What to do with apatic children?
It is very likely that parents and teachers have sometimes noticed that the children with whom they live show fatigue more frequently than they expect and that they feel apathetic frequently.
Apathy refers to cognitive, affective and certain behaviors that together cause a significant decrease in children's motivation to do things. That is, apathetic children lose the initiative to carry out activities and diminish their feelings and emotions.
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The apathy that entails for children a lack of general interest and the loss of motivation to learn new things can be due to various causes that are producing it. Among the main causes of apathy in children are:
Lack of sleep. The lack of continuous sleep can alter the abilities of children. As a consequence, apathy and disinterest appear.
Feeding. The fact of eating an unbalanced diet can affect the mood of the child in a negative sense. This change in mood affects the child's ability to concentrate at home or at school, leading to apathy among other consequences.
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The sedentary life. The absence of movement and physical exercise can affect the lifestyle in the short and long term. When children are small this sedentary lifestyle makes this type of children miss at least two more days than the average school. When they are older, it is associated with lower school performance.
Stress. Even children feel stress to some extent. In very young children, separation from their parents can cause anxiety. As children grow, academic and social pressures create stress. In addition there are children who are very busy not having free time due to the amount of activities they have to attend.
It is very important to know the mood of our children, because through their attitude we can put into practice the different strategies and techniques, to help them have a healthy life, making them later to be pleasant people in society.
Accompany. It is important that the child knows how to solve his problems on his own. Thanks to this you will feel valued and with strength. The role of teachers and parents will be to accompany, making it clear that they will be responsible for their responsibilities and be clear that they are useful. Let the child explore before proposing or giving solutions.
Communication. The adults in the child's environment should be close and talk with them to make the children aware that they are responsible for their apathy. Asking about what you think about your friends, your family, about yourself will help you get to know yourself and be aware of the reality of your emotions.
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Give advice. Adults can tell them things that have happened to them, and what they felt at that time and how they solved them and the result they obtained. This will make more trust between adults and children. It is important that children feel that adults express what they want but not judge them.
Avoid praising when he is apathetic. When the child is apathetic, most of the time, we adults run to tell him things to cheer him up. Praise at this time can cause more frustration in the child. In some way the child can understand the praise in a contrary way.
This is a very interesting post. As I was reading I began to picture a few children in my school who might be affected by apathy . The way we deal with such children as teachers and parents seem to be doing more harm than good. Teachers are too hard but parents are too soft. The mood and mental state of the child is rarely taken into account.
Thanks to this post I now have a different approach towards learners who I feel are experiencing apathy.
Friend, I hope it's of benefit, those techniques in your class and in your social life. regards