Teach children to defend their ideas in a civilized way

From the Infant stage we can teach children to discuss and express their opinions, develop skills so that they can express themselves and express ideas, thoughts, complaints ... It is about teach children to argue, talk, listen to others, respect and understand different opinions and points of view,

From the Infant stage we can teach children to discuss and express their opinions, develop skills so that they can express themselves and express ideas, thoughts, complaints ...

It is about teach children to argue, talk, listen to others, respect and understand different opinions and points of view, defend their own ideas or speak in public. Skills and abilities that do not develop on their own, but must be learned and practiced. Thus we can teach children to defend their ideas in a civilized way.

How to teach children to defend their ideas and debate

Adults often fall into the error of speaking for children, or worse, dismiss their arguments as "not well-founded" simply because they are children, with which we sometimes "cut the wings" to the debate, to express their ideas or opinions, to contrast their ideas, to listen to the other ...

To debate is to expose and defend your point of view with arguments, or with a definition more technical: "Discuss two or more people on one or several topics exposing their ideas and defending their opinions and interests".

Children argue with each other continually about whether Batman is better than Spiderman, or which football team is better, or which game on the playground is more fun, etc. However, many times, they end up angry (momentarily) and the children defend their ideas but they do not do it civilly, but of course, they are children, they lack tools and skills.

If children learn to debate, they learn to respect, to listen, they learn to trust in themselves and in the value of their ideas, feelings and thoughts, so it would be interesting that from the school and the family they will be encouraged and facilitated these learnings.

At what age can we teach children to debate

From the childhood stage we can practice with children, adapting to their level of development and their social, language and cognitive skills and abilities. The important thing is not to discuss as adults with 5 years, but to learn and develop skills that will be refined with age and practice.

Something that adults must learn to be able to teach children to defend their ideas is to listen to children. One of the important points in the debate is listening to the arguments of the other, so it is essential that we serve as an example, and listen to what the children have to say, without judging their arguments, and without playing down their importance.

An important part is to learn to speak in public, so we can promote activities at home so that from little ones they lose the fear of speaking in front of people.

- Therefore it is important not to speak for them. Many times when we ask the children a question, do you want to go to a picnic with Fulanito? Did you like the movie? If the children do not know how to respond or do not do it immediately, we tend to respond for them, taking away the opportunity to do so. Let's give them time to talk and above all, let's not speak for them, we have to encourage them to do it, with patience and affection. También - It is also important to let them express their ideas

, without diminishing their importance because they are children, so phrases like "you are a child and you do not know what you are saying" should be changed to "respect what you think but in this moment can not be what you say for ... "- Propose activities and games in which they have to tell a story

or interpret a character help them to" get rid of fear "to speak and express ideas in front of people. It is important to also teach them that when they debate, certain basic rules must be followed, such as:

- Only one person speaks at a time.

- Personal views are not imposed.

- No teasing or being rude is allowed

- You have to listen carefully to what the other has to say.

Therefore, in short, to teach children to defend their ideas in a civilized way

it is essential that they be heard, that they lose the fear of speaking in public and expressing their ideas , that we teach them to respect the points of view and ideas of others and that we give adults example, since learning by imitation is very important.