Making new friends and initiating conversations is an important communication skill that parents should teach their children.
This can be difficult for children, especially if they are shy or unsure of their social skills.
Psychologist-psychotherapist, coach Yulia Vatutina gives advice that can help a child learn to make acquaintances.
1. Teach to be friendly
The best way to show this is by example. You can start with something simple - smiling and greeting people you meet in everyday life.
It could be a neighbor, a shop assistant, a teacher or a passerby. The child copies the parent's behavior, including in communication with the outside world.
In addition, cultural products can help in the socialization of a child: for example, at the age of up to eight years, the fairy tale about Little Raccoon will help the child as a textbook on interaction with other children. At an older age, you can turn to more complex works.
2. Teach how to communicate with other people
To do this, you can act as the "other" at first. So, you need to ask the child to tell you about his interests and hobbies, about how he likes to spend his free time.
This can help him to form some communicative verbal constructions for communication with peers (and not only with them) with whom he has common interests.
3. Ensure participation in group activities
To do this, you can offer your child to enroll in clubs where learning takes place collectively. Interest clubs, school events, etc. will also work.
4. Teach listening skills
It is necessary to explain to the child that success in communication depends 80% not on the ability to speak, but on the ability to listen. Therefore, he needs to be shown how to listen to other people correctly and be interested in their opinions and feelings. This can help him better understand others and achieve new successful communications.
5. Encourage and support
Children are often unpredictable, and even if a child did everything right in an attempt to build a new acquaintance, other children could offend him or her or react inappropriately. Therefore, after such incidents, it is important to support the child and explain to him that this is not the end of the story.
Important points: what else to talk about with your child
But before your child starts making friends, it's important to protect them from potential dangers and warn them about possible risks. Here are a few things to talk about with your child in advance.
Don't give out personal information. You should teach your child not to give out personal information, such as address, phone number, email, or photos, to strangers.
Explain that this can be dangerous and that you should only trust friends and trusted acquaintances.
Do not meet with unfamiliar adults. It is necessary to warn the child that he can independently meet and date only peers. It is important to explain to him that dating can be dangerous and that it is necessary to always remain in sight of other people.
Don't trust everything that strangers say. You should teach your child to be careful and to react critically to the information they receive.
To do this, you need to tell him that some people may use false information or manipulate him to achieve their own selfish goals.
Report any strange situations. It is necessary to build a trusting relationship with the child in advance so that he is not embarrassed or afraid to talk about unusual and strange situations that happened when meeting or communicating with other people.
Act with respect and kindness. Finally, it is important to teach your child early on to treat others with respect and kindness, regardless of their race, gender, age, or religion.
It is necessary to explain to him that this is a necessary condition for building healthy relationships with other people.
