Is your child extremely shy? Does it pain you to no end to see how they behave in public situations or in when encountered by people they do not know? Millions of little ones are painfully shy and the parents seem to take the blunt of the emotion way too seriously.
Certainly, it may irritate you when a neighbor or old friend passes by in a supermarket and your child is hiding or very shy to even acknowledge their existence.
Some parents have even smacked their children for being shy like this or punished them later when they arrived at home.
Do you want your child to be friendly and engaging? Of course you do, and so does every other parent in the world, but every child is not the same plain and simple.
Think of when you are at work and there is always that one guy that is outspoken in the boardroom, or that one woman in the seminar making all the jokes and being the leader of the seminar you are at.
Just as there are very shy children, there are also very shy adults as well.
This can come from a series of emotions such as a fear of being in a public environment or a fear of speaking in one also.
These emotions they experience as children can grow with them into adulthood and that may be the primary concern for why so many parents are trying to break the shyness in their children.
First, you must ask the child why they do not engage in public with other people.
If they are very young such as three or four, they often will tell you it is because they are scared.
This is completely normal and does not pose a threat to their development at all.
Ask them why they are scared and tell them people are only being friendly and trying to say hello to them that is all.
If your child is a teenager and has become shy as they got older, you may need to find out the cause of that.
Many teens become withdrawn and shy because of some form of abuse they are experiencing either at home or at school.
Always speak openly with your teenagers and tell them no matter what, it is your pleasure to help them get through this time and to help prevent some of their shyness.
Most children that are shy before the age of six, generally grow out of it.
This comes from attending more classroom activities at school and having to engage with other children.
The more exposure they get to other people and having daily contact, the easier it will be to pull them out of their shell each day.
Teach your children that being shy has it's disadvantages, such as finding a good career in life or simply just asking for something you want as an adult.
You always want your child to be happy, and that is the most important thing for them.
If they end up being a somewhat shy adult, then that is who they were intended to be and a little bit of shyness never truly hurt anyone.