In May of 2023, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy released a new advisory on social media and youth mental health. He urges action to ensure social media environments are healthy and safe, as previously-advised national youth mental health crisis continues. As youth are currently on summer break and may have additional free time to use social media, it is important to share this advisory.
Giving Children Choices Part Three
When I was raising my two boys, I was learning about giving choices. One winter's day, we took a walk in Washington Crossing State Park. It was here I decided to practice my new skill.
"OK, guys, we can take this trail or that trail. What's your choice?"
"Do you want to rest now, or shall we keep going?"
"I have a snack; do you want an orange or an apple?"
Sometimes they would ask me to do something.
"Can we go explore that area?"
"Can we sit on the stone wall?"
In the last blog post, I talked about how giving children choices gives them some sense of power and control in their lives. Remember, children all day long are being told what to do. By providing children small choices in their lives, they feel that they have some say or some ability to make decisions independently.
In this part, we continue to discuss two different “choices” methods, the “forced choice” and the “alternative choice.”
Image the daily life of a child.
"Elijah, you need to get up for school now.”
“Elijah, you need to brush your teeth now!”
“Elijah, stop yelling at your sister and get down here.”
“Elijah, do you have your bookbag? Where is your homework?”
“Elijah, you need to hurry, or you will miss the bus."
When Elijah gets to school, it starts again.
"No running on the playground!”
“Put your pencils away now.”
“No talking in the hallway."
