10 Curiosities about Left-handed Children

Reviewed and approved by the psychologist María Alejandra Castro Arbeláez.

Written by Gladys González

Last update: 27 December, 2022

In a society where most things in our lives are designed for right-handed people, it’s necessary as parents of left-handed children to help them as much as possible.

If your little child is left-handed, without a doubt, you will need to pay more attention to their learning and development. Both at school and in extracurricular activities, it’s very common to see the right side encouraged more than the left side.

It’s important to take this into account to help your little one develop their dominant side as best as possible. It’s also important to have patience while they’re learning to write.

Long gone are the days of scenes schools force left-handed children to write with their right hands. 

In fact, today, you may frequently hear phrases like: “are you left-handed? Wow! That’s great!” Not to mention the innumerable list of artists and professional athletes who stand out for their left-handed ability.

Scientists say

Digging deeper into the matter, we have found out that scientists still haven’t  established the true causes of why our little ones end up becoming left-handed vs. right-handed. 

Many think that it’s a consequence of the evolutionary process of the nervous system. Others say it’s due to hereditary factors, such as excessive testosterone and stress during birth.

What they can agree on is that being left-handed is a neurological question: it’s mandated by the brain and it will depend on the laterality of our children.

What you should know

In our brains, we find two hemispheres: the right, which directs the movements of the left side of our bodies, and the left, which is in charge of the movements of the right side.

In left-handed people, the dominant hemisphere is the right. This is what makes our children better at handling the left side of their bodies, making them different from right-handed people.

10 curiosities about left-handed children

At least once in our lives, we’ve all been interested in knowing why this is. Below, we present you with curious facts about left-handed children.

1. It’s estimated that between 10 and 13% of the world population is left-handed and this has remained constant throughout history. Why is this? Many say that due to cultural pressure to be right-handed, parents ignore left-handed tendencies and get them to use their right hand.
2. Left-handed people have an advantage in certain sports like boxing, football and tennis. According to studies, this is due to having better spacial vision.
3. The percentage of left-handed children is larger for girls than boys, being 11% and 9% respectively. The cause of this has still not been determined.
4. Left-handed children tend to have a larger creative capacity due to their right hemisphere, the one that has to do with creativity, inspiration and artistic ability, being stimulated and being more active.
5. Numerous cases of twin siblings have been discovered in which one of them is nearly always left-handed, however, there are few cases in which both are left-handed.
6. The majority of left-handed children tend to draw caricatures, figures and people who are looking to the right. 
7. 80% of left-handed children have a relative who is left-handed.
8. Some scientific studies reveal that dyslexia and stuttering are more frequent in left-handed people due to being forced to use the right hand when they were small.
9. Researchers have found that the connections between the left side of the brain and the right side happen more quickly in left-handed people, which makes them more mentally agile and also makes them think faster.
10. According to a study carried out by the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, it’s more difficult for left-handed children to deal with and process their negative emotions.

It depends on the parents

What’s for sure is that our little ones don’t have to go through those unusual scenarios where they are considered to be different from the rest just because they write with their left hand.

Rather, it’s our job to encourage them and adapt to their needs so they feel comfortable and free to use their left hand. 

We shouldn’t commit the socio-cultural error of wanting to make our children be right-handed, but rather help them to develop their laterality and grow in harmony.