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Is it important to build confidence in children? From an early age we celebrate every little step of their development. We cheer and clap their early efforts at finger painting and taking part in the school production. In almost everything they do, we congratulate them. It has got to a stage where in some places school sport days no longer have “winners and losers.” Really, by behaving like this are we helping them grow into well-rounded adults or are we setting them up for a fall, how will they feel when one day they discover that the applause has suddenly stopped. In (Too much of a good thing) Samantha Clever wrote; Ask Korean eighth graders, “Are you good at math?” and chances are they'll say they aren't. Ask an American, and you'll likely get an enthusiastic response. In a recent study, only six percent of Korean eighth graders considered themselves excellent math students, compared with 39 percent of American eighth graders. Yet the Korean students scored far better in math than their American peers. The Brooking Institution 2006 Brown Centre Report on Education finds that countries in which families and schools emphasize self-esteem for students (America for example) lag behind the cultures that don't focus on how students feel about themselves.” children naturally have self-esteem; they are not born with a negative attitude. Young children are usually eager to try new things like climbing a tree for instance, they are not aware that they might not succeed, not until we tell them. Should we then let them be the judge of their own failures and success? If we continue to praise, are we creating praise junkies? There are children however who don't have encouraging parents and who may have experienced lots of negative behavior in their lives, so what do we do about those children? The children that sit at the back of the class not interacting or offering their ideas or opinion for fear of humiliation or failure. Maureen Healy (Psychology today) writes, “Confidence is built upon the ability to begin seeing oneself as skilled. A child's confidence is accelerated when a parent or adults place their trust and belief in a child. “ Research conducted by psychologist Carol Dweck into the negative effects of praising children found positive results, “when children were taught that effort, not innate ability, was the key to success.” She advised, “We should keep away from certain kinds of praise – praise that judges their intelligence or talent” and praise them for, “What they accomplished through practice, study and perseverance.” When it comes to how we treat our own children or those in the classroom, it cannot be denied that children like adults need positive encouragement. children may be shy about sharing ideas or speaking in class but with careful encouragement they will soon become more confident and engaged in the subject. children need to see that achievement is a result of effort. I think it is important to build confidence in children by giving the right type of praise we can help children develop into self confident and successful adults. Sources: http://www.scholastic.com Too-much-good-thing. Samantha Cleaver n.d http://www.psychologytoday.com Confidence in children. Maureen Healy. March 11, 2009 Are our children over praised. Kenneth Barish April 2 2012