I have confidence in me

Aditi Mathur and Ratnesh Mathur

The four words most often heard in Geniekids when parents walk in are, “My child lacks confidence.” “Oh really?” a voice inside me objects, “Perhaps he is not confident in this one area, but there surely must be other areas that he is very confident in; perhaps what you are asking is not his strength; perhaps he is at the moment thinking about something else; perhaps just like me he likes to be by himself; perhaps he doesn’t like being pushed (who does?); or perhaps….”

Or perhaps we do not really understand confidence!

If I do not want to walk on stage in a fancy dress and deliver some dialogues, do I lack confidence? If I do not want to go to a group of children and ask them to include me in their play, do I lack confidence?

There is one thing that we as teachers and parents need to understand for the good of our children (as well as to calm our anxiety), and that is that SELF confidence is one thing and SOCIAL confidence quite another. Just because I do not have social confidence does not mean that I do not have self confidence.

The authors are part of a Bengaluru based child development and parent/teacher training center: www.amable.in.

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