Happy Friday everyone!
As an educator with over 25 years of experience and a parent of two less-than-perfect children, I can say one thing for certain when it comes to kids: Every single one of them will face a challenge or struggle resulting from a less-than-ideal choice they’ve made. As both educators and parents, we are tasked with the difficult job of determining when to support our kids and when we may be enabling them in these situations.
Enabling occurs when we justify or make excuses for their problematic behavior. It can feel like support, but in reality, it’s far from it. True support means helping our kids understand why their choices were poor, guiding them through the consequences of those choices, and helping them learn how to move forward once the consequences have played out.
Supporting a child can be extremely difficult, especially when they become upset because of the support we offer. However, it’s crucial to remember that this support, though tough in the moment, is what helps our children grow and learn.
It’s also important that we periodically reflect on our actions to ensure we’re being more supportive than enabling. When we surround our children with supportive adults like we have here at BCPS, the amount of learning and growth they experience is immeasurable.
Happy Friday!