The dojo provides them with a safe place to grow their skills without concern for failure. Through repetition the student's skill improves. They soon begin to feel mastery of techniques which they could not perform just a short while ago. This confidence does not stay confined to only the student's Aikido training. It starts to seep into other areas of their life and begins to grow there too.
Confidence provides the child or young adult with a strong foundation on which they can grow.
The aim is not to build a confident Aikidoka but a confident maturing person. A year ago Sarah joined our class as a new student. She was the most meek nine year old girl that I had ever met. I don't think that she spoke any words during class for the first two months. She approached every technique apprehensively.