Everyone benefits from a healthy level of self-esteem, the broad sense of one's value and worth. Confidence-building experiences are the building blocks of high self-esteem, which has been linked to resilience and good mental health. Research by psychologists at the University of California, Davis, and the University of Bern, showed that “people with high self-esteem generally have more success at school and work, better social relationships, improved mental and physical health, and less anti-social behavior. And, these benefits persist from adolescence to adulthood and into old age.”

Cultivating and maintaining self-esteem isn’t easy, especially for kids. Many factors can chip away at self-confidence, lowering self-esteem. In our culture children experience ever-increasing pressure to perform well in school, sports and extra-curricular activities. Additionally, exposure to social media can undermine parents’ best efforts to build confidence in their kids. Social media ​can promote unrealistic physique, beauty and wealth standards, and lead kids to compare themselves to others in unhealthy ways.
​
In everyday life parents can actively help develop their kids' self-confidence and build self-esteem. In the sidebar of this post, see five proven ways that work. Starting to lay this foundation early in a child's life paves the road to withstand challenges during adolescent and teen years.

Another tool to help a child develop self-confidence is by giving them the fun and screen-free activity of swim lessons. Learning to swim requires work, perseverance, and focus. Children will certainly experience failure while learning to swim, and the process of trying again, practicing and eventually succeeding builds resilience and belief in their abilities.  Because swimming requires the progressive achievement and refinement of many different skills, kids will have lots of opportunities to practice failure and perseverance over time as they grow and mature. Amazingly, this study from Griffith University in Australia showed that children who participated in swim lessons also demonstrated more advanced cognitive and physical abilities as compared to non-swim lesson children.

Our SaferSoonerTM Method Builds Confidence Fast
Our SaferSoonerTM method builds skill competence more quickly than other swim schools, giving earlier and more frequent boosts to confidence. First we guide each student to develop the survival skills that match a student's personal preference or natural ability. If a student is afraid to put his face in the water, we don't force it. Instead, we focus on back float first. The success from this personalized approach raises their confidence, motivates them to keep learning, and makes them safer sooner.

By finding a path for a student to experience early success, our teachers not only build confidence, they avoid frustration. A frustrated student is less engaged and participates less, making progress more difficult. 
 
Once students achieve survival skills, we keep building personalized swim progressions suited to their natural abilities. Their achievements begin to stack up, and provide continuous jolts of confidence-building moments. As their learn-to-swim journey progresses with stroke development and advanced self-rescue skills, we build water confidence into the adolescent and teen years, in sync with their physical and cognitive development. It's important to keep providing swim instruction until a child is approximately 14, or risk skill regression and loss of confidence.

Having a solid base of swimming skills then leads to other stress-relieving, screen-free aquatic activities that give a child more opportunities to build self-confidence through the process of failure and success. Many of these activities are exhilarating and exciting: swimming in oceans or lakes, tubing, sailing, kayaking, snorkeling, waterparks, surfing, scuba diving, fishing and of course, competitive racing.

Though learning to swim is a tool parents can employ than can help children build self confidence, its most important aspect is that swim competency skills can save their life, or the life of another. LifeCycle Swim school is dedicated to bringing the mental and physical benefits of swimming to everyone.

​This past week, on our little one-block street, fire trucks and emergency personnel came three separate times. Once for a neighbor’s carbon monoxide alarm, again for a different neighbor’s smoking stove, and third, a car hit a pedestrian. Each event brought sirens, flashing lights and concern. Thankfully everyone was okay.

My family calls me “worst case scenario mom.” One holiday season they gave me The Complete Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook. Just last night, my husband mentioned wanting to take our family to the Caribbean. According to him, and he’s a reporter, I responded, “Pick an island that doesn’t have hurricane damage.”

It appears my personality is a good fit for being in the water safety and drowning prevention business. But still, why didn’t I say, “Fun! What a great idea!”? My new year’s resolution list now includes, “Practice positivity and gratitude.”

Yet…everyone benefits from being reasonably prepared for emergencies. We live in an unpredictable world, exacerbated by climate change, and socio-economic and mental health access challenges that can make humans behave dangerously. We’re all likely to experience real emergencies at least once in our lives. I’m not taking about preparing for an alien invasion. I’m suggesting we be reasonably prepared for likely emergencies such as power outages, kitchen fires or flooded basements. Here you’ll find a list of common household emergencies, some quick emergency preparation tips and helpful links. And here’s a quick link to refresh your CPR skills.

It’s human nature to avoid emergency preparation. According to Psychology Today, people avoid preparing for emergencies due to lack of awareness, denial, and the perceived inconvenience of preparation. We’re also susceptible to “optimism bias,” (underestimating risk), and the habit of prioritizing immediate concerns over future risks. So take a few steps by following our links.

Be safe and have fun while you prepare for this holiday season!