Are children actually less resilient these days, as one school principal quoted in this article asserts? I don’t think Currambena kids are!
Maybe those “cotton wool kids” who are never allowed to climb trees or run across hard surfaces or use a real knife when cooking or a hammer in craft… maybe they cannot help being less resilient, having had no opportunities to discover for themselves that falling hurts and metal tools can be dangerous as well as useful.
When children are permitted to participate in the real world, choose their own challenges and learn from their own efforts, whether successful or otherwise, they learn that it is very important to think ahead. What are the risks here? What are the safety issues I need to consider to keep myself and those around me safe?
They learn that it is OK to make mistakes and have accidents because most of these are wonderful learning opportunities! If they are NOT making mistakes, it usually means that are not courageously trying new things but taking soft and familiar options which will ensure they are not challenged physically, intellectually, socially or emotionally.
It also means they will not have the chance to develop the skills to pick themselves up after an accident or mistake and have another go!
And that’s what resilience is all about.
