Throughout his life, your child experiences diversity in people. Skin color, ethnicity, upbringing, age, religion and appearance differ greatly from person to person as your child meets strangers at school, community centers, church and during extracurricular activities. If your child meets a person who is very different from the family he grew up in, he may make an assumption about that person, fear that person or respond with unwarranted hate or aggression. From a young age, teach your child to appreciate and expect diversity. Allowing your child to socialize with people and children from many walks of life, while calmly giving answers to any of your child's questions, prepares him to act appropriately on his own and help his friends who hold close-minded or limited views of the world.
Respect is a concept that helps your child appreciate herself, solve problems with others, understand other points of view and learn from tough situations. The It's Not OK website defines respect through actions such as listening without interrupting, having an open mind, exchanging trust and honesty with others and using direct communication. Whether your child agrees or disagrees with her peers or an adult, she must learn how to communicate and come to an agreement with another person in a respectful manner. A child who respects herself will respect others. Show your child respect by treating her as an equal.
Confidence is a tricky lesson to learn, as it is sandwiched intimately in between cockiness and indifference. Throughout his young life, your child will constantly wonder if he is good enough, what other people think about him and what he thinks about himself. The Self Improvement Mentor website says that confidence is having belief in your own abilities. As your child approaches assignments, tasks and hobbies in school and extracurricular activities, he will have to believe in himself to attempt them with his best ability. Some children and teenagers who lack confidence never even attempt to do something they might turn out to have great skill in.
Coping mechanisms range from adaptive to cognitive. The mechanism a person uses depends on her maturity, upbringing and the nature of the problem at hand. When your child reaches a challenging emotional hurdle, it is your job to help her adopt a positive coping mechanism to get through it and learn from it. An adaptive mechanism comes up with a positive action to take in response to the problem. A behavioral mechanism involves reflecting on what behavior created the problem and how to change that behavior to prevent the problem from happening again. A cognitive mechanism helps her change the way she thinks in order to feel better about the issue and move on from it. Teach your child one or all of these mechanisms, depending on the problems she faces. If you do not help her adapt positive coping mechanisms, she may avoid her feelings, internalize them or attack others as she projects her feelings and insecurities.