How to Handle Your Child's Social Challenges

• Post Time - 2023-11-19 14:02:43

Your child will always need you to help him face and handle his social hurdles with his school friends and classmates as they can be a tough obstacle hampering his attempts to integrate and mingle. You may think that it is a trivial matter that shouldn’t burden him, but in fact it is a delicate and important matter that needs your full attention and care. Here are some tips for you to help your child fix his social problems at school and way to help him mingle with his school friends and colleagues.

First, your need to realize and try to comprehend the kind of spiritual challenge your child is facing and accept it. Any simple social burden at school can make your child not anxious about going to school each day. So, unless he’s able to face this matter and end such challenge, he will ask you each day not to take him to school.

How to locate your child’s social challenge?!

You, as a parent, need to sit and listen to your child more as he grows and as he deals with different people, of different ages and faces different life situations that may challenge his mental and social skills that may still be immature enough.

Identifying your child's spiritual challenges can be itself challenging, as children have a way of hiding their weaknesses, aches or challenges, so as not to appear immature or weak.

They also communicate differently. Some kids prefer to stay quiet, others may show some aggressive attitude when faced with daily social troubles. Their ways of communicating anger at  difficult times they’re going through are diverse.

How can you tell that your child is facing social troubles or challenges at school?!

Here are general signs that can tell you that your child is facing spiritual challenges:

1. Change in the way he’s expressing himself, you may find him resorting more to an aggressive attitude.

2. Your child may prefer to sit along more than before..

3. General change in behaviors that contradict their nature, such as bullying, lying, or cheating, or shouting.

4. Being unable to forgive his sibling or peers for the smallest mistakes: Children may find it difficult to forgive others or extend empathy as a result of lacking social understanding or integration.

5. Social isolation and difficulty to mingle with other kids: Children may struggle to form meaningful relationships or feel disconnected.

6. Not wanting to talk much with you about his day.

Here are some tips to consider that will help you handle your school-child challenges facing him at school?

1. First and most important thing is listening: 

What your child needs most is your full care and attention in listening to him. He needs someone he can speak to openly without any interruption.

2. Acceptance- No judgment:

Your child needs to know he can speak to you without you having to judge him of being aggressive, too sensitive, too shy or too weak. Just listen without issuing any judgment. Listen and accept his anger or rejection of situations his facing without belittling them or judging the way he feels or acts. 

3. Support: 

Support is the thing your child needs most. Tell him that you will support him in the challenge he’s facing until it is resolved. Tell him that your support is unconditional same as your love. Tell him that we all face social challenges and we all manage in the end to resolve them. 

4. Encouragement:

Ensure his ability to handle the matter on his own, even if you are willing to help him and even if you’re always ready to intervene if he asked for your support. Tell him how smart and loved he is. Tell him that there were times where he was new to some community or even his class the previous year and remind him how he managed in the end to become friends with his colleagues  and how they spent good times together.

5. Give advise:

Give your child some tips on how to communicate and how to handle bad situations. Tell him how to ignore negative comments and engage others in games and get them to play with him. Teach him why other kids would annoy him and that they may be jealous of him. Tell him that others’ comments are not expressive or who he really is.

6. Provide age-appropriate Social Tips:
 

Engage him in some imaginary situation where he can handle negative situations and negative people. Also engage your child in age-appropriate discussions and activities that foster his self-love and self- trust.

7. Help your child build bigger social circle:

Get to know mothers of your child’s friends and help him make new friends outside school. Take him out to kids areas and playground where he can practice more social skills and know more people to enlarge his social circle.

8. Professional help:

If all your attempts to help your child’s social burdens fail, don’t be afraid to seek professional help, either through research or talking to a psychiatrist. WHat’s important is not to leave his matter unresolved, for it can have the worst impact on his life. Your child needs to learn and practice how to face life and be socially accepted.

9. Communicate with the teacher:

Open a channel of communication with the class teacher in order for you to have a better understanding of the situation. Also reach out to moms of your child’s peers to know what’s exactly going on at school. The teacher may help you with valuable insights into the issue and provide solutions.

10. Be patient: 

Sharpening your kid’s social skills and resolving social matters facing him at school may be challenging and you may need to repeat the same advice each and every day. So, be patient and don’t give up. Remember, you’re investing in your child’s life.

11. Celebrate accomplishment: 

Don’t forget to acknowledge and celebrate your child's successes in building positive relationships and overcoming social difficulties with his classmates. This will reinforce his self-confidence and trust in his ability to resolve situations.

Also know that your child's small society at school is almost his entire world. School is the place where he spends most of his time and it is where he needs to fully demonstrate his social skills and feel valued.

Respect his challenge and exert your full effort and energy to provide guidance and help him resolve the social hurdles he could be facing.

By: Maha Youssuf; Mamas’ Guides Found and Chief Editor,
and Mamas’ Guides Editorial Desk