Understand how to safeguard the well being of children and young people 2

Supporting children and young people’s self confidence and self esteem

It is essential that we support children and young people in maintaining a healthy self-image and confidence so that their personalities can develop in the best possible way. Confidence is strongly related to the way children relate to other people, peers and adults in their environment. Positive self-esteem stems from a good relationship with family, friends and teachers who show appreciation and support towards the child.

Teachers can make children and young people feel valued and good by using positive remarks, encouragement and praise whenever it is appropriate. Allowing independent choices and actions boosts pupils’ can-do attitude and develops their skills in decision-making and responsible risk-taking. Also teachers and teaching assistants have to keep in mind that each child has to be valued as an individual person with their own unique characteristics, flaws and strengths; and instil this attitude into the children through education.

The school has to have an atmosphere that celebrates difference and similarity among pupils. This way they learn that just because somebody is different it does not mean that the others have the right to pick on them. Furthermore, nobody has to put up with bullying but stand up for themselves and ask for help if needed.

Importance of supporting resilience in children and young people

Supporting children’s resilience belongs to the Social-Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) and it roots in learning the ability of managing emotions in difficult situations. Teachers and teaching assistant can support the pupils in learning how to maintain their confidence on challenging occasions.

The most important advice for teaching staff is that they always have to remain approachable to the pupils so whenever they need assistance in facing a difficult situation they have somebody to turn to. If adults facilitate opportunities for discussion, children will know that their problems are important and they can always seek advice from teachers, teaching assistants and parents. Children will only develop if they are not afraid of trying out new and potentially challenging things but they need help from teachers and parents to have the courage and resilience to do so.

With support from adults children and young people will learn how to keep up their self-confidence and resilience even when they are facing a hard task or a challenging situation.

Important to work with the child or young person to ensure they have strategies to protect themselves and make decisions about safety

“Life Education” is a new concept that is being built into the hidden curriculum of schools, covering the necessary skills children have to acquire in order to stand their ground against society’s challenges. Unfortunately we cannot eliminate all the dangers children and young people may be exposed to inside and outside of school but we can teach them how to recognise dangerous situations, how to protect themselves, seek escape or find help.

The UN Convention on Human Rights in 1990 stated that each child has the right to grow in an atmosphere of love, happiness and understanding. It includes being healthy, live in a safe environment and an opportunity to develop to the best of their abilities. It does not mean that children and young people have to be locked up in a safe place where nothing can befall them because they need stimuli and action for their healthy development.

It is part of the teachers’ and teaching assistants’ job to encourage pupils to take certain risks that are necessary or even beneficial as a challenge. Furthermore there are unavoidably situations in life when a child or young person will have to face danger alone. Being equipped with the necessary skills, however, will enable them to overcome these situations and even benefit from the experience.

 Empowering children means making them aware that they have the right to live in a safe and supporting environment and teaching them how to make responsible decisions about what is good for them and what is not.

Empowering children and young people to make positive and informed choices that support their well being and safety

First of all children and young people have to maintain a positive self-image and be confident about who they are and what they want so that they are not so easy to be influenced by negative peer pressure. Confidence can be achieved by boosting children’s self-esteem and make them feel good about themselves. We also have to encourage pupils to have their own opinion about things and events in the school and in the world, so that they learn how to make informed decisions without being influenced by others. Children and young people have to be made aware of their right to be safe and healthy, and explained what being safe means in the context of their lives. On the personal level the importance of healthy eating and exercise has to be understood, on the social level it includes the meaning of “right and wrong” and “stranger danger”. Still we will not be able to protect them from all the potential dangers in the world but if any problem happens, pupils have to be aware that help is at hand, either from teaching staff in the school or from external organisations specialised in certain fields, e.g. Child Line.

The most we can do for the children as teachers, teaching assistants or parents is to respect and value them so they will have the confidence to make the right decisions in challenging situations.