Little girl performs by herself

[u/astral12]

[u/The_Last_Zombie]

It's very common for kids to freeze on stage at this early age. So much so, it's one of the main reasons I like to go to my nieces school plays, it's very funny, afterwards the kids are alright, they don't even care

[u/Teazone → u/The_Last_Zombie]

Haha I can only talk for myself but that would have been a core memory for the rest of my life, no way I'd be alright afterwards or twenty years after.

[u/Masseyrati80 → u/Teazone]

Same here. Lots of joking going on here due to it being Reddit, but for some kids, a situation like this can cause a super intense feeling of shame, of being the outsider, being flawed, and on top of that nobody caring about your anguish, even laughing at it, or, rather, you on a very deep level.

I recently read a book on introversion and shyness, and based on decades of experience as a psychotherapist, the author highlighted how shy kids benefit massively from being allowed to approach new situations and social setups at their own pace. It's natural for them to observe others to get the vibe of the group and situation before joining in*. Forcing them to the middle of some weird gala, then leaving them to cope on their own really can be a damaging experience.

*interestingly enough, later on it's the shy kids who are not only skilled at staying out of conflicts, but sometimes end up as mediators as they can often see things from more than one perspective

[u/Masseyrati80 → u/[deleted]]

As I mentioned in another answer, it hasn't been translated to English, unfortunately enough.

But the book is called Ujot ja introvertit, with the author being Liisa Keltikangas-Järvinen, and the text is in Finnish.