I was chatting with my fellow professional speaker, Kenny Harris about why kids don’t seem to have the same problem. He wrote
You’ll recall you pondered the question – kids don’t seem to be nervous/shy
about walking into nursery, and just introducing themselves – why not, and
what makes adults different?
(There are, obviously, kids who ARE shy, mostly with adult groups, but for
the most part I think you’re right).
Here’s what I’ve been thinking about:
1. Kids live ‘in the moment’. They don’t consider what ‘might’ go wrong, so
don’t worry about being rejected, insulted, whatever – at least until they
learn (probably at primary school) that this does in fact happen.
2. Kids have no fear. You know how you see them climbing trees, patting
dogs, rolling down steep hills, with no thought of the consequences? Again,
they don’t stop to consider “what bad thing might happen here?”. There’s a
great line Scottish mums used to use (maybe they still do – my wife’s
English!). Whe the kid was balancing along a ledge or wall, they’d shout “If
you fall and break your legs, don’t come running to me!”.
3. Kids don’t hang on to grudges. My two will be fighting cat and dog – and
three minutes later sitting up close to one another, quietly doing a puzzle
together. It’s all I can do to stop myself saying “I thought you two hated
each other?”!!!! Adults bear grudges – if there’s someone we don’t like, or
there’s a competitor in the room, we’re wary and careful, unlike children.
Hope this sparks some thinking, and perhaps a new theme for you?