Happiness, health and intelligence – they’re all vital elements in a balanced,
worthwhile life for which we all strive. Indeed, it’s what all parents wish for their children.

Yet it is the child who knows best if he is happy, healthy and intelligent. Therein lies the greatest challenge in raising a child: the person who knows best what is needed cannot express himself.

As one perhaps qualified to speak for happy, healthy and intelligent kids – being one myself – please allow me to offer my thoughts to all parents out there.

Being happy

Let’s look at happiness. Are children today happy? They have no reason not to be. They have all the things they need in life: good food, clothes, a bed, a decent education and many opportunities for recreation.

For example, I come from a financially stable family, live comfortably and have all the needs of life provided to me.

The modern child is in want for nothing, but still wants more. From observations of my peers and myself, I know children are fun-loving, and pleasure-seeking – in constant search of short-lived “fun”. They play
for “fun”, read for “fun” and generally participate in activities for “fun”.

Yet that in itself is not happiness. Fun is merely a temporary illusion of happiness.

My definition of happiness? Being content and satisfied with life. A happy child who is content and appreciates his happiness will then, characteristically, not be constantly wanting or craving for more. Nor
would he be demanding or defiant towards his or her parents because there would be no need to.

Often, parents want to please their children and they do this by over-indulging them with material things in the hope these would make them happy. This is not true happiness.

What contributes to a child’s happiness? A stable, loving and supportive family unit, for one thing. A child harvests happiness from a happy household. To ensure your child is happy, you need to be happy, too.

Another factor is the child’s own interests. Hobbies and pastimes allow him to develop his own identity, to know and discover himself. Whether it’s sports, culture or the arts, provide him with outlets for his energy and, at the same time, let him become who he is. The discovery of identity makes a child feel fulfilled and content, thereby creating happiness.

Being healthy

General health and wellness is also important as a sickly child is hardly likely to be happy. Diet and exercise are key to a healthy body and mind.

A child’s growth is largely dictated by the nutrition he receives so the practice of good dietary habits is, therefore, essential.

And not only is exercise necessary to good health, it can also be cultivated into a pastime – for instance, sports, dance, abseiling, rock climbing, bush walking, yoga and even cycling.

Being intelligent

Having taken care of the body, one needs to take care of the mind.

A person develops his thinking processes in childhood, which affects and sets the course of his way of thinking, academic life and future career.

Developing a love of reading is certainly at the core of ‘intelligence building’. Enjoyable and enriching, reading helps children experience and explore areas and situations that express humanity in all its wonderful facets.

Such early exposure develops the empathy and understanding of the child, stimulates him to think and recognize humanity, while developing his language.

A child’s language and communication skills define his level of understanding and ability to grasp and utilize concepts. This affects every other area of a child’s learning and defines his or her learning capacity.

Vast stores of knowledge are stored in the written word – in books, journals, magazine articles, learned papers and other documents. The written word
stimulates the child’s creativity, intelligence and communication skills, which is why developing a child’s reading skills and fostering a love of reading is so
important.

Allow a child to read material that develops his imagination, value system and thinking. This includes the works of Oscar Wilde (for example, The Happy Prince, The Selfish Giant,) and Roald Dahl, which are wonderfully enriching.

Besides reading, foster the art of writing in your child as both qualities perfectly complement each other. One develops all key skills while growing up, including the skill of communicating through good, precise writing. For this skill to be developed, a child must be encouraged to attempt all forms of writing.

A balanced person is a multi-dimensional person, with good general knowledge and a wide range of interests.

It would appear most youth today depreciate their own culture, history and, in essence, identity to the point of the unorthodox becoming the orthodox. This fosters a dislike of academia that in turns, compromises intellectual development.

Maximizing potential

Why is this the case? One reason, I feel, is that youth today are not exposed to culture early. It is not difficult for parents to introduce culture to their children as there are many museums with a rich store of memorabilia
about our heritage and cultural background. Let the child learn to love museums and it can be a wonderful pastime for both child and parent.

Intelligence has little to do with being ‘gifted’ or naturally ‘talented’. A child gifted with a good or curious intellect is wasteful if a parent does not
help to develop that intellect. Try different things with your child and let him find his interests and abilities. Let him discover himself and the things around him.

Finally, above everything else, parents must never neglect their child. Parental love is the most important and basic need of every happy, healthy and intelligent child.

Cheong Sui Kang, Bryan, 13 years old