The time is nearing, or perhaps has already arrived, when you’ll have to sit down with your children to have “The Talk.” One of the biggest shifts in the life of a child nearing middle school is the understanding that sexual education becomes a reality. Kids are entering puberty and with it comes many questions. As awkward as it may feel, having these honest discussions with your kids is part of developing good emotional health.
Kids won’t necessarily fully know the reproduction cycle and circumstances that lead to conception, but they want to know why boys and girls act, think, and grow differently. Understanding sexual relationships from an emotional point of view is just as important as understanding them from a mechanical perspective.
Friends are going to matter a lot to your child. Fitting in will be of utmost importance. How friends view them may even outweigh how you view them in their minds. It’s highly possible that your child develops a crush on someone of the opposite sex soon.
Just as peer acceptance is huge, peer rejection can be emotionally devastating. Kids want to be liked, accepted, and comfortable. When those things don’t exist, it can lead to emotional turmoil and low self-esteem. If there is one thing your child needs to hear from you it’s that you’re proud of them. They won’t be proud of themselves until they know someone else is proud of them. Kids can become merciless at this age and will pick on anything they deem as weak, different, or odd about another peer. Being mentally strong starts with loving yourself and loving yourself starts with being loved.
Depression and anxiety become real possibilities in fourth and fifth grade. Pressure to perform in sports and school can feel heavy. Kids will want to meet real or imagined expectations. This will cause stress if their worth is wrapped up in their accomplishments. Take great care around these emotional issues.
This is all heavy stuff. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Let this video from our Child Development Series guide you. We tackle everything from puberty to friendships to academic failure and teach you how to pilot your way through those things with your child. This is a season of change for your child’s emotions. Stand by their side at every step.
Huddle up with your kids and ask, “How do you think boys and girls are different?”