Childhood years are the most porous years of life. It is that phase where children readily absorb whatever thoughts, ideas, values come their way. It is because of this reason we believe that children’s ability to care and empathize for others should be nurtured in their early childhood years so that it gets woven into the very fabric of their life in the later years. However, what has been noticed is that while most of the parents stay focused on raising kind and compassionate kids, they miss out on the need for developing self-compassion as a virtue. Inculcating self-compassion among children and practising compassionate motivation is a must to give them a strong foundation for the future.
Understanding self-compassion
Self-compassion can be typically defined as the ability of a human being to understand, accept, and love themselves wholeheartedly. Self-compassion is neither self-pity nor self-complacency, but instead, is about being kind and caring towards oneself rather than being harshly self-critical. Teaching self-compassion to children helps them develop a sense of self-worth, emotional resilience, and the ability to process their thoughts and feelings in a non-judgmental way. When kids practise self-compassion, powerful things happen – psychologically, emotionally, and even academically.
Self-compassion empowers children to find their inner selves
Self-compassion is linked to intrinsic motivation, personal initiative, and perceived self-efficacy. It can work as a motivator for children to succeed in all aspects of life. In contrary to the belief that criticism motivates achievement, self-compassionate children turn out to be better atachieving their goals just because they care for themselves. Moreover, self-compassion gives children the power to acknowledge their own weaknesses, and as a result, help them change for the better. Studies suggest that children with self-compassion are better motivated to learn, avoid repetitive mistakes, and improve themselves.
Anything from learning new skills to taking on challenging school projects can be done wholeheartedly with willingness and sincerity mainly for personal satisfaction rather than for satisfying someone else. Self-compassionate students are less likely to get affected by the fear of failure, but when they do fail, they are motivated enough to try again for the sake of their own happiness and not because of any external pressure or criticism.
Self-compassion helps improve academic performance
Teaching self-compassion to kids brings positive effects in developing their social-emotional learning skills and creativity. This includes not only empathy, kindness, and compassion, but emotional intelligence, cognitive flexibility, interpersonal skills, and creative problem-solving skills. With self-compassion, children gain the capacity to regulate their emotions and improve their mindfulness and prosocial activities. Increased prosocial behaviour is positively linked to improvements in educational attainment and academic success. Self-compassion has the potential to help children approach challenging (academic) situations positively. Children who are taught mindfulness-based self-regulation skills and self-compassion in them are less likely to engage in maladaptive behaviours and show reduced periods of emotional distress. They develop increased resilience to real-life situations, which leads to improved personal and academic performance.
In a nutshell, the power of self-compassion is crucial in shaping socio-emotional development in children and drive a sense of self-worth in them. It allows kids to recognize their imperfect selves and embrace it with love, thus creating the optimal conditions for their growth and transformation. Allow your children to take time every day to practice mindfulness to be fully aware of the present moment. Teach them to maintain a positivity journal to keep track of things they are grateful for and reflect on them occasionally. It is also important to develop character strength in children so that they recognize their strengths and weaknesses for self-discovery and improvement.
We, at Banyan Tree School, ranked among the best schools in Chandigarh, offer an all-inclusive learning environment that focuses not just on academics but on the holistic development of our pupils. We provide an innovative and refreshing new approach to education that brings a balance of personal development, life skills training, and academic knowledge acquisition. We encourage the children to bring about positive modification in their behaviour and help them learn self-compassion and resilience to thrive on challenges and handle life’s problems with confidence. All our approaches at Banyan Tree are directed towards developing a more fulfilling growth mindset in children and propelling their learning process towards the pursuit of excellence.
