THE IMPORTANCE OF DEVELOPING EMOTIONAL QUOTIENT IN CHILDREN

“Emotional quotient is far more important than the intelligence quotient. We live with people, not with math problems”- SARU SINGHAL.

Emotions refer to a strong feeling of happiness, hatred, love, fear and anger, derived by an individual as a result of him/her being along with someone.

Intelligence in the simple sense means a mental power which helps people to solve problems. The problems may not only be pertaining to math, science etc… but also related to once life. Children in the current scenario are kept away from the difficulties, problems in the world and after a particular age, they face situations where they are totally confused to choose the right path. It’s here where Emotional Quotient comes to play.

Emotional quotient is a new concept in the area of Education and Psychology. Emotional quotient is also known as emotional intelligence referring to a skill by which an individual is able to identify one’s own emotions and those of others and act accordingly in the society.

It is said a plant should be protected from the sapling, we cannot expect good fruits from an infertile plant. Likewise among children, we cannot expect an 18/19 years old individual to catch up with emotional quotients. An individual should be exposed to the process from a young age.

Emotional quotient is definitely an important area to focus on a child’s life. The importance/benefits of developing emotional quotient among children are as follows:-

1. Can influence people:  Individuals who are aware of once feelings and recognize why they are feeling it can deal with any situations around them. This helps them to develop self-esteem which in turn reduces aggressive approach in them. This results in people building confidence in that particular individual as he/she has a strong approach.
   

2. One develops respect: People with good emotional quotient are most successful as they take things positively. They don’t say ‘No’ to anything unless it is out of their reach. They are very certain about their priorities. They don’t disrespect others’ words and try to complete the given task without any complaint.

3. Improves decision-making ability: People with a strong emotional quotient develop decision-making skills, let it be in any area of life (examples- not to hit someone, keeping silence in the libraries etc…,) if this skill comes at the right age, children can become successful in their life. The skill allows children to find solutions to conflicts and in the process illustrate valuable life lessons.

4. An individual can lead a life free of stress, strain, pressure and deep emotions: Today, it is seen that stress, problems, tensions, trauma has been common even among children. The reasons behind it are many like family instability, peer pressure etc…, Building an emotional quotient helps an individual to deal with these situations and keep themselves aware of such problems.
   

5. It improves a person’s social skills: An individual with a good emotional quotient develops effective socialisation. It is a process wherein a person enlarges their sphere of communication and interactions in the society by meeting people and different groups which in turn enlarges their vision and creates the ability to think big and to achieve big.
   

6. Building self-confidence: People with high emotional quotient understand themselves more intensely. They analyze what is actually important to them and get committed to it and are able to produce efficient results. They don’t tend themselves to be always right and are open to suggestions. They are also more aware and sensitive to the feelings of others.
   

7. Relationships: The standard of our relationships has an immediate impact on the respect we shower on one another, as well as the quality of results we are able to achieve. Knowledge of how to build and maintain effective relationships is one key factor to effectively work and interact with groups. People with a high emotional quotient do not take the negative emotional responses of others personally. Instead, they seek to understand the source of other’s feelings and the values that are important to others. This allows them to effectively engage rather than avoid those who might react more emotionally around them.
   

8. Helps in developing sympathy towards others: Emotional quotients will help an individual to sympathize with others around him/her. They can understand others and give suggestions to them regarding problem-solving techniques. Emotional quotient produces wise men/women who in the future set a perfect example for other students in the school, college, and universities.
   

HOW TO RAISE A CHILD TO BE EMOTIONALLY INTELLIGENT

There is usually a worry among many parents regarding how to know whether a child is emotionally healthy or not. To keep a child’s emotional quotient well-maintained one should have a good understanding of emotional intelligence. Emotional quotient is a phenomenon which cannot be recited or learned forcefully but it is inculcated by observation or with a choice. Also, teaching children how to understand and examine incidents that make them produce negative emotions in them will teach them to solve problems on their own which will help them maintain their behaviour. Keeping in view the current educational methodologies, many tests are introduced to test a child’s emotional intelligence. Help them with emotional literacy, which means that one should teach their children a wide range of words and expression of their emotion. On the other hand, when they are able to express their unpleasant feeling, teach them methods to control it. Also when they have good vocabulary on emotional grounds, it helps them to be aware of other’s emotions as well, which helps them to learn empathy and compassion which automatically leads to a better understanding amongst each other.

To conclude, it can be stated that emotional quotient is something internal which cannot be brushed up and presented to be clean. The actions we create in our lives are mostly based on our emotions and emotional intelligence. It makes sense that when individuals have a great sense of communication and organisational skills, they will be led to have the ability to make proper decisions and interactions with others. Educational institutions and family atmosphere should give room to the emotional intelligence of a child and encourage them to be a part of real life rather than its representation.