Losing gracefully is an art that children should be inevitably taught

There is a saying, “To be successful in life, we all must go through defeat.” How true is that! Learning to accept defeat and learn from it to rise even higher is one of the most important life lessons that not many are acquainted with. Losing is an essential part on the path of success. If given the right kind of direction and values, one not only learns to imbibe the positive from the negative but also gains the confidence to hit back better and stronger.

At the JP International School, we believe that as responsible adults, it is our key duty to ensure that our younger ones do not fall prey to the negativity of experiencing a loss but rather take vital life lessons from it. We believe that the emphasis should be put more on the efforts rather than the rate of success or failure as it is eventually the efforts that matter the most. In this regard, we have devised a few tips through which children can be taught the art of losing gracefully. Let’s have a look at them below:

Encourage them to try their best

Always focus on encouraging and motivating the kids to put in the best of their efforts to whatever task they take at hand, irrespective of thinking of the outcome. They should be made to understand that winning or losing doesn’t matter as much as the efforts do. It is essential that children learn the value of optimism even in losses. It can immensely help them in understanding where they went wrong and drive them to work harder towards achieving their goals.

Teach them to focus on the efforts and not on the result

Just as Rome was not built in a day, learning to lose gracefully doesn’t come in one day. It is important children are made to understand that rather than relying on the outcome of their performance, they should focus on staying determined to achieve their goals. Children should know that winning does not mean everything as focus reinforces the actions to achieve goals, but the outcome doesn’t. Parents should see to it that they reward the children for participation and willingness to perform rather than focusing on the outcomes.

Praise children when they handle losses well

Make the kids understand that losing is good because it gives us an overview of the effort and makes us stronger to prepare for the next challenge in life. It is thus crucial that kids are offered with lots of positive, purposeful praise when they take or handle a loss with a smile on their face. Never ridicule kids for loosing but instead give them immense motivation and courage to stand up and perform even if they lose a thousand times.

Teach them to respect the opponent

Children should be taught to show due respect towards their opponent, irrespective of the fact whether they win or lose. Even if they lose a game, they should congratulate the winning opponent with a word of praise. Likewise, if they win a game, they should never miss out on speaking up to the opponent and praising him/her for the efforts. Patience and perseverance are some of the key elements that children should be taught.

Instill them with a positive outlook

It is crucial that kids keep a positive outlook during both the victory and losses. This will help them in controlling their emotions and stand upright with pride. Avoid blaming others for the child’s failure but rather enlighten the child with a positive influence. This will help them to look at a loss more objectively than indulging themselves into the feelings of disappointment.

At JP International School, we believe that to nurture success in the true sense, one must be empathic towards losses. It is important that kids learn to value hard work instead of focusing on just winning. We, as one of the Best International CBSE School in Greater Noida, always try to make our students understand this point and accordingly hone them for experiencing a life of both success and failures with a progressive attitude. Taking the loss gracefully will help them to learn from their experiences and build a better future for themselves with a positive attitude in life. We believe that though winning gives us excitement, losing gracefully is also an important skill that each and every person should be adept with. If children learn to embrace their failures as gracefully as they accept triumph, they will grow up into empathetic, sensible, and much more confident individuals. A person can fall in life thousand times, but it is getting back up again that counts. And this is exactly what we have been continuously striving to teach our pupils as well.

- JP International School