Rejection is a saddening, painful, and difficult feeling to have, especially as a child. It has the power of making them feel self-conscious, distressed, and confused. It is imminent that a child will feel defeated and rejected at some times. To help overcome the heartache that comes with rejection and to help them understand their self-worth, the Yellow class has arranged various fun activities for kids. These activities help them build confidence and help them build self-esteem.
These activities involve various hobbies to do online including kids’ craft ideas and other kids’ hobbies.
Following are some ways you can help your child process rejection and the emotions that come with it:
- Justify their emotions- First and foremost, it is important to validate the emotions that your child may be feeling as a result of experiencing rejection. This normalizes their emotions and promotes psychological fortitude. Sometimes parents make the mistake of dismissing these emotions and this influences the personalities of their children in the long run.
- Normalize failure- Most people are petrified of failure for the most obvious reasons. However, it should be realized that failure is an exceptional learning experience, albeit an unpleasant one. You should help your child understand that failure is an important part of life. It allows you to re-evaluate your goals and objectives and helps to uncover an improved strategy.
- Idealize optimism- Parents are the greatest role models for their children. Hence, how you respond to everyday challenges is of paramount importance in shaping their reactions and feelings. You should allow them to witness both your successes and your failures along with how you respond to each scenario. You must approach setbacks with a positive mindset. Children tend to let these behaviours influence them which allow them to guide their reactions.
- Avoid correlating their value to their achievements- Every parent wants their child to be the best at everything. They wish for the whole world to perceive their child as they do. However, this burden may send the wrong message to the child. It might make them correlate their self-worth to their achievements in life. Thus, parents need to acknowledge as well as declare the value of their children irrespective of their achievements.
- Divert them with laughter- One of the best coping mechanisms is laughter. Handling rejection and disappointment with a sense of humour will allow your child to recognize the importance of being optimistic. It will help them understand that obstacles like rejection are not the end of the world.
Much like adults, children too tend to question their self-worth when faced with a dilemma like rejection or exclusion. To address this issue, experts have suggested that parents should work towards teaching their children to be more resilient. This will build their character and help them withstand as well as recover from difficult situations quickly. It is a valuable trait that every child should harbour.
Social rejection may occur for reasons unrelated to your child. Other times, however, your child’s poor social skills may be to blame. If this is the case, help your child learn to better read social cues, such as when a person is trying to end a conversation or when someone is too busy to talk. You might also encourage your child to avoid oversharing personal information and to become a better reflective listener.
You can teach these behaviors by modeling them yourself. You can also point out instances when your child’s actions are not socially desirable, as well as praise the times they behave well. Most kids who have experienced ostracism will be quite open to these lessons. In fact, research shows that kids tend to become more vigilant about social cues after being rejected.
Although avoidance would help prevent your child from suffering further psychological pain, it is not always the best strategy. Instead, help them face the pain gradually with support from you. Then, give them tools to re-write the narrative so association with that painful memory no longer has any power over them.
For instance, if you know the peers who ostracized your child were big fans of a certain music group, you might might be tempted to avoid discussing that group or playing their music in the car. Instead, try discussing what they continue to enjoy about the music or musical group.
If it is upsetting to them, you can start by emphasizing and validating their experience. You also can let them know uncomfortable memories associated with things they used to love makes facing it hard. Provide support and reassurance, encouraging them to take their time to heal. Educate them that although avoidance feels like a better option, it only leaves them on high alert to continue avoiding the future.
While physical wounds heal rather quickly, the psychological pain of social rejection can be long-lasting. This occurs because psychological pain can feel fresh each time the rejection is mentally relived, according to psychological studies. Cues that relate to the rejection can encourage such mental reliving.
