Two Brains for Child Safety
- By Joyce Jackson
- Published 06/18/2008
- Children
- Unrated
Your child has two brains. Yes, as a parent you may feel they may not even have one. However, we do think, despite the scientific evidence, that kids, all of us for that matter, have two brains.
There is one in their head and one in their belly. We call the one in the belly the Belly Brain. It's the one brain in their belly, the Belly Brain, that in safety, is the more important of the two.
Why should you care about a Belly Brain? Simple. It is the one thing you and your child can count on in their ability to keep themselves safe. At some point in their life, your child is going out somewhere with out you. School. The end of the yard. The Park. Soccer practice. The Mall as a teenager.
At some point in their life your child will be out without you and will need to be able to take care of themselves against any danger. In safety, we think kids can learn to sense danger as it is developing and get away from it. Sometimes they'll even be able to see it and avoid it. It's called prevention.
It can be any type of childhood threat such as bullies at school, a car slowing as it goes up and down the street, being near a neighbor or close family friend or being in a room one on one with another adult.
When something inappropriate or threatening develops we want your
child's natural instincts, which we simply bring awareness to and build upon, to go off. We want them to find a trusted adult, parent or family member and get help. We want them to act confidently, assuredly and quickly.
Thus, the Belly Brain. You need it because your child needs it. It is the first line of defense, prevention, in their ability to keep themselves safe. Frankly, it's the name that is unique: Belly Brain.
You've got two, we have two, your child has two. Yes, there is the tangible anatomical brain in our head. That's one. Then there is the brain in our stomach. It's what we call our natural instincts, intuition, our visceral feeling, that gut reaction about people, places and things.
Our society and culture, as we grow, does it's best to negate this instinct and get us to "think" instead of following natural instincts. We quietly and very efficiently learn to ignore our intuition.
Why do you think there is such a proliferation of self help groups and "back to nature" and rediscovering our true self programs for adults? They all have one thing in common: getting back to listening to what is truly inside ourselves.
Kids have this intuition. They just need to learn to pay attention to it. When children are young and are taught to listen to that little voice inside that is always there to protect them, they can use it effectively in keeping themselves safe.
There is one in their head and one in their belly. We call the one in the belly the Belly Brain. It's the one brain in their belly, the Belly Brain, that in safety, is the more important of the two.
Why should you care about a Belly Brain? Simple. It is the one thing you and your child can count on in their ability to keep themselves safe. At some point in their life, your child is going out somewhere with out you. School. The end of the yard. The Park. Soccer practice. The Mall as a teenager.
At some point in their life your child will be out without you and will need to be able to take care of themselves against any danger. In safety, we think kids can learn to sense danger as it is developing and get away from it. Sometimes they'll even be able to see it and avoid it. It's called prevention.
It can be any type of childhood threat such as bullies at school, a car slowing as it goes up and down the street, being near a neighbor or close family friend or being in a room one on one with another adult.
When something inappropriate or threatening develops we want your
Thus, the Belly Brain. You need it because your child needs it. It is the first line of defense, prevention, in their ability to keep themselves safe. Frankly, it's the name that is unique: Belly Brain.
You've got two, we have two, your child has two. Yes, there is the tangible anatomical brain in our head. That's one. Then there is the brain in our stomach. It's what we call our natural instincts, intuition, our visceral feeling, that gut reaction about people, places and things.
Our society and culture, as we grow, does it's best to negate this instinct and get us to "think" instead of following natural instincts. We quietly and very efficiently learn to ignore our intuition.
Why do you think there is such a proliferation of self help groups and "back to nature" and rediscovering our true self programs for adults? They all have one thing in common: getting back to listening to what is truly inside ourselves.
Kids have this intuition. They just need to learn to pay attention to it. When children are young and are taught to listen to that little voice inside that is always there to protect them, they can use it effectively in keeping themselves safe.
Joyce Jackson
Joyce Jackson is a child safety expert, #1 bestseling author, consultant speaker and trainer. For more on the Belly Brain of Safety see The Belly Brain Podcasts.
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