(ThyBlackMan.com) What does the future hold for black children? In an era in which we are witnessing high incidences of suspensions and expulsions, and low reading proficiency scores, what do our children need to be constantly reminded of? In two words: their greatness! Greatness is the hallmark of success for our children as opposed to fame. For, greatness lasts a lifetime and leaves a legacy, while fame is here today and gone today.
Change, complexity and competition are not only the realities of business life that adults face on a daily basis; those three dynamics also trickle down to school-age children. It’s simply not enough to push our children to get good grades. Good grades are indeed important, but ideas hold a lifetime’s greater value than just good grades.
Will they be or are they prepared? As parents, educators and guardians, we have the power to shape that response by constantly reminding – not just our own children – but every child we connect with of timeless maxims for success. Our children must constantly hear affirmation.
Here are three among many affirmations our children must constantly be told!
I Will Never Push You to Be Second-Best!
Competition has no beginning or end; in our construct, competition is an ever-present reality. As such, our children should never settle for second; they should be so imbibed with a thirst for success that they don’t know what it means to be second-best. If children feel safe, they can take risks, ask questions, make mistakes, learn to trust, share their feelings and grow, writes Alfie Kohn.
I am not suggesting a win-at-all-costs mentality, but I am saying that the winning bravado with which we attach with sports should also translate to the academic arena. I will never push you to be second-best should ring in their ears often!
Reading, for example, should be elevated to Holy Grail status. Our children should endeavor to be the best readers on the planet. This alone would lift our children as a whole as it relates to overall scholastic performance.
I Am Proud of You!
Children are not things to be molded, but are people to be unfolded, writes Jess Lair. What better words than I am proud of you to facilitate that unfoldment? Next to “I love you”, I am proud of you are the most magical words a young child can hear! They are instantly infused with a sense of ‘can do’ that is unparalleled in their young worlds.
When they give their best effort, but come up short; when they come face to face with a temporary limitation; when they’ve become frustrated but refuse to give up or give in, pronounce those positive reinforcing words.
Say it often. Say it aloud. Say in private. Say it in public. Every child has the right to hear these empowering and majestic words!
Don’t Follow the Leader – Lead the Follower!
In an age of negative peer pressure and excessive bullying, children need to be taught they do not have to follow the leader, but rather they can be the leader! Education, writes William Butler Yeats, is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.
Lighting the fire of leadership is crucial to a child’s development. Now, some will retort, ‘Everybody’s not born to be leader!’ True. But who are we to determine that for a child, a child unfolding to the beauty of life?
The truth is we have a moral duty to extract every ounce of potential in our children as possible!
Our children must be constantly hear affirmation!
Staff Writer; W. Eric Croomes
This talented brother is a holistic lifestyle exercise expert and founder and executive coach of Infinite Strategies LLC, a multi-level coaching firm that develops and executes strategies for fitness training, youth achievement and lifestyle management. Eric is an author, fitness professional, holistic life coach and motivational speaker.
In October 2015, Eric released Life’s A Gym: Seven Fitness Principles to Get the Best of Both, which shows readers how to use exercise to attract a feeling of wellness, success and freedom (Infinite Strategies Coaching LLC, 2015) – http://www.infinitestrategiescoaching.com.