The Social Edge ©: Interpersonal Tools to Navigate Adolescence

The Social Edge is a innovative course that is being offered by Hybrid Parenting to address critical social and emotional needs for our children (ages 6-12) through fun, interactive, and hands-on lessons. Having good social and emotional skills will help children be successful in their personal and professional lives. Many researchers and psychologists have stated that Emotional Intelligence (EQ) may be more important that IQ. Furthermore, depression is the fastest growing disease, currently effecting 300M people (World Health Organization).

This course will address the 5 pillars of Emotional Intelligence (EQ): Developing Self-Awareness, Managing Emotions, Being Self-Motivated, Showing Empathy, Handling Social Relationships.

Children will create their own Tool-Kits* so that they can use the strategies that they learned to navigate social and emotional issues as they arise in their lives. These strategies will help them to manage stress and anxiety through mindfulness-based practices. They will also learn how to develop a positive mindset by practicing positive affirmations, kindness, and gratefulness.

*Tool-Kit: Canvas Bag, Emotions Chart, Mind Jar, Positive Affirmation Cards, Kindness Counts Challenges, and Gratefulness Rocks.

Why Is This Important?

Children feel stress and a range of emotions, both positive and negative, similar to that of adults. The difference is that as adults, our minds and bodies have matured enough to learn coping strategies, such as mindfulness to bring us back to the present, not the past or the future.

When left on its own, our brains respond to stress and anxiety triggers the same way, regardless of age. When we practice mindfulness, we engage the prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain that gives us the ability to perform higher thought. The part of the brain that controls our perception of stimuli, the way we react in response. This part of the brain is also connected to speech, memory and the approach we take to solving problems.

Research supports that mindfulness can help children: cope with problems (big and small), experience less stress, anxiety and sadness, have better sleep habits, improve social skills, be more compassionate, have more confidence, reduce attention problems, perform better academically, feel and express gratitude more freely, focus and concentrate, become more resilient, and in general happier and more content.

Why Now?

Late childhood and upper elementary school is a time period when the child’s personalities, behaviors, and competencies come together to shape who they will become in adolescence and as adults.

The late childhood years (just before the transitional period of puberty) is a time when there is significant growth in the prefrontal cortex and this sets the stage for advances in the executive functioning, how they will organize, sequence, and regulate behavior. During these years, children are able to consider the feelings and perspectives of others— they develop a sense of right and wrong and become much more social.

Providing enrichment activities that support healthy forms of self-regulation and reflection and prosocial dispositions could ameliorate or even prevent some of the mental health and school-linked problems that often arise as they transition to puberty.

As parents, we can’t just focus on the academics. Children need to learn about themselves and what sets them apart from their peers. They need to address peer pressure by being self-confident, fulfilled and happy with who they are. This will eventually lead them to finding meaningful work that leaves them fulfilled with life. The new developmental period after adolescence is titled “Emerging Adulthood” for ages 18-25. During this period of time, emerging adults are exploring new opportunities and taking their time to find a career that they are passionate about. They are not just jumping into a job or career because they are told to do so or because it is financially lucrative. Giving our children the emotional intelligence (EQ) they need early on in life will help them become happy, confident, and successful in who they are and what they wan to accomplish in their lives.