Have You Organized Your Expedition Yet?

If you search Google for “self confidence” you will often come across articles about children gaining confidence by participating in various activities, as diverse as karate, ballet or magic. One of my favourite posts,  “How to Build Self Confidence Through Activity” discusses this issue.  I did express concern that the amount of practice and skill required to do some activities (ballet, karate) well may make them counter productive – especially when aimed at children.

However, the post and my general attitude to activity (especially as an Occupational Therapist!) as a tool to build self confidence is very positive. I had a chance to reflect on this last week when my daughter received her Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) Gold Award at an elaborate ceremony in London.

The DofE  has been going over 50 years and over 4 million young people have completed either the bronze, silver or gold award. The purpose is:-

DofE programmes help young people develop into fully rounded and responsible individuals.  Participants will see new talents and skills develop and emotional maturity blossom whilst also building their fitness and initiative.

At the ceremony the expression “build self confidence” came up on a few occasions; from a recent survey 85% of gold award holders reported increased self confidence. [Read more…]