The benefits of journaling are many. Apart from outdoor physical activities that take care of children’s health, children should also be introduced to the amazing world of penning down one’s feelings. Journaling can help a child address his/her deepest insecurities, deal with their fears, and organize things on the basis of their priorities.
Hence writing a journal from an early age not only gives strength to a child, it also helps him/her develop their understanding. It makes him/her a better judge of circumstances and also helps him negotiate accordingly. It allows him to draw meaningful conclusions and see through the ironies.
Writing also makes a person better adjusted to circumstances and better aware of their immediate surroundings. For example a child not feeling nice will simply throw a tantrum, but a kid maintaining a diary will note down the things that were making him/her angry. He/She will grow up with an emotional IQ much higher than his peers, which makes him/her more sensitive and empathetic.
Other than these challenges, it’s also very common for depression and anxiety to kick in, in children, in the times we live. Children are often confused about the state of things. They get appalled by the state of affairs and also get paranoid at times, but one activity that can pull them out of this void is writing down whatever they have on their minds. It helps them reorganize themselves as quickly as possible. As they become more aware of the duplicities that exist, writing gives them a blank canvas to articulate their feelings, and stand up firmly against atrocities.
As it is said “Necessity is the mother of invention”, children often learn to divert their anger into more creative purposes and not be so vulnerable and easily affected by things. Children learn to accept the greater challenges in life only by being aware of the state they live in. They learn to invest their energies in more eventful and creative purposes eventually succeeding in life. Journaling sets the tempo for the rest of their life as it teaches them to be patient while also making them take a note of everything. It makes children be responsible for their own happiness and not be so easily trivialized. As they are the authors of their own lives’, they also realize the parts that need glorification, and the parts that need to be left behind. With writing, comes great editing skills, which is applicable in their real lives as well. They know the parts that are important, and the ones that don’t deserve any credit.
Other than this, children often pick up a passion for writing. Their vocabulary starts to thrive as they are constantly looking for ways to make their language more flowery and rich. I personally think, penning down one’s feelings only makes the person more committed to oneself and their progress in life. It also makes a person more observant and be more accepting of other’s viewpoints and perspectives. It makes a child a good critique of things and make them challenge notions of power in the society. All these attributes only enrich their essay writing skills, which is a very important attribute to have in life. It makes their essays impactful, dynamic and stand out from the essays that are ordinary. Even to get accepted by good universities, one’s essay should display the aforementioned skills.
Journaling can also improve children’s reasoning capacities and make them more determined to find justice. In a world with so many inequalities, narratives of children can challenge the powerful directly. Writing down one’s thoughts only make the narratives of the young people more real and authentic. It helps them build a society that challenges status quo and help children break barriers and solve issues that arise in society. Take for example the case of Malala Yousafzai, who became an icon for the world by raising her voice against the extremists. It started with her parents inculcating a simple habit of taking account of one’s emotions and writing it down effectively. And there she is.
Photo Credit: TheSchoolRun
