Your Child May Face An Emotional Bumpy Ride

At this stage, your child is at the threshold of pre-adolescence. This means your child is undergoing major emotional resurgence. Your child is still not capable of self-evaluation. Hence, the opinion and approval of his peers matter a lot to him. You will notice that your child gives a lot of importance to peer friendships, taking constructive criticism as rejection. Minor setbacks can result in an emotional upheaval. All this can have an adverse effect on the health of his self-esteem. This is a very sensitive stage where your child is emotionally very vulnerable.

 

 

Talk to your child about peer pressure, and discuss any concerns about his friends and their behavior. Help your child set his own set of goals, which are reasonable and achievable.

 

Such goals will help him develop pride and become more independent in completing simple tasks. Be affectionate and more importantly, honest, with your child, and do activities as a family. Help your child develop his sense of right and wrong. A healthy self esteem will help your child make better choices. Talk to your child about respecting others and helping others, thereby developing a sense of empathy and understanding.

 

Healthy friendships are important to your child’s social development but peer pressure can start to become a concern. Reach out and help your child if he is not able to share or take turns with other children, or if he has extreme fears that interfere with his daily activities.