EDUCATION GUIDE
Parents should encourage their kids to strive for all As in the classroom, right? Not according to resilience expert Dr. Robyne Hanley-Dafoe. In today’s world, 3 out of 10 children can be classified as “maladaptive perfectionists,” which means they set unattainable goals and minimize their accomplishments. In short, they believe they are never good enough. This can lead to poor mental health, issues with sleep, exhaustion and overwhelm. In a recent interview with MetroFamily, Dr. Robyne Hanley-Dafoe shares why parents should encourage children to be B+ students and how to create healthy habits around school-life balance. What does it look like for us as parents to teach our kids to strive for B+? One of the things I came upon pretty early in my parenting role is this disconnect: in my heart I wanted to set my child up for optimal success — to be well equipped, top of their class and have all the skills and talents they needed to be successful — but as a resiliency scholar, I appreciated the power of failure, understanding those smaller setbacks actually equip them better for the real world. One of the things I explored was where do we start to hit high levels of life satisfaction? I was curious about who are the most well-rounded, grounded, positive members of society. One of the consistent findings I kept coming upon is that these are all B+ students in high school, trades, college and university. I thought this was so interesting because if my goal for my children is that they are grounded and well-rounded, I recognize that being at the top of your class, that A+ perfectionism, isn’t necessarily the only path to get there. Redefining Student Success Why parents should encourage children to be B+ students in 2023 BY ERIN PAGE . PHOTOS PROVIDED.
DR. ROBYNE HANLEY- DAFOE IS A RESILIENCE EXPERT, AUTHOR, SPEAKER, MOM AND MULTI-AWARD WINNING EDUCATION AND PSYCHOLOGY INSTRUCTOR. HER BOOK CALM WITHIN THE STORM SHARES RESEARCH-INFORMED PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES TO TAKE ON THE CHALLENGES OF LIFE.
46 METROFAMILYMAGAZINE.COM / JAN-FEB 2023
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