It's easy to accuse schools and the government of not doing enough to combat bullying.
The truth is, it starts with all of us individually.
It's really very simple...kindness and lifting other people up is, and can be, life changing for others.
But I believe there’s more to creating a positive culture than just telling kids to say this, or think that.
As an educator, I know that real learning comes in understanding, doing, practicing and incorporating the thinking into our own language.
And then it’s about revisiting the thinking over and over again until it’s permanent.
I want to provide our children with tools that can be applied to school, and for social, personal and professional scenarios they will encounter throughout their lives.
Here's a real-life example of why children's life coaching has the potential to do so much good for children.
My middle son Nick is 18. About three years ago we finally got the diagnosis we had always known.
He has Aspergers.
We always knew Nick took a different approach to life, but really we were made aware of his challenges when as a talented 14-year-old tennis player, it was his behaviour towards his opponents, teammates and parents that pushed us to withdraw his team mid season from the competition. We thought we had no choice - he was uncontrollable.
With the benefit of our learning since, we now know it was a cry for help. The experts call it social phobia, and he was going through hell, so his way out was to hurt those around him.
Let’s fast forward to recently. I play basketball with Nick and my other two sons, Zac and Lac.
One recent match, Nick became upset, blurted some expletives and walked off home, slamming doors behind him. We shrugged and were unhappy. But that’s Nick misbehaving again, we say.
So, the next week arrives and we’re all on the court again. But this time Nick is serene -- it's my other two sons whose behaviour is challenging.
One of my sons points this out.
Here’s the insight: Nick has the benefit of seeing a professional to talk through life’s challenges. It so happened that he met with his mentor a few days after his 'walk-off.' They talked, she gave him strategies for when he faced situations like that on the basketball court and in life.
He employed those strategies the next time he stepped on the court.
Isn’t it interesting that the person who has the diagnosis has the benefit of help and grows, but for the Zac’s and Lac’s of this world, they are left to ‘work’ it out for themselves.
Adventures in Wisdom is my way of offering a gift to all children - whether they be a Nic, or a Zac or a Lac -- the tools to deal with life.
The Adventures in Wisdom Life Coaching Program for Kids is promoted as a fun, story-based program that gives step-by-step tools for helping kids learn how to handle the ups and downs of growing up; to think for themselves and make good decisions; and to go for their dreams and make them happen.
It started in the United States in 2013 and is now the leader of a worldwide movement to empower kids.
There are WISDOM Coaches in over 30 countries using the program to empower kids!
It’s founder is Renae Thornburrow knew that when her kids were young no matter how much she loved them or how much time she spent with them, she couldn’t give them self-confidence, self-esteem, or success in life…but what she could do was to teach how to develop it in themselves.
And that’s how Adventures in Wisdom came to be.
My mission is to inspire and empower kids to believe in themselves and their dreams and to provide them with the tools to make that happen.
Through my program, kids learn how to be confident and prepared to handle the ups and downs of growing up, to think for themselves and make good decisions, and to go for it in life.
It can be used to prepare children for a bright future regardless of what they desire to be in life, while giving them the skills to deal with everyday problems.
As adults we struggle in our journey to achieve success because we deal with limiting beliefs that were rooted at a very young age. If we would have learned that we can do and be anything we want to be, and that failure is part of life and should be used to make us better and stronger, our reality for success would have been much greater.
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