Emotional health means the extent to which a person feels psychologically secure and relaxed in everyday life.
From the moment a child is born, the health becomes a priority. The parents often times react to every disruption in the child’s development. As the child grows, more attention is focused on the acquisition of knowledge and cognitive skills forgetting what is most important- How the child feels.
For the healthy emotional development of a child, we as parents ought to recognize the common injuries that bring about a deterioration in the child’s emotional state and provide healing. A child who is helped out of that unhealthy emotional state, often times regains a measure of self-confidence and has his inner resources strengthened.
The five critical emotional needs of children:
- Respect – To feel respected, a child needs to be treated in a courteous, thoughtful, attentive and civil manner.
- Importance – Every child needs to know he/she has value. We should teach them that they are somebody.
- Acceptance – Children have a right to their own feelings, opinions, ideas, wants and needs.
- Inclusion – The need to feel they belong.
- Security – As parents, we should create the right environment where people care about one another and show it.
Let us avoid behaviours that reduce the self-confidence of children.
What to do:
- Don’t ignore signs that the child is struggling.
- Don’t trivialize how the child feels.
- Be sensitive, not reactive or parental.
- Spend time with the child.
- Take care of your own emotional health.
