As a parent, you have the obligation to teach your child to demonstrate bravery and courage and teach him how to cope with difficult life situations. The child must learn how to tolerate risk and various challenges, which will surely have. Nowadays, children are faced with many challenges – from cheating and lying, to drugs and alcohol. You are faced with the pressures of adult and under constant influence of the media, encouraging them to behave otherwise in accordance with their moral principles.
Because of all this, it is of essential importance of a good parent to teach their children how to be brave and face the various negative influences, in order to help them avoid as much negative impacts as possible. Children of five or more years know the difference between right and wrong, but that does not mean that they will do the right thing in certain social situations, because they may have a fear of negative consequences for them. It is important to encourage a child, so as not to have fear and it is able to stand up for themselves and their views, when necessary.
Talk
It is recommended for a family to have discussions and frequent communication with the children to talk about their fears and uncertainties and how to overcome them.
Imagine
Imagine the possible situations and make sure to keep your child react to them. Ask your child to act out in order to react in certain situations. You can, for example, check how would the child react to classmates provoking or copy his homework, or to respond if his classmate offered him a cigarette. Then, teach him how to react and implant his rules of conduct.
Challenge
Challenge your child. Invite him to play basketball with you, teach him some phrases in a foreign language or encourage him to make friends with another child. These simple tasks will provide a child confidence and extra courage.
Compliment
When your child admits that he did something wrong, appreciate the fact that you told the truth and turn his attention to not repeating the same mistakes. On the other hand, when your child admits that it has fallen under the negative influence of other children – compliment him.
Step back
Allow the child to cope with difficult situations, in order to learn to deal with them. When we protect children from all negative situations, we deprive them the opportunity to learn how to be brave and bold.
You, as parents, need to teach your child to be placed in any social situation, no matter how negative or potentially dangerous, so that the child learns what courage, perseverance is and what are the real moral values. You are the ones who have to prepare your child for life.