Treating Children As Individuals

While all children are expected to follow rules and behave in a certain way each child's efforts, abilities and accomplishments should be viewed in relation to each child's unique development and personality. One child will be good at ballet, one may be good at football and one may be good at organizing. The belief in the learning and success of a child regardless of the child's status, personality, learning struggles or behavior is important to instill in a child. One way to increase the affirmation that every child can succeed is for parents to avoid using words that label a child. Children shouldn't be labeled shy, trouble maker etc because labels can become expected behavior for children by the adults in the child's life and eventually by the child themselves.

When my child was in the 6th grade, there was a boy in her class. He had been in a previous class with her too, it was either 4th or 5th grade. The teacher they had in the 4th or 5th grade labeled this boy as a troublemaker and a goof ball. She didn't think the boy was capable of much and had low expectations of him. He lived up to these labels and expectations of himself. He goofed off and didn't try. When this boy and my child were in the same class their 6th grade year they had a child who believed in this boy. Their teacher brought out the best in him, and showed him that he is capable of more than the labels that were put on him. He didn't goof around, he applied himself resulting in good grades and proved to this boy that his potential was more than the labels put on him.

When we take labels off of children and help them succeed and reach their full potential we treat them as the individuals they are and they behave as those individuals instead of the labels that are put on them. They also live up to the higher expectation of who they can be rather than the expectation of the label.