Kids can Conquer Fears Only by Confronting Them, Suggests Experts

A daily dose of fear is just what the doctor ordered for kids, insists a leading headmaster in the UK.

Anthony Seldon, the headmaster of Wellington College, insists that kids are too protected these days, and as a result are missing out on things, as they are not allowed to conquer their fears by confronting them.

Speaking at The Dangerous Event for Boys, Dr Seldon insisted that both boys and girls needed to start pushing themselves so that they can experience the 'challenge of adventure'.

He told parents and schools to stop wrapping kids in cotton wool, and let them learn about endurance, risk and lack of comfort through activities such as rock climbing and night hikes.

This, he said, will help not only help them learn vital life skills such as compassion, but will also help them discover more about themselves.

"We don't give our young people nearly enough physical fear and the triumph of overcoming that physical fear, whether on a football field or whether on a long all-night trek," the Daily Mail quoted him, as saying.

"We just don't do it and boys need to have it and so do girls.

"An averagely energetic boy who grows up in an inner city in Britain today will have next to no physical exercise during the day, next to no adventure during the day, next to no challenge during the day.

"He'll then go back (home) and there will be very little play in the evening, but there will be a lot of sitting down, a lot of watching television, a lot of being in front of the computer.

"Having sport and physical exercise-and adventure and challenge and difficult things are what helps people to grow."

He later added: "It's through facing fear, facing physical hardship and facing personal deprivation that we learn about compassion, about ourselves, and we grow up."

"The most fear children get at the moment is through watching violent-films - but that's vicarious.

"We need it to happen to them. I think that every child needs this and they need to be doing something physical during the daytime, burning up a lot of energy."

Source-ANI
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