomy-supportive” caregiver and why it matters
The Child Mind Institute has recommended other strategies for raising confident and independent children:
Shift away from fix-it mode: When children are young, the job is to be fixers and protectors, but somewhere along the way, caregivers’ job changes to become consultants, rather than fix all of a child’s problems for them.
Embrace scaffolding: This term describes the consultant role, in which caregivers offer support and encourage children to decide how they want to tackle challenges on their own. While caregivers cannot protect children from life’s trials, they can give them tools to self-advocate and solve problems for themselves, helping them to develop the grit they need to survive and succeed.
Teach children that it’s OK to fail: Children will make poor choices, and that’s OK. When they make the wrong decision, guide them to think about what went wrong and why, so they can make a different choice next time. Caregivers who swoop in and solve their problems for them prevent children from growing.
For more information, listen to the latest Thriving Kids podcast episode.
