By Victoria Prooday<\/p>\n
There is a silent tragedy developing right now, in our homes, and it concerns our most precious jewels \u2014 our children. Through my work with hundreds of children and families as an occupational therapist, I have witnessed this tragedy unfolding right in front of my eyes. Our children are in a devastating emotional state! Talk to teachers and professionals who have been working in the field for the last 15 years. You will hear concerns similar to mine. Moreover, in the past 15 years, researchers have been releasing alarming statistics on a sharp and steady increase in kids\u2019 mental illness, which is now reaching epidemic proportions:<\/p>\n
1 in 5 children has mental health problems<\/p>\n
43% increase in ADHD<\/p>\n
37% increase in teen depression<\/p>\n
100% increase in suicide rate in kids 10-14 years old<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
How much more evidence do we need before we wake up?<\/p>\n
No, \u201cincreased diagnostics alone\u201d is not the answer!<\/p>\n
No, \u201cthey all are just born like this\u201d is not the answer!<\/p>\n
No, \u201cit is all the school system\u2019s fault\u201d is not the answer!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Yes, as painful as it can be to admit, in many cases, WE, parents, are the answer to many of our kids\u2019 struggles!<\/p>\n
It is scientifically proven that the brain has the capacity to rewire itself through the environment. Unfortunately, with the environment and parenting styles that we are providing to our children, we are rewiring their brains in a wrong direction and contributing to their challenges in everyday life.<\/p>\n
Yes, there are and always have been children who are born with disabilities and despite their parents\u2019 best efforts to provide them with a well-balanced environment and parenting, their children continue to struggle. These are NOT the children I am talking about here.<\/p>\n
I am talking about many others whose challenges are greatly shaped by the environmental factors that parents, with their greatest intentions, provide to their children. As I have seen in my practice, the moment parents change their perspective on parenting, these children change.<\/p>\n
What is wrong?<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s children are being deprived of the fundamentals of a healthy childhood, such as:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Instead, children are being served with:<\/p>\n
Could anyone imagine that it is possible to raise a healthy generation in such an unhealthy environment? Of course not! There are no shortcuts to parenting, and we can\u2019t trick human nature. As we see, the outcomes are devastating. Our children pay for the loss of well-balanced childhood with their emotional well-being.<\/p>\n
How to fix it?<\/p>\n
If we want our children to grow into happy and healthy individuals, we have to wake up and go back to the basics. It is still possible! I know this because hundreds of my clients see positive changes in their kids\u2019 emotional state within weeks (and in some cases, even days) of implementing these recommendations:<\/p>\n
Implement consistent sleep routine to ensure that your child gets lots of sleep in a technology-free bedroom<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t pack your child\u2019s backpack, don\u2019t carry her backpack, don\u2019t bring to school his forgotten lunch box\/agenda, and don\u2019t peel a banana for a 5-year-old child. Teach them the skills rather than do it for them.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t feel responsible for being your child\u2019s entertainment crew.<\/p>\n
Do not use technology as a cure for boredom.<\/strong><\/p>\n Avoid using technology during meals, in cars, restaurants, malls. Use these moments as opportunities to train their brains to function under \u201cboredom\u201d<\/p>\n Help them create a \u201cboredom first aid kit\u201d with activity ideas for \u201cI am bored\u201d times.<\/p>\n Be emotionally available to connect with kids and teach them self-regulation and social skills:<\/p>\n Turn off your phones until kids are in bed to avoid digital distraction.<\/p>\n Become your child\u2019s emotional coach. Teach them to recognize and deal with frustration and anger.<\/p>\n Teach greeting, turn taking, sharing, empathy, table manners, conversation skills,<\/p>\n Connect emotionally \u2013 Smile, hug, kiss, tickle, read, dance, jump, or crawl with your child.<\/p>\n We must make changes in our kids\u2019 lives before this entire generation of children will be medicated! It is not too late yet, but soon it will be\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Victoria Prooday There is a silent tragedy developing right now, in our homes, and it concerns our most precious jewels \u2014 our children. Through my work with hundreds of children and families as an occupational therapist, I have witnessed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t