Children of Relocation: How a Different Culture Affects Children’s Development

Among all the uncertainty that relocating entails, there are great advantages, especially for children, because relocating can bring new opportunities for personal growth and development.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of WERC. 

Choosing to relocate is a life-changing decision. And it’s not an easy one to make. Moving to a new city, state, or country can be an intimidating experience, and people who have gone through the process would all agree that it is a family decision where pros and cons are deeply evaluated. This is even more important if children are also relocating. However, among all the uncertainty that relocating entails, there are great advantages, especially for children, because relocating can bring new opportunities for personal growth and development. This article explores and analyzes the ways in which relocating can have a deep, positive impact on children’s development.

Broadening Horizons

Through relocation, children have a unique opportunity to be exposed to new cultures and ways of thinking. By being immersed in a new culture, children are introduced to new languages, traditions, customs, foods, and social conduct. This type of exposure will broaden children’s horizons, enabling them to see the world through a new perspective. Through this new perspective, children of relocation become more open-minded, thus increasing their sense of empathy and tolerance to different cultures. 

As our society becomes increasingly interconnected day by day, being able to see things from different perspectives proves to be incredibly useful when adapting to new environments and to be accepting of differences in the world. 

Adaptability 

A new environment means a new way of doing things, and to be able to do those new things and adjust to those changes means to adapt. By changing a child’s environments, that child develops adaptability. Children of relocation must learn how to navigate their new environments, adapt to a different school, and make new friends (who often speak a different language). By developing adaptability, children increase their problem-solving and decision-making skills; they increase their resourcefulness; they improve their stress management; they become more flexible; and they become quick learners. Adaptability is very important for today’s fast-changing world and a very important quality to have as change itself, whether expected or unexpected, is a part of life. 

Children who develop adaptability will be better equipped to efficiently handle adversity and challenges throughout their life. This also means that they will overall be happier, as they will have an easiness to anticipate change and adapt to it. 

Learning a New Language or Languages

One of the most lasting side effects of relocation is learning a new language (or languages) naturally, and this proves to be easier for children who often become fluent speakers. Bilingual or multilingual children have a significant advantage over their monolingual peers. A new language will help children see things from another perspective, thus helping them build deeper connections with more people from different backgrounds and cultures. 

By being bilingual or multilingual, children bridge the gap between cultures, and they strengthen their communications skills. Not only that, but knowing more than one language can boost confidence, improve academic performance, improve concentration, boost creativity, improve memory and, when the time comes, have more career options and better job opportunities. 

Cultural Sensitivity and Awareness

As children grow up in a new environment, they will develop cultural sensitivity and awareness. This means that they will be aware of cultural differences, but at the same time they will accept and respect them. They will learn to interact with ease with different cultures, which will prove helpful thorough their life in our increasingly multicultural world. They will learn to develop intercultural relationships, and they will approach new environments and ideas with an open mind and with respect toward diversity. This will not only help them deal effectively with cultural differences, but it will also help them thrive in any cross-cultural relationship. 

Cultural Creativity

A new environment and a different culture often nurture cultural creativity in a child. Thanks to their own cultural background mixed with the new culture in their new environment, children will have two cultural perspectives, which will allow them to find the underlying qualities that make each one of them unique, something difficult to find if not immersed in another culture completely. The mix of cultures allows them to push the boundaries of cultural understanding, thus allowing them to develop a distinct form of cultural creativity. 

This creativity is often the path to innovation and can play an important role in artistic expression. Cultural creativity can be quite advantageous in the fields of the creative arts such as music, literature, and art. However, it can also prove to be a tremendous asset in the business fields, as it allows unique perspectives and unique solutions to problems. 

Gaining a Global Mindset

A citizen of the world has a unique understanding of the world around them. They are not only aware of cultural differences and to different ways of thinking, but they also have a desire to create a positive change in the world. 

Children of relocation develop just the skills to become citizens of the world and develop a global mindset. These children grow up with a better understanding of how the world is interconnected. They are more prone to get involved in their local and global communities because they know they are capable of acting and influencing the world around them. 

With a global mindset, individuals have the quality to be able to build better relationships with people from all over the world. They are open to new perspectives and possess flexible thinking, which allows them to adapt to different perspectives as needed. This ability to see things from different angles proves useful when working or coexisting with different cultures. 

Building Resilience and Self-Confidence

Relocation can be challenging. Especially from a child’s perspective. Children of relocation are plucked from the environment they know and immersed in a completely new environment where they must learn to adapt. They leave behind their culture, school, and friends, and they are introduced to a new culture and a new school where they will meet new friends. This seems easy on paper, but as they navigate these changes, they will rather seem like challenges that relocated children will need to overcome. Overcoming these challenges helps the children of relocation build resilience. By being resilient, the children of relocation develop a quality that is useful throughout life, as it will allow them to withstand adversity and overcome life’s challenges with ease. 

As children of relocation adapt to their new surroundings, and they gain and build new skills that will help them navigate their new life, they will also build on their self-confidence and self-esteem. Whether it is by learning a new language, improving their academic performance, or simply by navigating life in their new environment, these accomplishments boost their self-confidence, helping them have positive mental health and well-being. 

Conclusion

There are many factors that contribute to the positive development of a child. However, relocating poses many positive advantages that lead to the development of a well-rounded individual. 

Immersion in new cultures broadens their horizons, fosters their adaptability, exposes them to a new language or languages, develops their cultural sensitivity and awareness, nurtures cultural creativity, and helps them gain a global mindset. It also helps them boost their self-confidence and become resilient. 

A child exposed to new cultures will not only gain the skills necessary to thrive in a an increasingly interconnected and multicultural world but will also thrive in any environment as their skills to adapt to change will help them overcome any challenge coming their way. 

Relocating can be an enriching experience for the whole family, an experience that will positively impact children’s development in immeasurable ways. 

Professional Application

To make relocation easier for the whole family, mobility professionals should pay close attention to the children’s relocation process. Even though relocating can have a deep, positive impact on children’s development, mobility professionals could implement different strategies in their day-to-day jobs to ensure that the relocation process goes as smooth as possible, as well to ensure that children are well acclimated during the process:

1. Encourage clients to adopt family-friendly relocation policies that help with children’s development. 
2. Provide information to the relocating families about the potential positive benefits that relocation can bring to the development of children. 
3. Customize relocation plans to fit the specific needs of each family. 
4. Help families find clubs, sport activities, or extracurricular activities that align with the interests of their children. 
5. Offer ongoing support to the families through their relocation process and request feedback about their relocation process, including children’s relocation. This way mobility professionals can use the feedback to continue improving their services. 
6. Stay up to date regarding the best practices concerning the impact of relocation on children’s development. 

When incorporating these strategies, relocation professionals can contribute to the positive development of children during their relocation process, making the whole process easier and more positive for the whole family. 

Nicole Calonico is a senior international assignment consultant who has been in the relocation industry for over eight years.