Streaks
Positive psychology tells us other people matter. Truly mattering is more than random acts of kindness. It takes place over time, over years, and, even, decades. Truly mattering is gritty and difficult. It takes no time off. Truly mattering means showing up and doing your best, over and over, again.
Too often, we find bored, disenfranchised youth in monochromatic suburbs across America and Europe.
Parent's concern over their children or a well founded worry conveys to them they are loved. Senseless ungrounded worry debilitates children more than the bumps and bruises weathered without us.
We need to be vigilant when real risks come up, but, ease up when fear gets the best of us. When children do act out and put themselves in harm's way, we need to, particularly, listen closely to explain their choice for risky behavior and it's consequences.
Children must be given alternatives to inappropriate risk taking for responsibile behavior which can be just as exciting, but, less likely to get burned than when playing with fire.
These alternatives help kids feel like adults in ways perceived as meaningful to them. In so, taking the risk takers advantage.
Christopher Peterson
Michael Ungar, Ph.D.
Psychology Today
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