How to encourage a child to try new, scary things (without traumatising them in the process)

The Conversation · 🇦🇺 public Australia · Jun 02, 2026 · 1225 words · By Christiane Kehoe; Elizabeth Westrupp; Rebecca Knapp

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What to know about How to encourage a child to try new, scary things (without traumatising them in the process)

The article provides guidance for parents on how to support children who experience anxiety or avoidance regarding school events. It suggests a combination of validating emotions, collaborative planning, and fostering a growth mindset to build a child's confidence.

Propaganda risk 0%

Claims checked 5

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center100%

Right0%

6 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

If your child has ever dug their heels in on the morning of the school athletics or cross country day, or refused to speak in front of the class, you’re not alone.

Why it matters

For some children, these kinds of events bring a heavy, anxious feeling: what if I’m the slowest, what if everyone’s watching, what if I get it wrong?

Common ground

For parents, it can be hard to know what to do.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: How to encourage a child to try new, scary things (without traumatising them in the process)?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Children often think of sport, music or performance as fixed talents you either have or you don’t. But ability develops with practice?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/how-to-encourage-a-child-to-try-new-scary-things-wit…

analyticsAnalysis

Propaganda Score

confidence: 100%

Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 5 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 4

info Single Source 1

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Claim 1: “Children often think of sport, music or performance as fixed talents you either have or you don’t. But ability develops with practice.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple academic and research-based sources confirm that exceptional abilities in sports and performance are more consistent with acquired skill through deliberate practice than with innate, fixed talent.

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web search NEUTRAL — But recent research has shown that these exceptional abilities are more consistent with acquired skill than with innate talents. (Howe, 1990). Often these ...
https://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/freakonomics/pdf/…

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web search NEUTRAL — Most performance situations involve social evaluative threats that arise when skills are publicly displayed and evaluated, achievement of central goals ...
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10884260/

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web search NEUTRAL — May 20, 2009 ... Studying sports training and skill acquisition, I often run headlong into the concept of 'talent.' When I suggest that athletic achievement ...
https://neuroanthropology.net/2009/05/20/talent-a-difference…

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Claim 2: “Children find it easier to think about solutions once they feel heard.”

CORROBORATED

Evidence from DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) skills and child psychology sources indicates that jumping into problem-solving before emotional validation is ineffective and that validating emotions helps children develop resilience and a healthier sense of self, facilitating the transition to problem-solving.

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web search NEUTRAL — Avoid Problem-Solving Immediately: When someone is experiencing intense emotions, they may not be ready to problem-solve. Jumping into solutions can feel invalidating, as it implies they’re not capabl…
https://counselingcentergroup.com/6-levels-of-validation-dbt…

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web search NEUTRAL — Consistently validating emotions helps children develop emotional resilience, emotional awareness, and a healthier sense of self, even during difficult moments. Key Takeaways. Emotional validation is …
https://angelalegh.com/2026/05/26/what-is-emotional-validati…

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web search NEUTRAL — To explore whether children's preferences for emotional validation changed with age, we conducted a binary logistic regression using age (in years) as the predictor and choice of an emotionally valida…
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12645554/

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Claim 3: “Children often need to feel their fear before they can move through it.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists entirely of dictionary definitions for the word 'experiencing' and a news report about hunger in a specific population. There is no psychological evidence provided to support or refute the claim that children must feel fear to move through it.

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web search NEUTRAL — 5 days ago · Josh Boswell, CBS News, 26 June 2026 More than half of the nearly 12 million population is experiencing crisis, emergency or catastrophic levels of hunger, the World Bank said, while soci…
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/experiencing

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web search NEUTRAL — EXPERIENCING definition: 1. present participle of experience 2. If you experience something, it happens to you, or you feel…. Learn more.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/experien…

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web search NEUTRAL — 2 days ago · EXPERIENCING definition: present participle of experience. See examples of experiencing used in a sentence.
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/experiencing

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Claim 4: “Without eye contact, children find it easier to think and talk about hard things.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources support the idea that reducing eye contact can lower cognitive load and make processing information easier. One source specifically mentions that eye contact makes brains 'work harder' during complex tasks, and another notes that autistic individuals find it easier to process auditory information without eye contact.

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web search NEUTRAL — Looking into another's eyes shows honesty, emotional response, thinking, confidence and engagement levels. Similarly, eye-to-eye communication validates and ...
https://90minuteschoolday.com/eye-contact-in-learning/

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web search NEUTRAL — Aug 12, 2022 ... According to the researchers of that study, eye contact made participants brains work harder during the complex tasks. They needed mental energy ...
https://medium.com/teachers-on-fire/avoiding-eye-contact-can…

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web search NEUTRAL — Apr 15, 2026 ... "Eye contact is not necessary for listening or paying attention. Many Autistic people find it easier to listen and process auditory information ...
https://www.facebook.com/NationalAutism/posts/eye-contact-is…

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Claim 5: “When we avoid something we’re afraid of, we feel instant relief. That relief is powerful, and it teaches the brain that avoiding worked. Over time, the fear grows and the impulse to avoid gets stronger.”

CORROBORATED

The claim describes the psychological mechanism of negative reinforcement. Evidence from Psych Central and other web results confirms that avoidance behaviors are used to manage stress and that habitual avoidance is less effective than proactive strategies, reinforcing the cycle of fear/stress.

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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 24, 2022 · There are five main types of avoidance behavior: situational, cognitive, protective, somatic, and substitution. We take a closer look.
https://psychcentral.com/health/types-of-avoidance-behavior

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web search NEUTRAL — 6 days ago · The meaning of AVOIDANCE is an action of emptying, vacating, or clearing away. How to use avoidance in a sentence.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/avoidance

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web search NEUTRAL — Apr 1, 2026 · Avoidance behaviors don't solve the problem and are less effective than more proactive strategies that could potentially minimize stress in the future. Avoidance can be frustrating to ot…
https://www.verywellmind.com/avoidance-coping-and-stress-413…

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.