If the child is too Gullible!

For kids, most of the things are new. Few question and curiously inquire about things, and few just accept without questioning. The latter ones have the tendency to become gullibles. And we know, the world is always ready to exploit gullibles for their benefit, so one can’t afford to be one. 

But the larger question is, what’s that thing which is not making the child inquisitive or critical, or what’s making one gullible. Is there any other dimension of the child where he/she is always indulged into, missing out on things which do not interest them, ending up in their submissive reliance on others’ talks/suggestions/opinions? Is there a mental effort in critical reasoning the child tends to avoid every time, hence falling prey to gullibleness? Is there lack of self confidence or a silent but loud doubt in mind which demotivates the child to apply his own rational and accept others’ ways or talks as a testament?

Children are delicate to understand. But for motivating right behaviors, we have to get to the right root causes and aid the right direction accordingly.

Some signs which show gullibility of a child can be – adhering every dictat given to the child by others in his/her friends group, or accepting unquestionably the thing told to the child by any elder sibling or cousin, or compromising one’s own interests easily getting swayed by others emotions or appeals.

Some tips which we can follow : –

1. Set the narrative – “being Gullible” is a bad choice – We set the narrative. Feed in a child’s mind that being gullible is a wrong choice. No one intentionally does bad to oneself, so children may buy this point and see gullibility as some undesirable trait. Also, tell why being gullible is a bad choice. Rationalize the thought. In lack of strong cause-effect, the child may jump again to earlier gullible approaches. Remember, right now, we don’t know the exact root cause of gullibility of the child. We are yet to find it, since it’s not natural to be too gullible.

2. Nourish the child’s reasoning and critical thinking abilities – Motivate and reward reasoning and critical thinking of the child. Give that space and environment to them where they feel free to voice out their thinking, their stands, their opinions. Listen to them well. Do not stop them. Let them come out. Put counter questions, furthering the conversation. Induce thinking. Aid direction. Give the correct approach. Ask them what if scenarios. Participate in conversations well. Remember, we have to shape the child’s thinking in the desired way.

3. Ask the child to be cautious in making decisions – Make the child understand the potential threats, and ask to be cautious. One has to pull the band in the reverse direction a bit, to come to normal fulcrum point. Gullible children tend to be less cautious and careful, hence to counter that, we might need to induce that extra cautiousness, maybe through potential threats, to balance that out.

4. Don’t suppress the child’s voice – When the child finds he/she can’t voice out, starts believing that he/she should not apply their own rationality, hence becomes more prone to gullibility. Never suppress a child’s voice or thoughts. Let them come up.

5. Still motivate them to make their own decisions, with their own critical evaluation – Sometimes we as parents become over concerned, and deprive children to make decisions thinking they will make it wrong. In this pursuit, we make them dependent on us, further reducing their critical thinking abilities. Don’t do that. Motivate right behavior. Reward right behavior. Push for rational thinking, watching from different angles, critically evaluating arguments, but making one’s own decisions oneself. Afterall, they have to lead their life on their own shoulders one day or the other.

6. Demonize those who ask the child to agree blindly – Make the child understand that if someone is trying to force something on you and convince you to agree, will be having some self interest, which may also come at your cost. Demonize those for the child. Ask them to be very cautious while dealing with them. To instigate desired behavior and stop gullibility, we need to instill cautiousness, and that can happen when we demonize those who expect gullible attitude.

7. Play activities with kids. If they become gullible, they lose the game – Activities and games are one of the best methods which make children understand the concepts very well. The child feels engaged as well as learns the key message pretty efficiently. Also, it stays in the mind for long, than theoretical knowledge. Try to devise games and play with children to anchor them to a particular learning

In a nutshell, we have to trigger their self confidence, their critical reasoning abilities and make them self reliant, so that they don’t fall prey to being gullible, and exploited by others. With right conditioning and guidance, we can make a lot of difference…