Today at Momscape.com: Are you an Earth Mother or a Creative Rainbow Mother? Find out.
Coupons | Product Reviews | Contests | Articles | Forums | Search | Subscribe
Family Fun | Parenting Tips | Romance | Health & Fitness | Organic Living | Weight Loss | WAHMs
Welcome Momscapers!
Momscape.com is an award winning online magazine delivering
uplifting personal essays
from real parents - plus
practical guidance on parenting,
family fun,
romance,
travel,
health & fitness,
weight loss,
and more.
We invite you to share your
MamaWisdom and to help us
spotlight
products that make your life as a mom easier or better while you
enjoy our money-saving
online coupons and
family travel
discounts.
We want to help you enjoy the
simple (and fine) things life has to offer.
Subscribe to Momscape >
or
Get Our Daily Coupon Updates by Email
Bookmark and share Momscape with your friends:
Today:
Online Coupons
Today's
Favorite Coupons
All Online
Coupons by Store
All Online Coupons by
Category
Printable
Grocery Coupons
Product Reviews
Momscape's
Favorite Things (Blog)
Top-Rated
Mom Product Reviews
Family Fun
Activities & Crafts
Family Travel
Deals
Free Scrapbooking Ideas
Parenting Articles
Baby Tips
Toddler Tips
All Parenting Articles
Inspiration/Essays
Relationships
Marriage
Romance
Friendships
Health
and Fitness
Fitness Tips
Natural Living
Nurturing Your Spirit
Weight Loss
Professional
Family Manager Tips
Home-Based Business
Community
MamaWisdom Forums
About Momscape
Subscribe
Site Map
Links
Link to Us
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service
About us
Contact Us
Preparing Your Child for Today’s World:
10 Tips for Teaching and Protecting Your Child
by
Paula Statman
www.kidwisecorner.com
How do you prepare your to child to navigate safely and confidently in
the world, ready to deal with situations and people he or she may
encounter? Here are 10 parenting tips to help make the journey a little
more effective.
1. Accept your role as your child’s protector and teacher.
The kinds of issues our children are expected to deal
with today are complex and often dangerous. Problems like violence,
bullying, and online predators are commonplace in their world. To
protect your son or daughter’s emotional and physical well-being, you
must learn about these and other tough issues and develop the skills to
discuss them effectively.
2. Teach your child that he/she has the right to be safe.
From the time your child understands words, instill in
her the core belief that no one has the right to make her feel
threatened or unsafe. This right is non-negotiable and is
guaranteed by the United Nations/UNICEF Children’s Protections Rights.
3. Prepare – don’t scare – your kids. It is easy to
get overwhelmed with your worries about your child’s safety. But,
research shows that if you contaminate what you are trying to teach with
your fears, your child won’t remember your message, only that you were
scared. Practice using moderate language and a matter-of-fact tone
when you discuss sensitive issues. Focus on what your child needs to
learn rather than why it upsets you. Share your fears and worries
with other adults rather than your children.
4. Help your child say ‘no.’ Did you say no to
your parents? Do your kids say no to you? Whether or not
your grew up with the right to set verbal boundaries with adults in
authority, children need to be empowered with the right to say no to
anyone who is acting inappropriately, regardless of their position or
power. This is a first step in turning “nice” kids, who are
compliant in most situations, in to “safe and strong” kids, who obey
adults unless they feel confused or threatened.
5. Teach your child to recognize, trust, and act on her
instincts. Help your child respond quickly and
self-protectively if he or she gets an inner signal that something is
not right. It might be a voice in her head that says “Uh-oh,
this isn’t OK.” Or maybe it’s a feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Regardless of how the warning alarm sounds, the important thing is that
your child be taught to listen to it and not rationalizes a person’s
behavior or wait for the situation to escalate.
6. Teach and model healthy boundaries in relationships.
Beginning with body awareness in pre-school, children need to learn what
a “respectful distance” looks and feels like. They also need to
recognize if someone is ignoring their boundaries and what to do about
it. The respect that you show for your children’s physical and
emotional space will set the tone for how they let others treat them.
7. Protect, Prepare, Practice, Praise, and Preview.
Use these 5 steps to teach your child skills such as crossing
the street safely, riding the bus, walking to school, basically any
skill where his safety is at stake. The emphasize is on
supervised practice, which allows you to gauge your child’s progress and
ensures that you don’t give him a new privilege or responsibility before
he is prepared to handle it successfully.
8. Monitor your child. Protective parenting is not
about hovering or being paranoid. It’s about being a good
observer, supervisor, and sometimes a detective. Listen to and
watch your child. Be curious, involved, and ask questions.
Notice any changes in her behavior or moods. You want to catch
early signs of a budding problem rather than deal with a full-blown
crisis.
9. Cultivate your child’s self esteem and desirable traits.
Be strategic and enthusiastically praise glimpses of
behavior that you want to see more of, such as using good judgment or
acting responsibly. Your child or teen will pick up on your pleasure
in watching him become trustworthy and responsible and will try harder
to demonstrate those kinds of behaviors.
10. Tell them you love them. In addition to
expressing your love and appreciation when you feel proud of your child,
be sure to express your love for no special reason or when the going
gets tough. Kids who are loved unconditionally feel more
worthwhile and are less vulnerable to mistreatment by others.
About
the Author:
Paula Statman, M.S.S.W. is an internationally respected educator,
speaker and award-winning author. Her practical, positive approach
to raising safe and strong children has benefited hundreds of thousands
of parents. Paula is a repeat guest on Oprah and the Today
Show, has appeared on over 200 radio and television programs, and
is featured in publications such as Parents, Child, Redbook,
and USA Today.com. The founder and director KidWISE Institute,
Paula lives in Oakland, California with her husband and daughter. Visit
http://www.kidwisecorner.com for more information.
Subscribe to Momscape >
or
Get Our Daily Coupon Updates by Email
Moms are Raving About
> Tae Bo Kicks Billy Blanks Workout for Kids
> Collectopia Wacktivity and A Friendship Scraptacular
> Micro Spy Kit X2 Toy
> Bugaboo Chameleon Stroller
> Burt's Bees Baby Bee Skin reme
> Perego Primo Viaggio Infant Car Seat
> Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, by Ina May Gaskins
> Rocket Spanish
> NordicTrack 740 Stepper
> More Product Reviews