Just yesterday I witnessed one of the best little dancers I know lose confidence in herself and feel so uncomfortable on the dance floor that she could not finish the routine we were practicing. A dance combination that I know she could have done in her sleep.
Why did this happen you might be wondering… well because one of her classmates chose to say something bad and give a horrible facial expression. To someone who doesn't work with children or doesn't have any young children in their lives this incident may seem minor. Maybe something not even worth mentioning. But as someone who works with children on a daily basis, I'm here to tell you that "moment" if not addressed and corrected can be life altering.
Think for just a moment about your own life experience and I can almost guarantee that you can recall a moment when someone you know was shamed for being good at something. (Perhaps even you)
Why is that? It absolutely baffles me and saddens me that someone who has a talent be forced to "tone it down", keep it a secret, or worst of all actually be made to feel bad for their talent.
In what world should someone who practices daily, and takes the time to improve have to apologize for their hard work?
How do we change this culture of shaming? How do we get our kids to appreciate each other's talents and cheer each other on? How do we get them to see differences as just differences and not things that make you better or worse than someone else? And lastly how do we as adults not continue to do this very same thing to each other?
Thanks for reading! I would love to hear from you. Please comment and share.
I'm Sally and this is Where I Find Myself.
