Towards Success: Building Resilience in Kids
Building resilience in kids means giving them an opportunity to make sense of the missing ingredients needed for their success. Coaches of young people often focus on teaching children to reframe their view of failure as an opportunity for later success. They learn numerous values such as unselfishness, commitment, persistence in training, humility, and respect for others. But they should also be learning that life is sometimes highly competitive, and it is okay to work hard and pursue success.
When the opposite occurs and kids are defeated in competition, it gives them the opportunity to see that success takes a lot of work and the reward of achieving should feel wonderful because of such commitment toward success. Self-esteem can and should be cultivated in numerous ways with children, not through having them falsely believe that competition should end without any heartache. Losing stinks! But adults can teach children how to lose with grace, how to benefit from failure, and how to someday look back on the gift of competition. That is, of course, if we don’t shield them from its reality.
At Karate Academy Sydney, we aim to give kids and adults the experience of healthy competition. What does that mean? It purely means that like-minded people will improve your self-awareness of your own capabilities. Junior classes are structured to give kids routine and repetition in a fun environment so they can develop the skills needed to advance in their grades. We want to make a positive difference in all students’ lives. It is vital for parents, instructors, and senior-grade students to work together as a close unit. Talk to and encourage your child to attend every class. Children will often go from one activity to another, and some will push boundaries. This is part of normal development. Our job is to teach them that giving up is easy and that trying hard takes effort and self-discipline, so we can teach them the importance of perseverance and commitment.
I’ll see you at the Dojo – Jess Sensei