Last Monday on Sunrise in Focus we ran a segment on Girlfriend Magazine’s new respect program. As part of it, Sunrise parenting expert Dr Michael Carr-Gregg talked about the impact on teaching teenagers to think positively.

Dr Carr-Gregg says research* shows teaching 10-12 year olds the art of positive thinking will halve their risk of depression and anxiety. Teaching kids to think optimistically means they grow up realizing that no one can make them feel anything – feeling sad, angry, or anxious is a choice. They also realise their thoughts influence their feelings, which in turn influences their behaviour.

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg's top tips for positive parenting:

• Make a point of counting your blessings – remind children regularly of all the good things that the family has from the mundane to the magnificent
• Regularly model acts of kindness – these should be random like letting someone ahead of you in traffic, to the systematic, like taking an elderly neighbour’s garbage in and out, volunteering to do some door knocking for the Salvos.  And tell the children what and why you are doing it.
• Savour life’s joys – pay close attention to momentary pleasures and wonders. Draw your children’s attention to the smell of a rose, the beauty of a sunset
• Model forgiveness – demonstrating to children that you make a point of letting go of anger and resentment by writing a letter of forgiveness to a person who has hurt or wronged you.  Inability to forgive is associated with persistent rumination, forgiving allows you to move on.

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg says you can teach kids as young as toddlers this philosophy and don’t stop teaching them. This will help them grow up to be flexible, well adjusted young people with the capacity to face, overcome and be strengthened by adversity

The research comes from “positive psychology” research by Professor Martin Seligman