How to toughen up my sister?

Question

My sister is 14 years old and has always been sensitive and shy around other people, like they way i used to be, but i grew out of it going into high school. She is also a little bit anti-social too and lieks to spend time alone doing child-ish things. i try to take her places to help her grow up to get her ready, because shes going into high school with me after summer. All of these people tease her for crying and being so sensitive, but i dont know what to do. i took her to a concert, and then a mosh pit started. some dude bumped her over and she started crying, because she thought the guy was trying to be mean to her and she said it hurt. i took her out of the room and explained to her what a mosh pit is, but she was still offended. later that night while me and my friends and her were walking, she bumped into a pole and started crying again because she huret herself. she will never survive high school like this, and she doesnt listen to anything i say!

Answer 1

well my brother was a shy type until my cousin use to punch him in his arm and toughened him up which now he is a brat

Answer 2

why do you need to toughen her up? let her be her own person... be there to support her not bring her down... she will learn from her life lessons better that way... you have found your way now let her find hers... you are to just guide her a bit... if she falls then she falls, it's your job to pick her up and dust her off...

pushing her to be someone that she is not is only going to push her away from the things that will help her...

Answer 3

You can't change her or force her to be the way you think she should be.  Yes, she probably does need to toughen up, but some lessons you need to learn from experience, not from someone else's lecture.

All you can do is offer her advice.  Give her the benefit of your experience.  Tell her, "I want to help prepare you for high school.  Let me share with you MY experiences, and then you can take from that what you think is useful.  When bullies tease me, I do (this)...  When a guy breaks my heart, I don't assume (this), instead I assume (that), and I do (whatever)... When a teacher ignores me, I...  I try to do (this) and not (that) because (reason)."  

That way, you're not lecturing her on what she is doing wrong, you're giving her friendly advice and sharing your own point of view.  Let her decide what to apply to her own life.  

You can also talk with your parents and suggest they enroll her in counseling/therapy so she can deal with her issues under professional guidance.