The youth of today face a reality that those from past generations did not, and with the becomes a responsibility from US to help them negotiate a firm foundation from which they can thrive from and succeed.
In previous generations there were no social media, there were family rules and education had the expectations of following the curricula and upholding the values of the school.
Kids played outside after school with the neighbourhood and learnt to get along and exercise while having fun. There were no stigma racism or identities, they were kids free to do what kid do best, be happy.
As society put in stapilutionms on how to raise children within the family home, change the way schools ran, restrictions came into play that have made being a child harder when in the idea was to make things easier more diverse.
Children learnt to be the best you needed to work hard to achieve this. They were taught to respect their elders and each other. When the idea that some felt left out when they didn’t receive a prize for hard work, someone thought it a great idea to give it away to all that participated.
Social media while excellent for allowing the world community to engage no matter where they are, being creative sharing information readily, communicating with friends and family near and far and to share updates about milestones. However it opened up the ability for predators to have access to vulnerable children who didn't understand that danger. It has also made the young mind have no though of posting things otherwise would be private. Social media is instant, and forever recorded, which with one mistake a child feels overwhelmed and can become anxious.
The competition of how many likes shares has also created a “do one better” attitude so people are doing outrageous things to have that illusive following.
This is the hardest time for the children of today with bullying due to the lack of discipline at home and at school it has become an epidemic.
The identity of minorities or other has become trendy and confusing for a child. This includes gender. Putting an awful lot of pressure on children who before previously learnt and were social with their peers have now confusion on who they are and what is expected of them.
With all this we have an increased suicide rate and self harm all of which stems from society’s pressures to "adultise" children, and stealing their childhood away.
How do we help young ones with the confusing reality that is now common in everyday life? How do we encourage kids to be themselves confident with a strong foundation of healthy boundaries, respect for themselves and others, and to dream big have goals and achieve them?
It starts at home.
I have created a Kids Collection specifically to address the forementioned. It is a gentle story telling that removes the deep-seated fear that has affected the self esteem and confidence. Through this psychological adjustment we can help facilitate permanent change for the better by removing these restrictions and building a solid foundation of self belief systems that they can thrive on.
Not only will this help with trauma, anxiety, confidence issues, learning, education and social difficulties, but self harm and self sabotaging cycles as well.
This psychological adjustment helps children to feel strong and confident about themselves and their decisions. It encourages respect for themselves and others. Acceptance of each other and to follow the rules, and be a contributing part of society. To live to their best and to want the best for themselves too.
We all need to become a part of the solution and to help the young of today to get back to being kids and enjoy their childhood. After all, when we were kids our only job was to go to school, get an education while following the rules and expectations set for us by our elders. Rules of society to get us ready for the real world where there are rules everyone must abide by every day.
This psychological adjustment gives the child back their independence, their confidence in themself, better able to socialise and engage in extracarricula activities removes the stress anxiety and tension allowing them to be happy well adjusted and social kids.
We learnt how to socialise and engage with each other, excellence in our studies and fruitful relations with our peers. It is a shame and sad that this is not the reality for a lot of the children today.