How to Overcome Shyness of Your Child

How can you help overcome shyness of your child? This article shows how.

Timidity or shyness stems from an activity or understanding from the early developmental stage of a child, which may or may not last to manage as in a course of action till the child is of age. This might eventually affect your child’s socialization skills and public speaking.

So, how does one overcome shyness effectively? Let me share to you some of the integral techniques. Assisting your child at an early age, particularly for mothers, is delicately crucial.

Shyness in your child is not hereditary, it can be helped. Understand where the shyness of your child comes from. Be extra patient, be extra discernable. Focus on ways or techniques to help your child’s behavior.

Understand that coming out of one’s shell may take a longish time and effort. Keep praying for your child, though.

Friends and family who understand your child’s anti-social phases are important. If your child feels uncomfortable in dealing with people, it’s equally important that you don’t force your child.

Yet help your child develop his or her socialization skills. If other people can do it, your child absolutely can! You, as parents, can help because Jesus is in you (Philippians 4: 13).

How to Overcome Shyness: 10 Tips

1. Develop listening skills. Students with good listening skills recall more information. Over 70% of all misunderstandings sprouts from very poor listening skills. So train your child to develop listening skills thru listening attentively when people talk. Divert one’s attention towards what the other is saying. This improves relationship skills as peers see them interested, develop self-efficacy believing as students they can succeed in class and feel confident. Thus, your child further lowers the levels of anxiety and frustrations. Eventually, they overcome shyness.
2. Let them join Civic Organizations. The Rotary Club, Red Cross, Environmental groups, etc. boost self-confidence and help overcome shyness. Your child gain soft skills they don’t learn in school, e.g. time management, public speaking, team-building exercises. Your child gets motivated and discovers something new every day by joining civic organizations.
3. Encourage them to volunteer for a community outreach program. This activity leads to a better physical and emotional health. Volunteering gives people a purpose, a more positive outlook in life, and are less likely to experience isolation and despair. It helps kids be more optimistic about life. Demonstrate social responsibility. We all coexist and share in this planet, thus it’s of significance. We all take part in efforts to make life better. People that momentarily stop what they do and reach out to the community show social responsibility.
4. Let them join a Toastmasters Club. This ultimately develops public speaking and self-confidence of your child. It further teaches a sound leadership skills. Your child takes bigger and more significant responsibilities. Your child will discover their influence and gain authority through their learned ability to speak in a group of people or in a crowd.
5. Give motivational books and articles. Motivational books and articles strengthen the brain and self-confidence. It increases your child’s empathy and builds vocabulary. It will stimulate your child to think better, to visualize more, to act and then implement they planned out to do. The book will empower your child, reinstall faith, and build confidence. Readings remind your child to go out and make their dreams come true and materialize, eventually.
6. Establish open communication. Have an open atmosphere at your own home wherein your kids can freely communicate with you their feelings and emotions as their parents. Make them feel secure and loved by supportive parents. Role model your genuine love for Christ towards your kids every day. Make time to talk. Speak to your child in a respectful manner, as this presumes a high level of maturity. Keep talking and talking to them every day, every hour patiently in a very calm manner and see they’ll converse in the long run.
7. Engage children in decision making. Listening without contradicting and then repeat what you heard in a more mature manner. Allow your child to have some say in the minor family rules, minor house renovations, backyard repaint, house decors, places you all want to go together as a family, choices of healthy snacks they want aside from what you want, and some other petty things that needs small scale decision making.
8. Talk at their level in a good way. Respond to baby talk with good christian conversations every day. Talking to your kids despite their level of conversation deeply encourages language skills. Laugh more with your children. Enjoy life with them in Christ. PRAY with them every day. Lifting your hearts to the LORD together as a family plays an important role in the personality development of your kids.
9. Interact meaningfully. Interacting with your kids in a meaningful, constructive way. When you’re patient and treat your kids with the respect they deserve, the effects of growing up in a warm and loving home will positively affect them forever. Children will have an established foundation, positive self-esteem, confidence, a balance of emotional intelligence, and good communication skills to guide them to be happy, confident, and resilient individuals in the society.
10. Choose your words wisely. Your child’s very own self-image and self-esteem are highly correlated with two (2) things—their home life and their group of peers. So ask yourself, is your own home a positive place wherein they can thrive well or is it one with negativity, hurtful words and bad actions? You can’t control what happens outside like their school environment or on soccer fields, Yet definitely what you can exceedingly control is the type of healthy environment you create for your family at your home sweet home so that they grow up to be healthy, happy productive citizens in the society.

Power of Prayer

Do not be anxious for anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God; and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4: 6-7).

A healthy family Christian relationship depends on a good communication. You cannot have a healthy relationship with your children if you don’t communicate with them. Learn about the significance of interpersonal relationship, interpersonal communication, the power of good listening and responding.

Additional Tips

1. Being an authoritative parent may cause shyness towards your children. However, a warm approach to parenting amazingly applies for a healthy development of your kids.
2. Sometimes—Psychotherapy and Group therapy can help children to cope up with magnanimously excessive shyness and temperament. We can teach them social skills, and how to be aware of their high shyness and temperamental levels and better person.
3. Relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, sports and a regular unwind with nature can help children and adults alike with stress, anxiety and shyness. Showing compassion, being kind, training kids in helping others, and sometimes being assertive can help children be at ease with other people. Worry and stress sets in when we think “it’s all about me” instead of “praying” and better thinking “it’s all about God”.

Helpful Bible Verses

1. “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22: 6)
2. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the LORD. (Ephesians 6: 4)
3. “All your sons will be taught of the LORD; And the well-being of your sons will be great.” (Isaiah 54: 13)
4. We will not conceal them from their children, but tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and His strength and His wondrous works that He has done. (Psalm 78: 4)
5. “Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons. (Joel 1: 3)

References

1. Stopper, M. C., 2021. Parenting. Retrieved from https://www.medicinenet.com/parenting/article.htm on March 20, 2022
2. American Psychological Association, n.d. Shyness. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/topics/shyness# on March 20, 2022.