On Feb. 4 the Elizabeth Barrett Elementary School held a Developing Resiliency in Children seminar presented by Dr. Wayne Hammond.
According to his initiative’s website, “Hammond is the president and executive director of Resiliency Initiatives. He holds an adjunct status with the School of Medicine at the University of Calgary.”
His seminar addressed the importance of developing resiliency in children so they are able to lead healthy lives.
“Resiliency is a lifelong journey – I have to practice it. It’s all about new context, new challenges, and how do you repair for that,” Hammond said.
He explained that raising obedient children doesn’t necessarily make them resilient.
“The goal for parenting is not to raise perfect children. The goal is to, I believe, raise children who know how to navigate and negotiate life’s challenges in constructive ways, so they know how to respect themselves and respect the people around them.”
He elaborated that life with inevitably place challenges in children’s way and if they are resilient, they will be able to solve them and adjust to them.
Hammond and his presentations are known across the country and apply to all platforms, whether family-focused, career-focused, or individually-focused.
“Through our consultation, presenting, research and assessment methods, we engage individuals and organizations to develop a strengths-based culture of practice where capacity is identified and nurtured toward positive change,” states Resiliency Initiatives’ website.
He referenced multiple methods parents can utilize to ensure their children are ready for whatever comes their way.
For example, he believes children need to make mistakes in order to learn and grow. This helps them develop morals and values that build their character.
A father of two boys, Hammond told the audience he employs these techniques with his own family as sort of an on-going learning experience.
“By age thirteen or fourteen, I was looking for certain characteristics in my children that showed they were starting to take responsibility as adults.”
He explained these character traits will only help them later on in life when they begin their career.
“If you actually take a look at even the hiring processes now for new careers, more and more companies are moving away from (caring about) where you got your degree and how smart you are. They’re actually now starting to look at resiliency character traits – what makes you a great team player, what allows you to be a good communicator, what allows you to persevere, how do use challenges to find success,” Hammond said.
For more information about Resiliency Initiatives and Dr. Wayne Hammond, visit www.resil.ca.
