The March 2013 Ensign included a great article, Raising Resilient Children. I thought this article was very helpful, so I am highlighting a few segments of it. They also included a great list recommendations, “Instead of doing this….” “Do this….” “And get this result….”. Access the article online here.
“How well children respond to setbacks depends largely on how well their parents helped them develop the attitudes and the skills of resilience.”
Resilience means “our ability to bounce back from adversity”.
“Give mostly praise. Celebrate small steps in the right direction.”
Recommendations for Parents
- Pray to understand your children’s strengths and how to help them with their weaknesses.
- Be patient and realize that children need time to develop resilience.
- Strive to understand that mistakes and failures are opportunities to learn.
- Allow natural, logical consequences to serve as the disciplinarian.
- Respect children’s decisions, even if their poor choices lead to lost privileges.
- Refrain from berating children for breaking the rules.
- Do not discourage effort by criticizing harshly.
- Rather than praising accomplishment, encourage and praise effort.
- “Praise your children more than you correct them. Praise them for even their smallest achievement” (President Ezra Taft Benson [1899–1994], “The Honored Place of Woman,” Ensign, Nov. 1981, 107).
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