Limit or Permit?: A Parents’ Guide for Monitoring Social Media
Having a conversation with your kids about online safety rules is a crucial step. This will help your kids grow up using social media wisely. This post is intended to act as a guideline for parents who share some of these questions about when to limit or permit their kids’ online activity.
Talking to Teens About Mental Health
Ask questions. It is okay to be direct when it comes to checking in with mental health, it sends a message you take this topic seriously. It is also okay to bring mental health up in a roundabout way. You can bring up an article you recently read or discuss well-known individuals such as Simone Biles and Harry Miller who are making their mental health a priority.
Building a Coping Kit
A coping kit is simply a list of skills and strategies a child can use when feeling anxious. It helps to practice these strategies when the child is already calm. Sometimes children can memorize their list of strategies but others may need to have them written down.
School Refusal
School refusal is different from truancy. Children who are truant refuse to go to school because they want to do something else. They will often concoct elaborate schemes to avoid going to school. However, school refusal is related to anxiety about situations or expectations at school.
Emotional Co-Regulation
The really amazing thing about mirror neurons is that you can use your mirror neurons to help your child when they are struggling to regulate their own emotions. If you stay calm in situations which are causing your child distress (ie frustration, anxiety, fear, anger, etc) and maintain a supportive presence, your child will essentially “catch” your calm.
Protecting Yourself From Second-Hand Anxiety
It is important to protect yourself from second-hand anxiety because chronic stress can lead to long-term health problems. In addition, as a parent, you are not helping your child if you are taking on their anxiety.
How To Help Kids When Big Emotions Happen
When individuals are struggling with emotional regulation, their emotions feel very out of control to them. In young children, this can look like throwing tantrums, refusal behaviors and excessive worrying. Struggling to regulate emotions is pretty common, even us adults struggle with it at times. However, it is pretty easy to teach kids skills which help them to regulate their emotions.