West Coast Steiner School is committed to being a Child Safe Organisation taking a preventative and participatory stance on child protection issues and promoting a child safe environment.
Reflections on ‘The Power of Human Connection in a Distracted World’ by Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales in collaboration with Professor Robert Waldinger
By Janet Happe
What do you think keeps us healthy and happy as we go through life? If you could invest time and energy into one thing that could help you and your family thrive, what would it be?
Science gives us a surprisingly clear answer: it’s the quality of our relationships that matters more than almost anything else!
Understanding and nourishing this concept can have a profound impact on how we help raise young children and give them a platform to generate happiness in life.
The Harvard Study of Adult Development, which began in 1938, represents the longest investigation into adult life ever conducted. Over many decades, researchers studied every major domain of life including mental health, physical health, work, relationships, and ageing.
Studying people through teenage years into their 80’s and 90’s, researchers found that it wasn’t blood pressure or cholesterol levels that represented the biggest link to a healthy and happy life.
The number one best predictor was the quality of their connections with other people.
Now this isn’t about quantity and seeing more people all of the time; it is about the quality of these encounters.
Developing warm and meaningful connections and interactions with others is crucial to wellbeing.
To quote from the article: “Children who are raised in environments rooted in love, safety and dignity, are better able to develop the social and emotional scaffolding required to form healthy relationships, resolve conflict and grow into adults capable of building loving partnerships, families and communities themselves.”
Prioritising this in today’s world, is becoming increasingly difficult with modern day distractions for both adults and children such as screens and social media. Yet, the evidence is clear:
“ If you could invest in just one thing to help you and your family thrive, invest in the relationships you have with each other.”
One of the most valuable frameworks on which to base the practice of building stronger connections and healthy relationships with our children is the Circle of Security, also known as COS.
COS is not just a powerful tool for building fulfilling relationships from childhood through to adulthood. Its concepts can also be transferred to other relationships and improve our own self-understanding and flexibility.
And it is offered to parents at WCSS for free! Please see Julia Nevols in our office if you are interested in any further information about COS at WCSS.
And see the below link if you would like to read the full article on the power of human connection in a distracted world.