Hello, lovely readers.
As a Highly Sensitive Person and parent, I’m lucky to work for a non-profit focused on human rights and social justice. As such, I get to write, advocate, as well as engage in myriad professional development and learning opportunities. Recently, as part of an education series, I learned more about the concept of social capital.
But,wait…
Before I get into the meat of this topic, can I ask you a favour? When possible, please “like”, comment, and/or share this and any of my posts. As you can imagine, a lot of work goes into researching and writing articles for this channel (as well as my other channel focused on freelance copywriting). If you could help boost the algorithm by liking, commenting, and sharing, I’d appreciate it greatly.
How Does Social Capital Work?
Similar to articles I’ve written about fitting in and emotional intelligence, social capital is essential for human happiness — and this includes children.
Basically, social capital is about connection…
How many connections does one have?
How rich or deep are these connections?
Are these connections reciprocal and mutually beneficial?
How can one use these connections to help and/or be helped?
For kids, it’s slightly different but the crux of the concept still applies and parents can help children gain social capital. According to Data Sharing for Demographic Research: For young children, social capital operates primarily through their relationships with their parents, enhancing development through mechanisms of social support and social control.
Building Social Capital in the World
We might assume that children automically build their social networks through school. And, while that’s mostly true, it doesn’t always apply. If your child makes friends easily, likes to join clubs or play sports, is liked and respected by teachers, coaches, and parents, social capital is probably fairly easy for them to achieve. However, if your child is shy, has a learning disability (or a disability in general), is part of a vulnerable group, or is on the “outs” with the popular kids, achieving positive social capital will be a whole lot tougher.
We can help our kids build social capital by reinforcing their self-worth, allowing them to have agency over their personhood and decisions (to some degree), encouraging their talents and interests, and illustrating as well as talking to them about how to be confident in themselves and their uniqueness.
Now, it’s not only about us as individuals of course — it’s important in life and for building positive social capital — to understand and be curious about others. Being sincerely interested in other people, asking about their work, school, hobbies, families, and passions and engaging them in conversation or play will help your child — and later your teenager or young adult — to be a magnet for personal development and positive interactions.
Beyond school, having your child participate in extra curricular or cultural programs where they can learn new skills, meet peers, and gain confidence will help them boost their social capital. Of course, we have to remember not to over-program our kids or drag them to programs or classes that are of no interest to them just for our own or our families’ sake.
When you think of your child’s social capital how do you feel? Do you think they are building useful and trusting connections? Are they confident in themselves? Do they take a keen interest in others?
What To Read/Watch
A few items that caught my eye:
Should I Give My Child Melatonin for Sleep?
Until next time…
Yours in imperfect parenting,
Lisa