What Can I Do To Help My Son Get Over His Extreme Shyness?
Q. “I have a 7-year old son who is so shy he will hardly talk to anyone outside of our family. How can I help him?”
A. Although some children are, by nature, slow to warm up, that does not mean that they cannot overcome their fears and anxieties. The trick is to start from where they are at, and build from success to success.
First, help him to find activities that he likes and is successful with. The more times he can experience being good at something, the more confident he will become. He will also have the added advantage of having more to talk about. The more people involved, the better. Don’t pressure him too hard to do things he’s resisting, but don’t make it too easy for him to opt out. Sometimes kids balk at doing something even when they know inside that they’ll have fun.
Deliberately set up some social situations as learning experiences for him. Start with easy ones and then build up. For example, going to the movies with a friend is dead easy – they sit in the dark and don’t have to talk to each other at all! Yet they can have fun together.
Begin by planning easy and structured activities with not very many people. As he becomes comfortable interacting with his friends, then try a more challenging event. Be sure you set levels at which success is a sure thing. That way everyone will be up for doing it again.
Make the social situations revolve around things he likes to do. For example if he enjoys computer games, invite a friend over. Start with one and the next time invite two or three. The kids will like talking about and playing the games together.
When it’s time to visit adults, tell them about your son’s latest adventures playing the computer game. Let him be the one to correct you about any details. Hopefully, he’ll become engaged and start talking about some of the high points for him. You can even clue the adults in ahead of time about things to ask him.
If he won’t respond, don’t make excuses for him and never force him to talk. Let him talk, or not talk, as he chooses, and then live with the consequences of his choice. However, you will have more success in getting him to talk if you draw him into conversations with open ended questions such as “How did Mario get lost in the Mansion in the first place?”. Avoid putting him on the spot with closed questions that demand a one word answer, or that are about subjects he dislikes or finds difficult.
Over time your son will feel more comfortable being around people and talking with them. He will slowly feel stronger when talking about things he doesn’t know a lot about. If you can help make talking fun, then he’ll do more of it. On the flip side, he’ll talk less if it’s hard or embarrassing.
Don’t ever call him “shy”. It will just reinforce his own belief about himself, and never change. It could even become an excuse as to why he can’t do things. Focus on his strong qualities such as gentleness, kindness, and being polite.
It may all take some time, but if you keep it all positive and affirming, he should get there.
Dr. Noel Swanson is a leading expert on child behaviour. He has a top selling book of parenting advice (The GOOD CHILD Guide) and writes for a fascinating website with lots of parenting advice that is well worth a visit.
Feel free to grab a unique version of this article from the Unique Articles Submissions Service