5 Ways to Maximize Your Child’s Mental Health
At our Midwest summer camp in northwest Illinois, we know how important mental health is to the growth of our children. A recent article had some good tips on how we can maximize our kiddos’ mental development. See below for our bullets.
- Acknowledge Your Child’s Feelings
- …even if they don’t match how you feel.
- Acknowledging feelings helps your child stay open to speaking to you.
- Help Your Child Process Her/His Feelings
- Ask open-ended questions.
- Provide insight specific to your child.
- Monitor What Your Child Watches on TV/YouTube
- Don’t allow technology to become isolating.
- Make sure consumed media is appropriate regarding your value system.
- Monitor/Limit Your Child’s Social Media Use
- Help set limits.
- Don’t allow social media to be your child’s only/primary means of communication.
- Consider Therapy for Your Child
- Therapy is not only for the “really messed-up people”…just as we (should) have regular physical check-ups, so too should we acknowledge the importance of mental health.
- Sometimes children will feel more able to share with a third party.
Article original source: Hope In Affliction.