Next, it provides techniques to recognize, evaluate and deal with a child's own immediate thoughts surrounding obstacles or adversity. Seligman uses cartoons and skits to demonstrate that different beliefs and explanations about adversity can produce markedly different feelings and consequences, and thus lead to different ways of dealing with the same situation, some more helpful than others. Seligman also helps parents work with their children on their explanatory styles, changing their viewpoints from pessimistic to optimistic. Finally, he works on children's problem solving and social skills. He instructs parents how to teach children to slow down and think about different interpretations of a situation, see things from the perspective of others, set goals and generate alternative solutions for a problem, choose a course of action, and keep at it when their first solution doesn't work.
Social skills fostered include assertiveness and negotiation.
Throughout the book, he includes adult oriented examples and exercises to help adults become optimistic, recognizing that much of a child's perspective is shaped by the environment they grow up in. He does not advocate children or adults wearing blinders or rose colored glasses, ignoring the problems around them. His goal is promoting active engagement and accurate optimism as a means for achieving goals and as the foundation for solving society's problems. All Rights Reserved.