Thank you Willowbrook PTO, for hosting Dr. Renee Dominguez' presentation on "Preparing the Child for the Path, Not the Path for the Child: Raising Resilient Children in a Highly-Competitive, Digital-Driven World." Attendees: Dr. Wegley, Dr. Carlson, w/ Board member D. Levin & 40 parents! #d30learns
"Prepare the Child for the Path, Not the Path for the Child"; "Give your child opportunities to fail"; "Focus more on effort and less on outcomes and performance"; "Praise the process, and encourage reflection, revision, and trial and error, instead of the outcome."
These are just a few quotes that were heard by the over 40 Willowbrook School parents, Supt. Dr. Brian Wegley, Principal Dr. Scott Carlson, and Board member Daniel Levin, who attended a PTO presentation with Dr. Renee Dominguez on January 21.
Her presentation, "Preparing the Child for the Path, Not the Path for the Child: Raising Resilient Children in a Highly-Competitive, Digital-Driven World," was arranged by PTO Co-presidents Grace Zuercher, Tricia Brown, and Co-Vice President Frannie Goldwin.
Dr. Renee Z. Dominguez, Ph.D., is the Executive Director of the Family Service Center of Wilmette, Glenview, Northbrook, and Kenilworth.
"Parenting is the most difficult job on the planet," began Dr. Dominguez.
She explored the growth-mindset and Carol Dweck's book, "Mindset", and how this framework can support the development of resilience in parents and children. In addition, time was spent exploring opportunities on how to better navigate the digital era.
Because everyone is spending so much more time on devices, Dr. Dominguez explained that experts have found that many young children who were raised solely in the digital era, are especially are lacking in social skills.
"Consequently, the most important digital literacy skills are social, emotional and behavioral skills," she emphasized.
It was recently found that children improved in their ability to read non-verbal cues after five days of summer camp during which time they did not have access to their devices.
She cited that over the last 20 years, there has been a 40 percent decrease in measured empathy in young adults.
Fifty-four percent of teen social media users agreed that if often distracts them when they should be paying attention to the people they are with compared to 44 percent in 2012.
She displayed the poignant quote from James Baldwin, "Children have never been really good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them."
Dr. Dominguez gave some tips and "takeaways" to parents about how they can help their kids and themselves with being more present and more.
Some take-away considerations included the following:
*Society is more used to instant gratification, so it's especially important to allow children to struggle and to be uncomfortable at times.
*Focus more on effort and less on outcomes and performance.
*Praise the progress and encourage reflection, revision, and trial and error instead of the outcome.
In spite of social media being designed to keep people "hooked," there were suggestions on how everyone can declutter digital noise, and better manage social media!
A link to Dr. Dominguez's presentation will be available soon.
