We always neglect to or are unable to instill interpersonal skills in our child. Here are some stories that will help understand its importance and ways to instill them.

As per the Wikipedia:

“Parenting or child rearing is the process of promoting and supporting the physical, emotional, social, financial, and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood. Parenting refers to the aspects of raising a child aside from the biological relationship. “

A Common Myth among Indian Parents: Major of Indian parents have an impression that focusing on certain crucial aspects viz. Nutritious food, Education, Health and Hygiene, Clothing and other facilities can discharge all their desired duties as a parent.

Reality Check: Parenting is a huge responsibility in itself. It’s a big challenge. Merely giving birth to a child can make you merely a BIOLOGICAL PARENT.

• We can say that is only the beginning of a mammoth task.
• It’s a very complex task, where everything is connected to everything.
• You cannot segregate one particular aspect as Prime aspect and ignore/give less priority to others considering them less vital or avoidable. If done then it is a big threat to the overall growth of a child.

Let us understand it with some case studies.

Case Study

Mr. Subodh is a highly qualified teacher blessed by a son – Yash.

He enrolled Yash with the best school in the town at the age of 3 and made all his possible efforts to ensure excellent grades by him. His ultimate goal was to see Yash settled in a good career with a highly paid job.

With all his hard efforts Yash secured admission at the best management college in the town. He even turned lucky to get a highly paid corporate job with a multinational by the end of last semester. During the campus selection as he impressed all the selectors with his fantastic grades and knowledge.

But then suddenly there was something unexpected. Yash’s seniors, as well as colleagues, found his behavior weird. Yash was unable to work in a team.

He was getting upset minor things others do. He felt hurt when something goes against his will (which is never possible when you work with someone).

Complaints arose against Yash and it was decided by the department to terminate his services paying him for his notice period as per the contract.

Time to Think:

• What’s wrong with such a brilliant and talented person?
• In spite of all his fantastic grades and knowledge what made him a failure?

Identified Issues:

Lack of Interpersonal skills: After completing an academic career one has no option but to work as a team with others either in a job or doing any business.

In the case of Yash, his interpersonal skills were quite weak. Mr. Subodh was an overprotective parent. Always pampered him and never bothered developing his interpersonal/social skills giving him sufficient exposure.

Hence, Yash was unable to deal effectively with various people around him. This obstructed his career growth; in spite of all his excellent grades and sound knowledge.

Suggested Solutions

– Ensure you allow your kids to do their certain things (daily chores) on their own.

– Ensure you allow your kids to make certain decisions of their lives on their own.

– Teach them social skills since childhood though not that required at that age.

– Encourage them to deal with your grown-up relatives and neighbors. Initially, send him/her to them with a set of instructions to be followed while dealing with them.

• If you find some flaws in their dealings then do not speak about it in the presence of others. (You can just take charge of the situation for the time being and apologize for what s/he did.) If you did the other way round then s/he might consider it as an insult and may turn negative.
• Talk to him/her in person and make them understand what they did and its negative impact as well as how it could have been done and its positive impact.

NOTE: This kind of minor teachings will be like your savings in his / her bank account. Your kid can withdraw the same from it (as per the situation using his / her wisdom) when s/he will require it in future dealings.

Whatever we discussed is obviously a tip of an iceberg while we are talking about “Effective Parenting”. Stay tuned with us and be a Smart Parent.

Thanks for reading this article. Please share it with your loved ones helping them to understand their child’s needs and make them grow in their lives positively and constructively. God Bless!